Last post left off with me making the pattern to fit my dress form perfectly. While the form is close to Lily’s measurements, aseach body is just so different even when the measurements are similar. One size never fits all! I wish. Here are the results of our first fitting…I knew the bodice was going […]
10 Tips for sewing silk chiffon
Silk chiffon is soft, floaty, and so, so, delicate. Yes, it’s a bit finicky, but so worth the effort if done right. I’ve been working on a chiffon kimono, and thought I’d share my notes on working with silk chiffon. Here are my ten tips for working with silk chiffon, an elegant and often expensive […]
My Week At Susan Khalje’s Couture Sewing School.
I’ve been a fan of the couture sewing expert Susan Khalje ever since I found her book Bridal Couture, at a used book store a few years ago. Soon after that I was approached to make a custom wedding gown and foolishly said yes, even though I had never made anything remotely close to in […]
Chanel boucle style skirt- Mounted skirt technique
I finished my second version of this little boucle Chanel inspired skirt. I learned a lot about working with boucle fabric on this project. I was planning on making a jacket with the pink boucle when I bought it last year, but never did. The fabric was rather thin, some sort of cotton or […]
My Padded Dress Form
That’s my padded dress form. I sew and design in my dining room so she has to be presentable. Her measurements are pretty close to mine but I had to do a little padding. I made some pads by creating pads from batting . Then I tucked them under this lace shapewear camisole. I think […]
Slashed Bias Strip Fabric Tutorial
There was a gorgeous dress on Project Runway recently made from what looked like little shreds of fabric. I was trying to figure out how to do this fabric treatment and this is what I came up with: This may look like I spent hours sewing little strips of fabric on this dress but this […]
The Chanel Jacket : My Sewing Bucket List
One of the weekly challenges coming up on Project Run & Play is the fashion icon challenge. Who do I consider to be a fashion icon? Well, obviously I have a few, but Gabrielle or “Coco”Chanel has always been a designer I have admired because she changed fashion. She was the epitome of classic and […]
Madeleine Vionnet and Learning Bias Cut sewing
Below is my post about Madame Vionnet and my experiences with making dresses cut on the bias over the past two years, since I got into dressmaking. I posted this over at Cation Designs earlier this week.Actually this is also an old post and one of my faves that I rewrote and added to, hence the […]
1915 Circus Girl Costume
This is the first costume I completed for the play The Elephants Graveyard, which I am costuming. It takes place in 1916 and is about a group of circus performers. This first costume is for the circus girl who rides the elephant. 1915 Circus Girl My Inspirations were these old photos below of circus girls […]
Lace Dress Refashion
Here is Isabelle in my finished lace dress refashion. This dress was just waiting for a new life as a sixties style minidress . I decided to leave the puffed sleeves to give it a Carnaby Street look. It was a Lanz of Switzerland dress and cost a whopping 50 cents! I cut off a […]