My Easter Dress: Colette Truffle

Feast your eyes on my Easter Dress! This is another pattern from The Colette Sewing Handbook from Colette Patterns.

I must admit, I was uncertain about this dress going into it. I was unsure about the fabric I had selected (perhaps too vintage table clothe-y?), and I didn't know if the asymmetrical ruffle across the front would be flattering on me. I am a convert! 

The drape-y bits actually conceal the parts I want to hide while the fitted under-skirt shows a nice silhouette of my figure. As Edith Head said, "You're dresses should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady." Amen, sister!

The only trouble I had was with attaching the lining. The instructions tell you to attach the lining to the dress, right sides together, then flip it inside out through the shoulders. I felt like I was fitting a camel through the eye of a needle! 

What is was like cramming my entire dress through the shoulder straps to flip it inside out. 

The end effect is very nice, and it saved me a lot of hand stitching, but it was a struggle! I also ended up top stitching at the neckline and armholes instead of doing an under stitch because I couldn't manipulate it right to understitch the whole thing.

I'm loving it, though! And do you see my new hat?! Another little beauty from Poppycock Vintage.

Vintage Vogue 2903

Oh, how I love this dress. It's a 1957 pattern reproduction, and it's right up my alley.

Some Details

There is a bit of strange construction on this dress when it comes to the yoke. There is actually this under-yoke thing where the sleeves attach that I totally wasn't aware of when I began. I think it could make it quite fun if you used a contrasting fabric for the under yoke. This pattern would also be great without the sleeves as an off-the-shoulder number. 

You can kind of see the under yoke business in the three-quarter sleeve version. 

This beauty also required a whopping SEVEN yards to complete. Can you believe it?! But it's totally worth it for all the funnies of this dress with a petticoat underneath. 

Farewell till next time! 

Quiltcon!

Quiltcon was a few weeks ago here in Austin, and I stopped by for a day to see all the fun.

I've only made one quilt, one for my mama out of scrap fabric I found at my grandma's. I really enjoyed doing it and since have been working on a manly quilt for my brother. It's a nice change in pace from sewing garments.

My rail fence quilt. 

All the quilt winners in each category were displayed all around the show floor, and it was like walking through an art exhibit. I could have stared at the stitches and details for hours.

There were also all sorts of vendors that let you play with their neat gadgets (nothing like getting to toy around with one of the giant long arm machines!) and some fabric stores with booths that had great selections. And there was a fun photo booth!

I love a good photo booth! My friend Andi was a good sport.

I so wished I would have been able to attend  some of the classes, but they booked up so dang fast! Thankfully, Craftsy is offering the lectures online for free! I'm doing the Bombshell course with Craftsy right now and really like the platform.

I've poked around a few of the lectures and found them really interesting. There's a lot of great inspiration in there. It definitely inspired me to pick back up the quilt for my brother!

White Tulle Circle Skirt

More proof that I can't get enough circle skirts. This one is especially fun, being mostly tulle.

This lovely number came about because I saw the fabulous Karinska Tulle Skirt at Anthropologie, but immediately thought, "I'm not spending $300. I could make that." So I trucked off to Joann's and picked myself up some tulle.

I began regretting my decision when I stared in the face of a 10-yard blob of tulle.

I won't lie to you, cutting tulle out is tedious. I put on a Jimmy Stewart movie, and spent the better part of an afternoon snipping away. But it was so worth it in the end, don't you think?

I cut it so I'd only have one seam in the back for the zipper. Then I sewed four layers of tulle + 1 layer of lining together and attached a zipper. I also made sure I had a sturdy interfacing for the waistband since this is all rather airy. Surprisingly, it wasn't too challenging. I do wish I had invested in a higher-quilty lining. This one is a bit see-through, but that just means I have to wear a slip under it. Not too bad. 

Who knew a tulle skirt would be versatile, too? I've already worn this one multiple ways, and the ideas keep growing in my head. It's 'cause it's a circle skirt, I'm telling you. They're magic.

Navy Gabardine Circle Skirt

I adore this skirt. It's just a simple circle skirt, the pattern drafted based on directions from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing.

What's So Special About a Plain-Old Navy Skirt?

This skirt is cake, as Tasia from Sewaholic calls it. Meaning that it's a versatile piece of clothing that can be worn tons of ways. As opposed to frosting, which can be recognized by comments such as, "Oh look. Lauren is wearing that crawfish dress again." (I really do own a dress with a crawfish print - perfect for spring crawfish boils.) I can easily wear it twice or three times a week, dress it up or down, etc.

The details also make me so happy, and are the type of thing that makes home sewing so special to me. I included a teal lining, bound buttonhole closure, and fabric-covered button. You just can't get that type of stuff on ready-to-wear unless you spend a gazillion dollars.

I am quite sure I have more circle skirts to sew in my future. And more hats! I got this lovely from Poppycock Vintage Hat Shop in December, and I've already acquired two more. They're just so hard to resist.

Colette Pastille

This is a pattern from the Colette Sewing Handbook. I love the way Sarai explains things - she's great at simplifying complex concepts into something understandable and doable. Her patterns are also so fun and versatile.

Pastille pattern sketch. See those darling pleats? Ya, I took them out. They were invisible with the print I picked. Source.

I used a purple print by April Johnston (of Project Runway fame!) that I got at Joann's. I pulled out the orangey-red color (blood orange, as Melissa from Project Runway would say) from the print and found a fabric that matched to make the belt.

What I'd Change 

Not much. I really like this dress. The only teensy problem I have is a bit of extra fabric in a horizontal strip at the back. It's so darn hard to see those things when you're fitting yourself! If only Oxford could talk, and then he'd tell me these things before I sew with my fashion fabric.

On the dress form, which hits my main measurements but doesn't match me exactly. Hence why it's easy to miss fit things on my backside! 

 Kisses till next time!