This year, my friend had me make her dress from senior prom.  She picked out the pattern, fabric, and notions and I sewed it.  It's more of a skirt and top but we just called it a dress anyways.  It took FOREVER.  But she loved it so it was owrth it.  The top is boned and fully lined and the skirt has 8 panels that I pressed open and serged each side.  So i serged 18 seams on the skirt alone.  Which was a pain.  But the fabric frayed and I didn't want it to fall apart on her.  The straps/sleeves were my own design because she wanted her shoulders to be covered.  And there's a really fake diamond trim under the bust but you can't really see it in the pictures.  The trim was hand sewed and so was the skirt hem  .  The whole dress isn't really my style but it's what she wanted and I think it suits her style perfectly.













This was the pattern I used and I did the dress on the model on the left. 

For dress #1 I used a 2 way stretch rayon spandex blend (i think thats what it was) from Joanns.  I bought 2.5 yards and that was enough for me.  I wear a sz.12 in patterns but I cut different sizes on each line...my picture will explain.


1.  sz 16 cutting line
2.  sz 12 cutting line
3.  sz 12 cutting line
4.  sz 16 cutting line
5.  sz 12 cutting line- but I extended the line at the neck so that it was straight across
6.  sz 16 cutting line
7.  sz 16 cutting line
8.  sz 12 cutting line

Then put it all together like the pattern instructions say but make sure you extend the casing for the elastic up across the neck.  The front and back of the bodice dip down quite a bit like so:

The back especially did so I tried it on and cut across the purple line so it fit right.

the sleeves were done by just pulling the sides of the sleeve in and handstitching it into place. 
for the skirt I just added a strip of fabric at the top so that it has two casings for elastic.  skirt cut sz 16 cutting line.

hopefully that all makes sense.

Let me first explain my pattern-making skills ways: I taught myself everything I know...pretty much by trial and error and by understanding how the pieces fit together and how they then fit on the body.  So this is just how I do things. 

I have this basic t-shirt pattern and I swear it's a Mccalls (I can't seem to find it right now) but I can't find it on their site so it may be out of print.  But I know that the sz.M fits perfectly so I use that as a guide for all my patterns.  So maybe you have a pattern like that or a shirt that you know fits you well that you can use.  Here's my paint shop skills at their finest:

This is basically what I did


The gray drawings are what it looks like finished and the skirt of the front and back have gathers at the center along with the bodice at the bust. 
First-I stand in front of the mirror and pin the pattern piece for the front to my shirt and I lightly use a pencil to draw where I want the lines to go.  How much I want it to slope in-ward and how low I want it to sit and everything.  Then I un-pin it at use a ruler to make the lines straight.  For piece #1 I make sure I add 5/8" seam allowance in the center (where they usually have you put it on the fold, you know?).  I cut four front pieces.
Then- I cut the piece that goes from under the shoulder and up to the neck (the purple piece).  Cut four of these.
Then- Stitch the purple pieces on the all the front pieces. Then take the left front and the piece thats going to line it and sew then right sides together, leaving the bottom and the seam that goes under the arm unstitched.  Do the same to the other front pieces.  So now you have the two pieces for the front (both are "lined" or whatever). 



1. These two edges should be raw, the rest are sewed to the "lining".
2. Stitch across the red line to make the casing for the ties neck
3. Use a seam ripper to unstitch where the blue is (between the casing seam and the neck) so the ties can slide through.
4. Gather between the yellow lines
Cut some fabric for the ties and put them in.

The back part of the bodice is put together pretty much the same way as the front.  Just cut two of the main color and two of the contrast color and stitch them together.  Seam the sides of the bodice. 

The waist band should be cut to fit around under your bust plus 1 1/4" for the seam.  Seam the waistband at the two smaller edges and attach the bodice.  I add 2" to the skirt on the fold to allow for gathering.  Seam the skirt at the sides and gather at the top center and attach it to the waistband.  Hem and you're done!

I really hope all that made sense.

I haven't been all that active on craftster in...6 months?  Mainly because every other week our computer decides to die and the resurrect itself only to die again and resurrect and so on.  But ive been sewing like crazy and heres a few of the things ive made in the past couple months.

Dress #1
I designed this and used Simplicity 3893 as a basic guide for the pattern.  I ended up having to modify the pattern ALOT though. 


The sleeves and back.


Dress #2
I can't believe how much I love Hilary Duff's patterns.  This is Mccall's 5595.


Dress #3
Another one of Hilary Duff's patterns Mccall's 5575 with Kwik Sew 3414 underneath.  You can't really tell in the pictures but the black is this "burnout" knit fabric.  I don't actually know if that's the right term but thats what they call it on Urban Outfitters.  And it's pretty see-through so I put Kwik Sew 3414 under.  And the gray is a ribbed knit.


Dress #4
Butterick 5130.  I used the wrong side of this fabric because the right side has this icky gold dot print all over it.  But it's safely hidden underneath


And the back (haha my racer-back bra looks like a thong for my back)


Dress #5
I designed this and was planning on just making my own pattern but then I found Simplicity 3676 and realized it was so similar I should just use it and save myself the trouble.  The brown fabric is an XL mens t-shirt from Joanns, the blue is fabric I had left over from another dres.  And I've pretty much used this blue fabric in every thing, I love it so much.  Oh and the white is an undershirt that I have on through out all the pictures.


