Tag: dress

Side pleat dress (Butterick 5672)

I found this pretty double-knit wool while I was supposed to buy something else in Okadaya. It happens a lot, doesn’t it? Anyway, I bought a meter of it without knowing what to made of the fabric. I browsed through my pattern stash and found this Butterick 5672. From the pattern envelope: “Close fitting, lined dress has left side invisible zipper, left dart and left pleats from drape effect.” Looks perfect! The instructions are very clear-written. The pattern itself is simple with only four outer pieces. In my initial sketch of this dress on my croquis, I drew the dress with sleeves. But after […]

Violet velvet dress (Vogue 1250)

  First dress that I made in 2012! It was actually finished several days ago but I just couldn’t find the time to take pictures during Sidra’s school holiday. Today is first school day! Anyway, the pattern is Vogue 1250 by DKNY, an easy pattern for knit fabric with only three pieces. I bought it during sale for at Vogue patterns website. If you like Vogue/Butterick/McCall’s pattern, I really recommend to subscribe to their newsletter so you can get notification whenever there’s a sale. This Vogue 1250 is apparently quite popular, as shown by the number of people on Pattern […]

Red cowl dress (Vogue 2333: Diane Von Furstenberg)

I was preparing to make the pants that I talked about in the last post when this pattern came through the mail slot. It was a vintage Vogue 2333 – Diane von Furstenberg pattern, probably from the late 70’s or early 80’s.  From the pattern envelope: “Very loose-fitting, pullover dress with bias blouson bodice and straight skirt, five inches (12.5 cm) below mid-knee or evening length, has front cowl neckline, elasticized waistline, side front slanted pockets, side hemline slits and short kimono sleeves. Self belt has D-rings and edgestitch trim.” The pattern is labelled as ‘very easy’, and who can resist such an […]

Wrap dress (vintage Simplicity 7705)

I always love the idea of wearing a wrap dress. It is so easy, no zipper and buttons, yet the whole look is so feminine. I looked around at ebay and got myself surprised at the price of the original vintage Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress patterns, especially Vogue 1548 and 1549. Apparently they are very popular, hence the prices go up to the sky. I always thought that USD30 for a vintage 1970s pattern is way too much, but apparently some people are willing to pay more than USD 100 for an original DVF wrap dress pattern! There is […]

Bombshell dress – cup alteration

This is the backside of my muslin. I have scoliosis and my curved spine can be seen clearly here. This might be the first time I ever photographed my backside deliberately. The last time I saw pictures of my backside is when I was 15 years old. They were laid on the table in front of me and I got a few disheartening comments (parents can be so inconsiderate!) about it. I got traumatized and avoided fitted clothing since then. Until now. I must say that sewing and blogging about sewing have helped me to see human bodies differently. I make […]

Starting the bombshell dress

Apparently the repair was faster than expected, the repair shop sent my sewing machine back yesterday! The big box arrived in the morning and I danced happily all day. No more machineless week! I used it right away to finish my husband’s jeans. They only need to be hemmed now and I’m waiting for my husband to come home so I can measure the length of the legs. Meanwhile, I started to work on my bombshell dress. The smallest size of the pattern is 36, which is still too big for me. So I resized it to 96% of the original […]

Sew Weekly Challenge: Kidding Around

My first Sew Weekly challenge! If you haven’t heard about Sew Weekly (who haven’t?), you should check out the site now! This week’s theme is ‘kidding around’ where people make creations inspired by outfit worn in their childhood photo. I was quite excited with this theme as most of my clothes are basically shaped like a bigger version of little girls’ dresses. Hello baby dolls, gathered skirt, and ruffles! Now for finding the childhood photo. This turned out to be not quite an easy task. My late father loved to take pictures of his kids when we were still very […]

Loose drape dress

I’ve had this pattern book, ドレープ ドレープ (Drape Drape), for about a year now but had never made anything out of it. Most of the pattern in the book use knit fabrics, I guess I was a bit intimidated by it. But after making several clothes with knit fabrics (without serger), I found myself browsing the book again and decided to make one of the pattern. This is pattern no.1, the loose drape top that I lengthened into a dress. The pattern is pretty straightforward, consisted of only two pieces with binding for finishing the armholes. The fabric is double-gauze knit in […]

Spring dress

I’ve finished tracing the pattern pieces for the MPB Men’s Shirt sew along and washed the fashion fabric. But before moving on to the next day, I still need to find some cheap fabric for the muslin. In the meantime, I finished my dress! It’s the floral printed cotton that I bought in Nippori, made with this 1967 pattern, McCall’s 8746. Inspired by the sew-along, I also did the pattern tracing so the original pattern stay intact.  I made no significant alteration other than shortening the bodice and the hem, rather aggressively for the latter. Apparently I’m that short (-_-) I read […]

Autumn dress

This is one of my favorite pattern book, Pattern Drafting vol. II, it was bought several years ago in a secondhand bookstore in Indonesia for only $1! The book was published by Kamakura-Shobo Publishing in 1970, it shows how to make a basic bodice pattern and how to use it to draft patterns for blouses, dresses, coats, skirts, and pants. There are also small sections for maternity and kid’s garments. The drafting techniques used in the book is from Japan, but the book is in English. The last section in the book shows several sewing techniques for pockets, collars, zippers, and […]