Perfect Fit Sarong Dress

I had a BLAST making this dress. It's kind of strange when I think about it though. I'm usually not one for all the hand sewing since I'm super impatient. I think having a great instructor, and having fantastic fabric to work with are great motivators. :)

It looks so simple, but a lot of internal work is put into it, just to make it flawlessly formed and fit to the body. Bust padding, self facings, easing and stabilizing the neckline, waist stay, lapped zipper, hem vent, and hem tape.... oh! and boning, how could I forget, haha :)

If you want to know more about it, you can watch the intro video, and if you want, sign up for the class. The best money I've ever spent on an online class, ever ;)

 This dress is made with: 100% linen outer, and cotton lining. Spiral steel boning, grosgrain ribbon (zipper guard/waist stay), regular zipper, satin ribbon (for boning channels), and lace hem tape for the hem.



















Here's a peek of the inside to see what I'm talking about:

On these pictures you can see the insides of the bodice before I sewed it to the skirt and inserted the lining, etc. On the right, a picture of the completed inside of the dress. You can see the zipper guard (pink ribbon), the waist stay (yellow ribbon) and if you look close enough you can see the boning in there.
What do you think? Will you give this dress a try? It's pretty much a fabulous dress to work on

:)

Hello all!
So a lot has happened recently. I started to draw and paint again. Just a little, not much. I joined 2 online crafting classes, and got a brand new camera. (super excited about that last part ;) )


Also I made these:

These are the Ruby shorts off BurdaStyle. I've had the pattern in my stash for a while, and I haven't had a good pair of shorts for a few years, so I gave em a shot. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I spent a little extra time with the embroidered stitching detail, and I'm glad I did. Usually when I make something, I want it to be done as fast as possible, but I'm starting to train myself to take it slow and really concentrate on producing something durable, and something that actually fits :)














Also I finally finished Cathy's dress. I made my own pattern for her dress by draping a basic toile on a dress form then fitting her a few times while making the dress. It took a while since we live in different states, but in the end I think it turned out well. She has a hard time finding dresses that fit her perfectly due to her height (6 ft) and long torso. I had a lot of fun making something for someone other than myself, and it was a good challenge for me. I still have a lot to learn about some dress construction techniques, but I'm glad to know that I can make something like this based on what I do know how to do. :)

The two classes I've enrolled in are The Embroidery Project: All in the Details
And Gertie's new class (I enrolled today, super exciting) Sew Retro: The Perfect Fit Bombshell Dress

So far the embroidery class has been interesting, but not really up to par as to what I had expected. There are some cute projects tho, and she's donating all her proceeds to send care packages to those in need.

I did only just enroll today, but I've been looking through some of the videos on Gerties dress class, and it's absolutely fantastic! It's an especially good deal for her readers, and the Craftsy.com deal for members going on for a week or so ($25 for any online class). The class is super high tech, and you can ask questions that leave a time stamp on the video, or take notes that will bookmark the video so you know what's going on. The best part is you can watch the videos at your own pace, and refer back as often as you like indefinitely. I'm looking forward to making the dress and implementing Gertie's techniques. She's a great writer too, so her blog is a great read (if you don't already follow her) ;)

I finally got a DSLR! I'm really happy that I can take some high quality photos now. I've always been interested in photography, and in some instances I think a photo is more appropriate than a painting.

I've also been posting a lot on my new Tumblr blog, The Lady In Yellow. I only post things/photos that I've done personally rather than re-blogging other people's work. However I do <3 a lot of things, and you can see those things here. Anyway, this is were I'll be posting most of my photos if you're at all interested in such things :)

Thanks for visiting!
Kate