Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Life's Ups and Downs

Life sure has its ups and downs. The Independence Day holiday was spent at a fun family picnic where the featured food was crabs (it was in Maryland), steaks, and in season fruits and vegetables.
Got Crabs!




Crab pickin' sure is messy!
 There was a badminton tournament, water gun battles, fish and turtle catching in the pond, and a finale of fireworks. “Now kids, don’t play with the fireworks, leave that to the adults." (who have been drinking all day!) We left the picnic, drove 4 hour home to pick up a change of clothing and drove another 7 hours  to attend the graveside service for my husband’s recently deceased uncle the next day.

For the memorial service, I wore a dress made from Burda Style magazine March 2013.



  This dress is fitted, with a scoop neck, short sleeves and an A line skirt. The angled darts, waistline, sleeve and neckline edges are highlighted with applied trim. Here are other garments with similar trim applications.


Trim accented seams and darts
 The fabric was a unique light weight, double layered, quilted, textured silk/rayon fabric from online fabric retailer Sew Much Fabric. The  print was in sober grays with faint splashes of white and greenish yellow. I chose a trim in the same greenish yellow to add some interest to what otherwise would have been a basic style, dull colored, dress.
Fabric front and back

The dress is called the Ribbon Dress on the BurdaStyle website. For the trim, the magazine instructions recommend petersham, which is very different than ribbon. Petersham is woven ribbon, but has some unique characteristics that are important for this design. It is almost always made of rayon, cotton or a mix of the two natural fibers, and with a weave that allows it to be shaped around curves. Most ribbons, and petersham’s look alike cousin - grosgrain ribbon, are made of poly and cannot be shaped around a curve without gathering. Petersham is not available at my local fabric stores. If I had had more time, I would have purchased some from Etsy.com where there is a large variety of colors and widths. Instead I had to look for alternate trims that had a flexible weave. Bias strips to the rescue. A package of Wrights 1 inch double fold quilt binding,  cut in half and the cut edge folded in, it created a 5/8” flexible trim.  


 My handy, dandy edge stitch foot (also called joining or stitch in a ditch), with the needle position set to 1/8” from the  flange that rides along the edge of the trim, made sewing the trim to the dress a breeze.
sewing trim with edge stitch foot
 Rather than deal with facings on the neck opening,  I lined the entire dress.  It took lot of tweaking to get the close fit I wanted in the bodice to prevent the wide neckline from falling off my shoulders. When I make garments that require lots of fitting, I usually end up sewing in my underwear. I try on the dress, mark the alterations, take off the dress, sit down still wearing underwear to sew the changes, try on dress again, etc. Does that happen to anyone else?


 
 
 

23 comments:

  1. Very cute dress and the chartreuse trim a great accent. I am sorry about the loss of your husband's uncle but am glad you had such glorious and traditional family Fourth. Life gives and takes, doesn't it?

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  2. I love this ... it looks fabulous! Thanks also for the difference between petersham and grosgrain ribbon as I didn't know that!

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  3. Sewing in underwear, yes I have done that at times when I get tired of changing to check the fit as I sew, mostly for the first time of a new drafted pattern

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  4. It's a beautiful dress, perfect fit as always. I sew in my underwear too occassionally, when it's change/try/change/try like you say.

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  5. That dress is gorgeous because of the fabulous fit. Re sewing in underwear- of course! With a quick throw-on shift nearby "just in case" :-)

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  6. So sorry to hear of the passing of your husband's uncle...

    However, the dress is lovely and the green binding does brighten up the sober print. Lovely!

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  7. Great dress! It looks "you", and that's why we sew - so we can wear what our personal style desires. Well done!

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  8. Your dress is beautiful. I have this pattern on my wish list and now that I see your dress I am anxious to get started.
    I too have be caught sewing in my underwear.

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  9. “Now kids, don’t play with the fireworks, leave that to the adults." (who have been drinking all day!)" Hilarious and I can relate to certain members of my family!!!
    Fabulous job on this dress and great idea to use the bias binding. The fit is spot on!

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  10. Love this dress, especially the trim. I saw this in the magazine and was hoping someone would make it. Yours turned out so well! I'm not a sew-in-underwear kind of gal, but I probably should be to save time on fitting!

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  11. Such a nice dress. I had to laugh at the "sewing in your underwear". I do it all the time!

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  12. very touching post, re: life's ups and downs. what a great 4th celebration. Lovely dress and the color combo is fantastic. super good fit also.

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  13. The dress suits you so perfectly. The trim does give it some lift too.

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  14. Oh Audrey! It's beautiful! Your trim detail is just right and just enough!
    I love those Maryland crabs!

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  15. The dress is fabulous! Love that edge joining foot. Couldn't live without it.
    And yes, I have often sewn in my underwear - especially when sewing pants - so many tweaks to make.

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  16. What different days, your post title says it all.
    Your dress looks lovely. Thanks for the bias tape idea.I have been looking for the rare (here) petersham in the right colour for my planned version of this dress, but now have a much easier to find option! You are very clever.

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  17. What a fabulous dress. I love your choice of chartreuse for the trim.

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  18. I'm sorry to hear of the reason for the dress, but it is really lovely. Why is Petersham so hard to find??? Nobody stocks it in person, and I haven't found too many sources for it online, either. I wonder if it is more available in Europe.

    And yes, I always sew in my underwear. I don't see how anything could get done otherwise!

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  19. I am an underwear sewing kind of gal myself most of the time. It saves a lot of time when you sew and fit.

    Glad you had a nice 4th of July celebration and sorry about the recent death in the family. Life is up and down as you say.

    Like the idea you chose for the trim of this dress; it did add a nice touch of color.

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  20. You look beautiful in that dress! Perfect print with your hair...and the trim is just right! Well done.
    BTW, yes, I do sometimes end up sewing in my underwear, although I never start out with that as my plan!
    Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  21. Lovely! The green trim really makes this dress unique.

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  22. Hi Audrey, I'm launching a new line of sewing patterns, with Nougat dress being the first pattern. I would like to treat you with the pattern. If you're interested in it, please email me at anajan.stepalica[at]gmail[dot]com
    You can see more info about the pattern on my blog www.stepalica.com

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