Rice Pack Heating Pads

I made one of these awhile ago and somehow it turned into making one for almost everybody on the Christmas list! They're fast and addictive--and very useful. Tutorial here.

That 70's Upholstery Dress

I absolutely fell in love with this print the first time I saw it in Jo-Ann's. Yes, I am one of those guilty seamstresses who makes dresses out of quilting cotton. But it's just so pretty!!! (Actually I think it looks like upholstery fabric from the 70s but I adore it nonetheless.)

The finished product is inspired by the 'Luck Be a Lady' dress from ModCloth,

a blue flared belted dress I found on Polyvore

 and the 'Take Action' dress from Anthropologie . It has a scooped neckline, front neckline tucks, half-circle skirt and zips up the back.

I drafted the dress pattern up from scratch. First I draped a dress bodice on Marie Antoinette and transferred it to paper. Then I used this extremely helpful tutorial to swing the waist darts up to the neckline. That way I have neckline tucks instead of waist tucks. (And circle skirts are easy to draft; there are ten million tutorials for them on the internet.)

I tried my best to use professional finishing techniques and I think this dress turned out pretty well. The bodice is fully lined and topstitched around the neck and armholes, which are finished with self-bias binding. There are two pockets in the skirt and a hem facing as well. And what would a newly finished dress be without a matching belt? I used Casey's beltmaking tutorial and it turned out beautifully, and was so much fun to make! Both the buckle and belting are vintage, from the stash.

I still can't decide if I like the red belt better though!

An Autumn Plaid Dress: Vogue 8701

Vogue 8701

I saw this pattern last summer and absolutely fell in love with the pretty plaid dress! I don't usually try to make outfits look like the pattern cover but this one was so pretty I just had to. I found a similar plaid in a nice autumn colorway at Hancock's--40% off--and got the pattern during one of Vogue's $4 pattern sales.

Looks easy, right? Wrong!

It has two-piece raglan sleeves, a darted bodice and a nice 4 panel swirly skirt. There's a zip and a slightly low V neck in back. Deceptively simple. ;)

Hem bound with bias tape & handstitched down.

The pattern impressed me with the finishing techniques: a bound hem and fully lined dress! I was quite attracted to that aspect as I was aiming for this dress to be a quality garment in my closet that would last a long time.

I lined the sleeves with an old paisley cotton dress.

Disappointingly, I actually could not manage to line anything other than the sleeves. I had a lot of trouble fitting the bodice neckline and raglan sleeves (note to self: avoid all future raglan-sleeved patterns!).

The zip didn't go in as nicely as I'd hoped either. :(

This pattern seems to have a great deal of unnecessary ease built in, plus I prefer my dresses to be a bit more fitted in the bodice, so I ended up taking out a lot of extra fabric. (I should note here that I successfully made a toile, with very few alterations, before making the actual dress--which made the fitting problems all the more irritating. Maybe the fashion fabric stretched?) And after having a rather frustrating time refitting the sleeves after the lining had been put in, I finally said "skip it" to the bodice lining and just stuck the whole thing in a drawer for about two months.

Model wearing the dress from the pattern cover..

Thus, it wasn't really finished until last week, and without lining anything other than the sleeves...and since it's now November I kind of can't wear it that much. Heh heh. I have to say though, I was quite pleased with the finished product even though it took a bit of frustration to get there.

...and me in my version. :)

 I definitely adore the twirly skirt and might use that part of the pattern to make myself some pretty skirts. (Or I could put the skirt onto different dress bodices!) And I actually had a belt similar to the one in the pattern photo, so that worked out nicely. I might even make another version of this dress...someday. I just wish it was as fun to make as it is to wear the finished product. ;)

Marie Antoinette modeling without the belt.

Skirts for Little Girls

This was a fun project. :) The owl print fabric is from JoAnn's and is a nice lightweight twill weave. I didn't use a pattern, just the little girl's measurements, and accented it with a pretty pink ribbon at the waist.

The skirt is box pleated to a wide waistband in front; the back features three rows of elastic. I used this tutorial to achieve that half-elastic waistband style. It was my first time attempting it and it went pretty well, considering. It seems a lot more confusing than it really is. ;)
 

The other skirt is a pretty cotton paisley print, also from JoAnn's.  This was made up in the simplest of styles (good for beginner lessons!), with an elastic waistband. Very quick, it took only an hour. :) The multicolored prints hide stains and expand the wardrobe to go with a variety of blouses, and the skirts can be worn with or without the flannel slip, prolonging the outfit's use.

Matching doll-sized versions...

 And of course, one must do something with all that scrap fabric...

...and girl-and-doll purses!

Matching Girl-and-Doll Flannel Slips

A smaller version of the flannel slip for little girls! This one is gathered to a comfy elastic waistband and trimmed with pretty pink and cream lace.

It can be worn under skirts and dresses or as a skirt-and-legging combo itself, as the flannel is quite thick. And of course, no young lady's ensemble would be complete without the matching doll version!

Ironing Board Cover

I whipped up a new ironing board cover on Sunday evening in about twenty minutes. Really, it's that simple and easy! I used this tutorial for the basics--it's really not that difficult to figure out. All you do is take off the old cover, cut off the drawstring, use the old cover as a pattern for the new one, and sew the old drawstring to the new cover. The ironing board pad/foam underneath stays as it is.

I used a lovely purple gingham cotton to match my valances and the fabric on my chair cushion. It adds a lovely, fresh dimension to my room! The old cover was really nasty and the print was abstract irons on a tan and white background--not exactly pretty. There is something so refreshing about lavender! I love it.

There was only one thing I was unhappy about with this project--my ironing board is different from the one used in the tutorial and so the drawstring of mine, with its iron print, shows on the topside of the ironing board a little bit. But it's pretty minor, I can deal with it. ;)

Flannel Slip

I first got the idea for this project here.

Perfect for making skirts more winter-friendly! I drafted this six-gore skirt pattern to fit under the majority of my skirts and bought some soft white flannel at JoAnn's. It zips up the back and is trimmed with lace from the stash.

Since I didn't finish this until last spring, I hadn't really had a chance to try it out until now. Sandwiched between a silk slip and a swirly petticoat, it really makes my vintage skirts stand out and provides a necessary layer of warmth. Definitely a must-have!