BPTNMT, for short

I have a sickness: its called "buyingpatternsandthennevermakingthem" syndrome. (BPTNMT for short). I probably have at least 10 patterns in my stash that I have yet to make garments from. So what did I do? Bought some more!! But these Im TOTALLY going to make. For sure. No, really. I am.

First up: PJ's. I really want to make a few lightweight summer nightgowns and tank/ short combos.



Also, I thought I would try my hand at a cute babin' suit.


Then there's this great "wardrobe builder" skirt. I can just see it in stripped cotton for summer and a corduroy for fall.




(Hello, these are both $50 at Urban!)

Which is your fave?

Ballet and Blouses

Phew, have I been busy! Today is my first day off in 2 weeks. The Opera ended May 14th and load- in for ABT was May 15th. I LOVE working with ABT. The Company and Crew are great people and for the most part I cant believe I get paid to dress Ballerinas and watch from the wings every night.

Also, in my spare minutes I made a shirt for my dear friend Katie G. We went to college together and worked at American Girl Theatre together too. She is going to be a bridesmaid in a friends wedding this weekend, but Katie prefers to wear mens clothing and asked if I would make her a shirt in the same color as the bridesmaids dresses. I love to help a sista' out so I said Yes! and we went to work. First we ordered a swatch of "Matisse Blue" fabric from J. Crew and I did some hunting to find a matching fabric. It turned out to be a bit of a challenge to match the color but we decided on a beautiful silk dupioni for only $10 a yard! Sweet.



We used McCall's Pattern 4079. First I made a muslin and we had a fitting. Good thing, too, because it needed a lot of adjustment. The main problem I think was that the shirt pattern was meant to be worn a bit slouchy and oversized, but we wanted a more tailored fit. Sooooo, I adjusted the armcye, made an FBA dart and shortened the arm length, too.



I think it turned out really nicely. Oh, also I had the button holes done at Johnathan's Embroidery. It took 5 mins and cost $5 to have 10 small holes done. It is sooo worth it to save you time and end up with beautiful, professional button holes.



I handed it off to Katie today and it looked great on her! I'll update with pictures from the wedding next week!

***UPDATE***
There she is on the far right! The color was perfect!

Gaping gripe!

So I did a quick mock- up of the McCall's dress bodice, and I think it will be really cute!



The only problem is that there is strange gaping at the center front and center back. I think I'm going to have to make some adjustment.

Note the center front before:



and after pinning out the extra:




The center back before:



and after:



Weird right? I didn't see any mention of this in any of the
reviews I read, so I wonder if I'm going slightly mad. It's a pretty obvious problem in my opinion.

***UPDATE***

This morning I had the realization that the sleeves are meant to sit more off the shoulder, giving the neckline a much wider scoop and pretty much eliminating the gaping. Crisis averted!

Color Palate

So my McCall's pattern came today and I've decided how it's going to look! Remember this dress that I loved?



Well, I'm going to take a cue from it's color palate to inspire my new dress! I'll make the bodice white, the waistband golden yellow, and the skirt chocolate brown with small bands of the yellow and white. I'll probably add some sort of coordinating accoutrement on the bodice, too. Like it?

Swimming in Silk Charmeuse

So I spent a few hours fabric shopping for my new dresses, and I came home empty handed. Maybe I just wasn't focused. Its true that in NYC I have amazing fabric stores to shop at and hundreds of options, so you would think that finding something I like couldn't be that hard. Well what is also true is that because you have so many options it can be totally overwhelming. You have to be prepared to dig through hundreds of bolts of fabric and haggle prices with gentlemen of which English is not their primary language. Then you have to go to at least three other stores and do the same thing to make sure you're getting the best price. Phew. Exhausting.


Photo


Sometimes I think I would give my left boob for a nice Joann's or Hancock's where you have air conditioning, room to walk around, and maybe 5 choices of silk charemuse, rather than 50. So if anyone is doing some online fabric shopping and finds anything they think would work for either the Simplicity or McCall's dress, please let me know!

***UPDATE***

What do we think of this plum Sateen from Fabric.com for the Simplicity dress?

Stick with what ya know

I have realized that the new McCall's pattern I got looks a lot like the dress I wore to my Fiesta Bridal Shower. (Darn, it was hot that day! Right, girls? Shoo.)




Oh well! It's going to look totally different and hey- if you like something, who cares, right? The shape works well for my bod so I'm sticking with it. I hope the pattern arrives soon so I can go fabric shipping!

Rehearsal Dinner dress

I just bought this McCall's 5804 pattern on Ebay for $7.76! I'm going to make view A for my Rehearsal Dinner dress. I'm thinking about using a metallic linen. We'll see.




Yes, it's another Hillary Duff style, but I really liked the last one I made, so I figured I'd try another. I'll probably add a bit in the length because these tend to be quite short, and I'll want a 2" hem rather than a rolled hem. I think the key to keeping it looking too juvenile will be the fabric choice.

Pretty Dresses!

The dresses are complete! I love the way the pink dress came out and I'm obsessed with the fabric flower. I can't wait to dance the night away at Lindsay's wedding!





The blue dress is my favorite! I really want to make this a few more times with different fabrics. The pleats on the front were tedious, but well worth it! I think the little bow gives it a vintage feel, too.





Total cost for both dresses: about $30.00. Beat that!

Sneak Peak #2

Working on dress number two! Found some beautiful teal, blue and green Egyptian cotton on sale!

Dress update

So I've been working on the previously mentioned dress. Here's a sneak peak...



Man, am I glad I made a mock- up first because the pattern needed a lot of work. First I had to cut it down a size. Then, I narrowed and shortened the shoulder strap. Third, I narrowed the bust darts. I also shortened the bodice and the skirt by an inch each so I could add a 2" waistband. The bodice is all done so Thursday I'll finish the skirt, Tomorrow we're going to our first Yankee's game in the new stadium! Can't wait! I only hope its not rained out...

Save n Sew

So I've been shopping around for a dress to wear to my friend Lindsay's wedding in May and I tried on this fierce Phoebe Couture dress in Macy's that I fell in love with! I cant find a pic of it online- but its a pink, one- shouldered cocktail dress with a large rosette on the shoulder! Too bad it's almost $400 and I cant justify spending an entire government funded paycheck on it. Boo on morals. Good thing I can sew! I searched the web to find a comparable pattern and I decided on McCall's M5658.


Its not exact, but for $9.57 I couldn't refuse! Then as a bonus I got to pick another pattern for free! That's right, two patterns for $9.57! For the second dress I chose M5618.


If I have time I'll make this to wear to Bry's graduation. I already have 4 yards of pink dupioni silk I swiped from Forbidden Broadway during strike, so I'm gonna put it to good use! (Cross your fingers that my motivation holds and I actually finish this one!)