Three Hour Dress

Free Pattern Wrap Dress

              I have on several occasions mentioned my friend Rhonda Buss and her wonderful blog, Rhonda's Creative Live,  She recently started a Free Pattern Friday blog, and it is amazing the free patterns she finds and posts the link in order for anyone to download them, print them out, tape the patterns pieces together and make.



             At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to go to the trouble to figure out how to tape the pieces of the pattern together to make full pattern pieces, but it turned out to be quite easy and here is the final project.

The free pattern.

                                                           Free Pattern (better view)

A first attempt at a selfie!

I had been looking for a pattern that would show off this unusual print, which I loved, and I think this wrap dress does the trick.  The fabric is a light weight jersey knit that I purchased from Mood Fabrics online.

 

And the dress truly only took three hours to make.  Such fun.

 

Fall Couture Jacket

French Jacket with Orange Trim

  Having recently returned from a couture jacket class with Susan Khalje the first part of October, I think the finished jacket is well worth the class.

The orange silk lining has hearts on it, not pumpkins!  It is difficult to see, but the hem has a Chanel style chain around the entire circumference.

  This view shows the pockets with the fuzzy orange trim and button.  I didn't have quite enough trim, so I split it in half and put the button in the middle, so it actually looks like the trim goes clear across the pocket.

  I'm not very good at selfies, but this at least shows the entire jacket.  I purchased the fashion fabric, the trim, the lining and the buttons in Paris last November.  The fashion fabric is authentic Chanel, and of course, the lining is pure silk.  So wonderful with which to work.

I am so looking forward to making another jacket like this soon, even though it is a tremendous amount of work.  The fashion fabric is quilted to the lining before the pieces are sewn together.  Only the shoulder seems and side seams are sewn on the machine.  The rest is by hand.

The sleeve is a three-piece pattern, and it is sewn together by machine, but sewn into the jacket by hand.

Couture Dress

Couture Dress, Paris Fabric

It has taken a while, but at long last I am posting the picture of the couture dress that I made in a class in Maryland with Susan Khalje.  I love her classes and I learn so very much.

This dress is my own design, so I can't give a pattern reference.  One of my classmates dubbed it "The Parabolic Dress."  It has a piece on the front that is a parabolic shape and drapes/hangs a bit like a waterfall.

The skirt is made of a Dolce Gabbana chiffon that I purchased in Paris last November.  The bodice is a guipure lace that I purchased at B&J's in New York.  It is lined in charmeuse that I got at Mood in New York.

I love the dress and hope that I find someplace to wear in sometime soon.

BLOUSES, BLOUSES and MORE BLOUSES

A COLLECION OF BLOUSES I HAVE MADE

Black jersey knit with a silver sparkle, like fireworks, here and there.  The neckline is pleated.

I have shown this blouse before.  It is made of charmeuse with a draped neckline.  I made this blouse entirely by hand, with not one machine stitch in it.

Navy and white chiffon, made from the same pattern as above but with long sleeves

A closeup of the sleeve

 

This is my favorite evening or dress-up blouse.  It is made of a sheer lace that I utilized the scalloped edges as the hem and down the front, where I placed loop buttonholes and pearl buttons.

This is a jacquard silk with a tie neck.  Great with suits

And my ruffled jabot on satin.

A print chiffon.  The neckline was supposed to be entirely different, according to the pattern.  It was suppose to have a very large scarf attached to the collar, but when I got the collar on the blouse, I liked it without the scarf, so I gathered the collar up the front, and voila,  here it is.

Not a very clear picture of this sweater It has organdy flowers along the V-neck.

MEMORIES

FIRST EVENING GOWN

     While watching the Academy Awards, I saw a gown on the Red Carpet that sparked a distant memory.  That of the very first evening own I ever made, at the age of 16.  I was an officer in Rainbow Girls, and as such we were required to wear evening gowns for installation of officers and initiation of new members.  The dress I made was very similar to a dress displayed on the Red Carpet.

     As I was wishing I had kept the dress, I remembered that my mother had had my portrait made in the dress to give to my father for Fathers' Day, and I still have the portrait.

     So, here is the very first evening gown I ever made:

The points actually had boning in them.  I had no idea how to insert boning, but just followed the directions on the pattern instructions.

 



SPRING ON THE HORZON

Spring Bomber Jacket

     So tired of cold, icy, wet winter?  So am I.  Time to get out the ligher-weight fabrics and put together some new things for spring and summer.

     I started with a quilted bomber jacket.

A very simple jacket made with a prequilted fabric.

And another bomber jacket.

I did a tremendous amount of applique with this jacket.

The base is ultrasuade and the applique is all silk challis.

Next I added a summer dress.

Originally it can be worn hanging loose.

But I quickly decided that I like it better with a belt.

Added a couple loose-fitting tops.

  And I think I am good to go.

However, at Neiman Marcus I found a sweater vest that  I loved.

And set about knitting my own version.

And that's all, Folks, for this blog.

Brown Polka Dot Blouse

Anne Klein Blouse

     I made a blouse to go with the unmatched plaid.  Once again, it was a major challenge.  For many years I refused to make blouses, as I just didn't like making them.  Then I took a couture class with Susan Khalje and learned some great fitting techniques and decided blouses just couldn't be that hard if I could make a French jacket, so off I went to start making blouses.

 

     The first several I made were easy and I loved and wore them often.  Then I moved on to more complicated patterns, which I like a challenge.  It seems that as I have moved forward the blouse patterns have gotten more and more challenging, and this one was no exception.

The pattern is a Vogue, Anne Klein.  The back of the sleeve and the back yolk are all one piece with pleats that run into the seam and are on the back of the sleeve itself.  Took some figuring out to put that together correctly, but I succeeded after tearing it out a few times.

 

Can anyone explain to me why when you make a buttonhole sample in the exact same fabric and exact same number of layers, interfacing, etc., the sample turns out perfect and when you do it on the garment it self -----------

 

------you get this?!!!!!

I even used Sulky Tear-away as an envelop around the front and back in hopes that would keep it even.

 

The finished blouse is nice