Dress #6
I made this a while ago.  It's my own design and I made the pattern too.


Dress #7
I designed this one too and made the pattern.  Well, I didn't really make a pattern I just drew it all up and (in my mind) pictured how it would all go together and cut the pieces to size.  Alot of math involved.  And no physical pattern to show for it.  And there's the blue fabric I used with the brown dress too.   


The back.  I realize the bra hanging out is kinda trashy but I figured you all would understand how it is when you have a guy taking the pictures (he doesn't have much patience for total wardrobe changes)


Dress #8
Here's the dress that I bought the blue for but since I designed it myself I had no idea how much fabric to get.  Thats why I have so much left over that I use on other dresses. 



I may have forgotten to mention that my current obsession is empire waists and knits/jersey
And I just finished another dress in burgundy that I have to get pictures of and post. 
What do you think of them?

how would i go about making something like this?
theres something about the construction that totally baffles me.



all i know is that she said she bought it off of ebay

From prom this year we decided to do our own thing and wear less fancy dresses so I thought this would be the perfect excuse to make this vogue dress.  I'm very happy with the way it came out...although I'm not too happy with the pictures because my eyes are closed in most of them.  Thankfully there were tons of parents there taking pictures so I'm sure there are more with my eyes open.

Third in from the right


On the right


Second from the right


Second from the right


Right in the middle

I swear I already posted in this thread...

Well, this June for our church girls camp me and a few girls decided we were going to make our own bathing suits with the theme "vintage".  So I bought this pattern:



I'm making the one piece.  What type of fabric should I use?  A print?  A solid color?  Anyone know of any sites that sell quality swim suit fabric?  Hancock and Joanns just aren't doing it for me.

For the past few weeks I have been asking my friend Carmen when they were going to shear their two sheep (Domino and Marley) so that I could have the wool.  Well, last night she brought it to me but I have a feeling it can't be spun.   Its all really short.  I don't really know anything about the roving before it looks all nice and dyed so maybe I'm wrong.  Well, here's some pictures:

Domino is on the left and Marley is on the right


Here's some of it with my finger for scale


And another (for some reason my hand looks really red)


Is it useable?  I think she said they were boar sheep...or something like that.

If any one has wandered over to the Texas board, more specifically the Northeast one, you may have noticed our 40 page thread documenting our first craftster meet-up along with our second one and a third in the works.  At our second meet-up RecycleMicol taught me how to spin.  I loved doing it so much that when I got home I started looking up drop spindles and roving.

See how happy I was?  And it really was the spinning that made me happy, not the food piled around me.


A few days later, a package came in the mail.  I was expecting a swap package so I assumed that's what it was but was sad to see that it was addressed to my mom.  I emailed my mom at work and told her my sad little story of how the box addressed to her had broke my heart and she informed me that there was something in the box for me.  I opened it and was surprised to find a drop spindle from RecycleMicol along with some roving AND my first handspun that I had spun at our meet-up.  I immediately started spinning, and with less than perfect results, I produced the brown pictured below.



It looked terrible and I was frustrated.  So I sat back down, and this time I took it slow and I spun the pink pictured above.  I was so proud of it.  But, I was left with the unsightly brown and I had no idea what to do with it. 

Fast forward to Saturday, March 30 (yesterday).  Micol and my mom planned a BBQ for our families and we drove down to the Ft.Worth area to their house.  We were there for around 7 hours, and in that time Micol taught me how to use a spinning wheel, ply on a spinning wheel, ply on a drop spindle, cut and spin old bags, dye yarn, and other crafty things.  She spun this for me and used it to show me how to ply on a spinning wheel:



Then I spun this and she used it to showed me how to ply on a drop spindle:



Rewind to about a week ago, I had started spinning this pink and yellow roving together.  I didn't like the way it looked but I kept at it because I fugured that it was good practice.  Today, I plyed (plied?) it!:

 

And with my newfound knowledge of plying, along with my knowledge of how plying can make an icky mess look loads better, I grabbed the pink and brown I had first spun and plyed it:

 

I can't even find words to explain how much fun I had at Micol's house and how much I learned.  I think this picture sums up how much fun my brothers had too (Guitar Hero really is their hero):   

This is one of the first things I have made (that wasnt knit flat) that I didn't use a pattern for.  Well, I sorta made my own pattern but I pretty much just knit until I was happy with it.  Anyways, I'm pretty proud of it even though it is just a simple hat.











Materials:
I used Cascade yarn in black (substitute for something of similar weight if ya want)
Set of 5 US Size 3 dpns
US Size 10  16” circular


With two size 3 dpns cast on 86 sts (I used two needles so that it was a looser cast on.  It seems to have worked nicely).  Split cast on stitches between 4 needles.  Join work in 1x1 (K1,P1) ribbing for 6 rounds.

Next round:  Switch to size 10 circular and knit
Next round:  Work stitch as follows
   Round 1:  *yo, p2tog* to end of round
   Round 2:  knit to end of round
   Round 3:  knit to end of round

Work the stitch until hat measures 7-8 inches (including ribbing)

Next round:  k2tog to end
Next round:  k2tog to end

Cut yarn leaving 10”-15” tail and thread through remaining sts to close hole.  Weave in ends.