Thursday, June 13, 2013

School's Out!

I did continue to wear me made garments during May as incentive to clean out my closet.  Finding the time to photograph myself was difficult and I decided not to bore you with pictures of me in garments, many of which  I gave away. Gone are several matched suits. Pants and jackets of  the same color and fabric, The pants didn’t fit as well as I would like and the jackets didn’t look good worn as a separate.   Gone are pants I had worn to the point of shabbiness. But I made a note of the pattern and what I liked or disliked about it. Gone are 2 of my first  lined jackets, made in the early 1990's. Why did I keep them so long? After much thought I concluded it was  because they were made when I got my first supervisory job and I wanted to look ..supervisory, which at that time, for women as well as men, meant a jacket.  They represented the accomplishment of a significant career milestone.  I've achieved a few more milestones since then, so it was easy to let them go. 



The clean out mentality spilled over into other areas. 

1. Fabric Stash - The juvenile prints left over from my sons' childhood will not be in fashion when my grandchildren come along. Gone!

2. Linen closet - Where did all these beach towel come from? Some with names of places I have never been to. Gone!  Power Ranger Sheets  Gone!

3. Blog Reader - moved to Bloglovin, Not really lovin it,  but it showed me how many blogs were on my list. Over 400 ! Deleted were blogs devoted to doing quirky things for a year, ones with too many ads and not much content, anything related to sewing vintage patterns, style blogs with one style, and some other attributes I won't go into.  Gone !

Son #2 decided to have his Boy Scout Eagle Court of Honor in June,  the same month as his High School graduation. Lots of family came for the weekend to celebrate with us.  It was a great time, but I had to relocate my sewing stuff out of  the sewing, I mean, dining room. Yes, I am the one that bought out all the plastic containers at the the Big Lots store.  Yes, they were stashed in every closet of the house and under the deck. As soon as the  company left, I had to get started on my dress for the graduation ceremony. Which container did I put that fabric in?   I found it and  finished the dress in time.

The pattern - Vogue 8902 - Misses Dress has close-fitting bias bodice and sides, seam detail, sleeve and skirt variations and back zipper, lined bodice and lots of topstitching. Sizes 6-22 with custom fit for A,B,C,D, cups.

Vogue 8902

I didn't notice that all dress pieces were bias cut when I bought the pattern. The recommended fabric is double knit, crepe or tropical wool.  I made the dress out of a printed cotton stretch sateen with the contrast inserts of ponte knit, and lined it in tricot knit. I felt the cotton stretch fabric had about the same amount of stretch as a crepe or tropical wool on the bias. This dress is rated easy, but I would rate it medium and time consuming. It has many angular pieces that are easy to mix up (mark notches and right and wrong sides) The seams of the angular pieces are not straight, but have some shaping in them, as does the center back seam below the waist. There is lots of top stitching. Only the bodice is to be lined, but I lined the whole dress. There is no separate lining pattern. You have to use the same patterns  as the garment, with all those pie wedges pieces, etc. My fabric was a abstract floral in purple, black and white. I used black fabric for the waist insets and sleeves to break up the print.


Vogue 8902 Front

Vogue 8902 Back
Zipper Lining detail





Proud Mom June 13, 2013


28 comments:

  1. Wow! That is one fabulous dress! I love the fabric, and the black pieces are really flattering!

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  2. It must feel good to clear out all that stuff!

    Your graduation dress is lovely. The combination of purple and black looks really good on you.

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  3. Oh you have been productive - both in makes and clearing! Good for you. Nice colour on you. Congratulations to your son.

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  4. Your son is so cute (as my daughters would say). You must be very proud of him for his achievement. I really like your dress too. The inserts give it a very modern look.

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  5. Really nice dress on you - very flattering! And congrats on the clear out - I've been doing the same thing with the closet and the stash. I found that my stash was becoming a burden instead of a source of inspiration; I mean, I was starting to feel a responsibility to DO something with those fabrics, and I knew I never would. Gave away tons of fat quarters to some quilters I know - I haven't made a quilt in four years and I don't aim to make one any time soon. By the time I get inspiration to do so, I'll probably want new, updated fabric anyway.

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  6. I love that dress, it's very flattering.

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  7. First congrats on your son's graduation! Doesn't it seem like just yesterday you were dropping him off at kindergarten?

    Second, congrats on cleaning things up and out. I'm sure it gives you much more room for new things.

    Finally, I really like the dress and how you used the solid to break up the print. Really lovely!

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  8. Having recently undertaken a cleaning up process in my garage, I know how you feel...however it hasn't spilled into my closet or stash lol.

    love the dress and you do look a proud mum

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  9. Wow, how did you come up with such a stunning dress with so much going on around you.
    congrats on what sounds like a cathartic purge, I bet you feel so much lighter. It is just time to let go after awhile.

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  10. oh wow, I love that dress you look fantastic. And I am always happy to see any Vogue pattern sewn up. I notice that on the designer patterns the lining pieces are usually different, they combine any small or odd shape pieces to make a sensible lining. which is a nice feature. But the sizing on those basic mix and match dress option patterns is also nice. Why can't they combine the two ideas? my little rant for the day. Congrats on your family accomplishments, enjoy.

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  11. I know I should follow your example of cleaning out. I.ve been cleaning out quite a bit of books recently, but the sewing space is still left undone...
    Your dress is wonderful, great fabric combination. Congratulations with your son, such a milestone.

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  12. Good job clearing out. Power Ranger sheets, haha!

    Congrats on your son's graduation and Eagle scout. :-)

    I've been using The Old Reader (based on an old version of Google reader) and have been quite happy with it.

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  13. Congratulations on your son's graduation! And on making your dress under these circumstances, it looks fabulous. You really know what looks good on you!

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  14. Congratulations on the graduation - I'll be there in 6 years, yikes!

    And doesn't it feel good to clean out?

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  15. Congratulations to your son!Time to be one proud momma!

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  16. Love that fabric. Dress came out so nice!

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  17. Lovely dress! I have that pattern too so i'm glad to see it is as flattering as i had hoped. I must also try it with those strategically placed solid blocks. And congratulations to your son, you both look so happy and proud!

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  18. You've been busy! Congratulations to your son on his graduation and Eagle Scout honors -- you must be so proud! Perfect dress for the festivities!

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  19. You look wonderful, Audrey, and a hearty congratulations to your son on his graduation, and to you for clearing out your stashes!

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  20. What a lovely dress! And the photo of you and your son is really great. I laughed when reading about your organizational and clean out frenzy. Have done the same recently and found myself feeling so much lighter!

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  21. Really glad to see this dress pattern made up. I just bought it during Club BMV sale a month or more ago. I like the print with solid pieces, very flattering look.

    Congrats to your son for his graduation!

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  22. Wow, you've been very busy - it must feel good to have cleared out so much stuff, and find time to make a great dress!

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  23. That dress is FABULOUS! I just looked at that pattern and couldn't decide. Call me decided!!! And congrats to you and your son.

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  24. I love what you've done with the blocking here, it's always nice to have something new to wear for a special occasion.

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  25. Beautiful dress- cleverly designed and what a great occasion to show it off. Congratulations.

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  26. What a beautiful dress! I love the "pie" insertions and your choice of print. You look very proud.

    I am quite amused at the image of you rummaging under the deck for your fabric. I recently noticed that there was a Big Lots relatively near me and took note, because I'll need to buy containers there if I ever have to move!

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