A breezy summer dress

Hi readers! After a long struggle with word-press I am officially throwing in the towel and going to be posting regularly here. I'd love to share my most recently completed project with you-- a self drafted summer dress.This didn't come out to be as wearable as I'd hoped due to how lightweight the fabric is, but was really fun to make and helped me learn a lot about drafting my own patterns.

I found the fabric at Micheal Levine's in LA for $5 a yard and wish I'd gotten the entire bolt, as I so often do. I've been yearning for something with a chic high neckline and spaghetti straps like something I'd have worn if I was born a decade earlier, and it seemed the best way to use these stripes without being boring. 

The straps are made using a cording technique where you sew a cord into the fabric and then use it to turn it right side out. Let me know if you're interested in a tutorial! The chevron skirt was made using this tutorial (thanks Miranda!)

This was my first time attempting to match stripes, and while it was sometimes challenging and I definitely didn't nail it 100%, I loved the feeling of getting it right. I definitely want to sew with stripes again very soon!

Because my serger was being completely useless at the time, I used a ballpoint needle with a mock overlock stitch for most of the seams, and a double needle for the hem. The dress hasn't fallen apart through a few wears and washes so I'd say it worked well.

Overall I love how it looks on my lovely assistant (with one exception), but if I was sewing it again I'd definitely add a lining and make the front of the skirt a bit longer. Because of the bias skirt it really hugs my form, which is not my usual comfort zone. I'll probably end up wearing it around the house and to the pool as a coverup because without a lining it's impossible to wear it without panty-lines showing, and going bare is out of the question with such a short front (for me anyway.)

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!

Welcome!

Thanks for checking out my little blog. Here I will try to keep up with everything I'm currently working on, and hopefully share some of the things I learn. Happy Sewing!

Fabric Depot had a sale!

Living in Portland Oregon is wonderful for a burgeoning sewist like myself. Last weekend Fabric Depot had a sale so I went by and picked up so many wonderful things. This store is HUGE. I walked in and had to pick my jaw up off the floor because I'd never seen so many bolts of fabric in one place. I had only a few things in particular I was thinking of getting and I'm pretty new at this and had some trouble finding things, but two and a half hours and $80 later I walked out with a full bag of fabric and notion treasures. Feast your eyes:

Unfortunately I forgot the name of the amazing moth + cobweb fabric designer but most of the rest of them are made by moda fabrics. The silk snail in the back is a big panel and the lump of white stuff is some really soft minky fabric im going to try to use as the back for some bibs for my baby sister. The one with the bridges on it is by a Portland designer and actually has all of Portland's bridges on it!
Anyway look forward to more posts about the projects I'm going to do with this as well as a dress using the orange fabric you can see a tiny bit of in the corner I just made for my roommate.