Reversible dress

Basically it's in the title. I was cruising through instagram and saw a sponsored post of a floral 3/4 sleeve knit dress and decided to make one for myself. The floral knits were a bit limited and the fabric I got was slightly too thin to be made without a lining so...reversible dress, it is! 

 

Details: long sleeves, boat neck, a-line dress. As usual, no pattern. The only thing I wished I could alter is the armpit size. Maybe my shoulders/arms are bigger than I expect? There's also a bit of excess fabric in the back but I wouldn't be able to take it in unless I had a long zipper and it looked decent with a belt. Without, it seems a bit too matronly in my opinion. 

Yay for more work-appropriate clothes!

Happy Easter!

So, I decided to make a dress for Easter. Generally, all the items I make are self-drafted/taken from items I already own but this time, I decided to try out a pattern. I don't really recall how I found this one, but *shrugs*

Alteration: Neckline increased by 2 inches because I thought it was too deep of a cut. In retrospect, I think I should have let it be because now it limits the necklaces I can wear and caused some bunching in the midline. Also, I totally measured myself wrong/cut out a larger pattern size than I actually fit so there was a lot of seam ripping and alterations before I was mostly satisfied with the result. 

I'm usually not one for frills, but the sleeve detail seemed interesting so I kept it. 

It was a beautiful day! Lots of sunshine and a cool sea breeze.

 Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't in the most favorable position outdoors, so we opted for an indoor photo-op with B's awesome spring decor :)

Striped Jersey Tank Dress

My friend D is starting a blog as a creative outlet, which inspired me to do some sewing. I have a lot of projects that I start and then don't finish for one reason or another. I started this jersey dress in September 2014 and I stopped because:

1) I realized I was making a summer dress when it was fall and that I should totally make other things appropriate for the weather and
2) I had started to sew the trim (?? pardon my lack of knowing any sewing terminology) for the neck and arm holes, which was frustrating me since the fabric I was using was stretchy jersey and
3) I thought I had utterly messed up the fit by making a button placket in the front/trying to be fancy. 

Anywho, fast forward to now...it's January 2016. That's totally summertime, right?

       

Different apartments so different lighting (yes, I've moved since I started this project. It's been that long.) I finished the neck line and felt too exhausted to finish the arm holes so...I quit reason #2.

Placket didn't quite line up properly and the top seemed too low cut so...I quit reason #3. I wanted functional buttons, but the front flap kept flipping down. In order to make the top of the dress modest, I ended up just sewing the buttons in place. That seemed to semi-fix the misaligned placket. 

I like how it's flowing but I was told it was too shapeless so I cut a strip of fabric for a belt. Since the theme of this post was delaying a project out of sheer laziness, I wanted to note that true to form I did not finish the bottom hem. Not even a zigzag stitch because -let's be real- it's jersey and I couldn't be bothered. 

Burdastyle Open Back Dress

Deadlines are very motivational for me because I tend to follow the motto: "Why do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow?" Probably not the best mantra, but it works from time to time. 

Refresher: Burdastyle open back dress

I altered the bodice pattern quite a bit because I saw many others had issues with gaping at the sides. However...I still ran into that issue with certain movements. Thank goodness for double-sided garment tape! I also decided to scrap the sleeves and use sew-in bra pads instead of boning because I couldn't be bothered to learn this late in the game. Maybe next time I make a dress, I'll do so in a timely manner. Doubtful.

Side view of the dress in good lighting

Open back! in not so good lighting

At the Theatre: Phantom of the Opera

SPACE!

Band shirt & old t-shirt a friend gave me

+

inspiration

=

rockin' t-shirt dress!

Infinity Dress

The infinity dress has been around for a long time and I've seen several different tutorials that explain how to make it. The only reasons stopping me from making this dress was the large amount of fabric required...and a few confusing details. Luckily, I stumbled upon yet another tutorial that gave extra tips and tricks to making this dress. Although I wanted to have all my projects be reconstructions or made from items I own, I decided to go and buy fabric to make this dress.

In essence, the dress is a banded circle skirt with two extremely long straps that can be wrapped however you wish. As the straps are long and thin, the same long piece of fabric can make straps for at least 2 of these dresses. This week, I made my mom's dress.

To me, this dress is like the epitome of simplicity and sustainability. It can be made rather easily [once deciphered] and will be worn for years to come. For those who worry about wearing the same dress twice, this one can be manipulated to be different each time.

Experiment with Silk

It's been a really long time since I made a project from scratch so I figured it was about time. One of the easiest things to make, in my opinion, is a dress. I've been looking through Etsy for ideas and finally set my eyes upon these dresses from MyLolaFashion. I had several fabrics to choose from and took a poll from my friends.



Fabric #1 was the winner. And so, the fun begins!

Shoulder Alteration

Ah! It's so sunny!!



I bought this dress a couple years ago [think Fall 2009] and, even though the top was a little large and hung way too low on me, I wore it to my cousin's baptism. After having to pull it up every few minutes, I threw it away to the deep recesses of my closet. However, a few events on campus made me rethink this decision. I mean, it's a nice dress and I ought to wear it if I spent my money, right? So, I got to work.

Stripes, Flowers & Strawberries

The weather outside has been beautiful, so I decided to make a spring-y piece. I decided to use this dress that my aunt gave me ages ago [10+ years.] I wanted to keep this project simple, and since the dress was so long, I decided I could make it into a shirt AND a dress.



First step, cut in half, or close to it...I ended up cutting it too short for the shirt portion, but it shall be salvaged!



To make the dress, I flipped the bottom portion inside out and made it a bit tighter--but still loose enough to slip past my shoulders and hips. Then, I attached elastic to the back half.



I folded the fabric to hide the elastic and sewed it shut. Then, I took a ribbon from a different dress I had to make a sash. I went to Thai Temple [food fundraiser after their service] and then to Parksdale Farm with some friends. Food coma & sugar overload = one successful Sunday :]

Circle Skirt turned Dress

SURPRISE! I ended up making something to wear this week :] I also got bored last night and decided to make my name tag out of scrap fabric! Who wants to blend in with a name tag made with markers and a piece of folded paper?



But, on to the main piece. Prior to starting this Thesis project, I've always kept an eye out on different DIY projects and tutorials. I have a whole bookmarks folder dedicated to tutorials I found interesting or simple enough for me to complete. This week, I decided to make a circle skirt.

The person who created the tutorial said she used a bed sheet to make the skirt and I realized I had tons of bed sheets laying around the house so I hastened to my closet and pulled out this beauty from back in the 90s...

...and I made this!

The bed sheet I used had a wide strip of solid fabric at the top, which I found could be used to convert the skirt into a dress. It's a two-in-one! However, today's forecast was cold and rainy so I decided to wear it like a long shirt with a pair of skinny jeans. Coincidentally, this is my 3rd post and I tend to park on the 3rd floor of a certain parking garage on campus so....

TA-DAAA!!!
P.S. I make a lot of funny faces >.<
Happy Friday!!