Manic Pop

I'm back with a new dress!  Like I said, I have been super lazy and using commercial patterns for about a year now. This one is a shirtdress by Simplicity -- pattern number 8014. I did a mix of multiple views to create my perfect shirtdress. I technically cut a View C but used the collar in View A and D. I think I made my cuffed sleeve and sleeve tabs differently than the pattern asked me to do, but I do what I want. Haha.  Best of all, this dress already had a pocket bag pattern! Many times, I will create my own if there is enough room in the skirt portion. I also had to change the grainline of the yoke on my pattern (ie. cut it the opposite direction). Normally, you would cut your back yoke on a shirt or shirtdress on a crosswise grain because it prevents stretching out and gives your garment more stiffness/structure.  Well, that simply wasn't going to work with a one-way print! I would never hear the end of how I "cut it wrong" by anyone wh...

Hey everyone! Just a reminder to stop by the other blog I contribute to -- a West Michigan-based blog called The Art Shake. This month, I show you my process and testing tips/tricks to sewing a knit garment entirely without a serger! Don't miss it!

New week new dress? That's kinda what's been happening lately! I've just been having fun cutting out sewing patterns and making them up. I mean, why not?! The latest dress I finished was Burda's Fitted Sheath Dress #121 from June 2015. I have (no joke) had this dress design printed up and posted on my bulletin board for almost a year now and I finally made it!  I've been working far more with stretch knits lately and this was a perfect pattern to keep up on my skills with. It was simple, easy, and super-quick to sew up! What I love about this dress is that the fabric I chose was a horizontal print and with the way the pattern bends in shape to accommodate the rouching, the print essentially becomes vertical up at the bodice portion. So cool! The fabric is an ITY stretch knit from fabric.com . It was very easy to cut and work with! I will definitely look out for more ITY stretches in the future. I have a little over a yard of this left and I definitely...

If you have missed any of my posts, be reminded that I also occasionally post over on a West Michigan-based blog called The Art Shake ! A new post just went up today. This month, I will be showing you my process for using your hand-drawn creations, putting them into Photoshop and making a seamless repeat pattern! I will eventually be sending this print off to Spoonflower and making a top out of this print!

This dress was around 4 years in the making... I remember buying this pattern (I wrote "Sept. 2012" on the pattern packet). But at the time, I didn't use commercial patterns really at all because I went to fashion design school and thought that if I did that, then I really should be making my own designs up and not using someone else's patterns. I made my own sewing patterns for every single thing I made from around 2004-2014-ish! This is still something hard for me to accept: the fact that I have transitioned to using primarily commercial patterns versus using all of my pattern making skills that I worked so hard to gain. (I still have all my books, blocks, tools, etc.) I'll make something if the mood strikes but it's so easy and fun to customize with commercial patterns. That, and I am having wayyyy too much fun with all the stuff that's out there! This dress is Butterick's 1947 reproduction pattern called B5209. I see many, many people ha...

It's been so long since I've done a blog post of any kind. I don't really know what my excuse is aside from just.... life. Not making as many garments as I once did (although I keep buying patterns and fabric for the next projects). I finally have decided to take a page from the book of some other bloggers and just take photos of things I make in my sewing room instead of wait for a good day to take them in a scenic place outside. Sure, scenic is nice but.... it's not always possible. So here we are! I finally cut and sewed Burda's Jane dress (which has also been done for like a month now). The pattern packet I made for it said I printed it in January. Yikes. There are a few minor things that bother me about this pattern. I didn't make a muslin (as always) and because of that, on me the bust darts are far lower than they should be. (See if you can tell in the photos). This dress also particularly makes me feel a bit boobalicious somehow. See bel...

Hey guys! Check out a new Burda asymmetrical stripe top that I FINALLY finished making!  I bought the magazine with this pattern in it over 2 years ago and while digging through my stuff, I found this pattern. I kind of yelled at myself like, "WHY haven't you made this yet?!" Since I am playing with more jersey knit/stretch knit, this one was perfect. And the fabric from Fabric.com couldn't have been any softer, stretchier or nicer to work with!  It sewed up really fast, but I was also really lazy with it, taking weeks in between to just hem the sleeves or bottom hem. No real reason why, aside from work being busy and I just wasn't feeling like jumping into my sewing room.   You can see on this side, I matched up the stripes pretty well but the other side (probably due to the scrunchiness on the raglan sleeve on the right side) is kind of a mess match-wise (below). But no one really cares!!  The thing is, I literally used to make...

Hi guys! I'm being lazy with designing and sewing right now (in the middle of transferring apartment units in our building at the moment and therefore, packing) but I have been playing with designing rooms on 3DRoomstyler! It's a program that I have had downloaded for a long while, played with a little and now after almost a year later, I am addicted! It's a free Chrome extension so anyone can download and play with it. I will have an upcoming "how to" on it via another place I write, The Art Shake   so mark your calendars for April 19th to get a basic run-down for how to make a room in it. (Or just try it yourself. It's pretty easy!) For now, have a look at the rooms I very recently have made/designed in it! "Oak Park Entryway" "City Condo" "Chicago Front Room" "Fictional Chicago Apartment"