Audrey Hepburn "Sabrina" Dress

 I grew up on old Hollywood classics. Doris Day, Julie Andrews, and  Alfred Hitchcock were very familiar names to me! I especially adored Audrey Hepburn, so when the Gertie pattern B6353 came out I immediately fell in love! It is a copy of a dress from the movie "Sabrina" that I always loved.

 When the corresponding Gertie fabric went on sale a year ago I snatched it up! I finally sewed it up this month and I am going to be Audrey Hepburn for Halloween! My childhood dreams have come true!

 This dress is the nicest thing I have ever sewn! The lining is the best one I have ever sewn too!

 I really wanted to step up my photography by taking outside pictures! I totally got heckled by the river though!

 There is a beautiful old mansion in my area, "The Moore Mansion", that I new I wanted to get a picture at, but I wasn't sure how to do it. So I drove up to it when the owner happened to be outside, I asked if I could take a picture just outside the gate and they told me I could take a picture anywhere on the property! It was a dream come true!

I am so happy they let me take a picture here! I have admired this house for ages! It really is lovely. And I thought it was very "Sabrina" to wear this dress outside of a mansion!

What I know about the Moore Mansion was that it was supposed to be a vacation home for a wealthy, ailing woman. It was built around 1920 but the lady died before it was finished! In the 1930s it was a "speakeasy" and even Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been here! It was abandoned for many years and was a restaurant when I was a child. It caught on fire and sustained a lot of damage when I was in high school. Thankfully new owners fixed it up and now lots of people get married here! Sewing bloggers also can sometimes take pictures of their vintage dresses here as well! ;)

April 2017 Sewing Makes!

 Hello everyone! Sorry about the random blogging! I never know when I will get the chance to do anything, so I can't promise to be on a better schedule, but can you tell I'm feeling better and getting my groove back? 

This April I worked hard to finish some projects and I can't believe I sewed nine (-ish) garments/items!!!!

 Looking at all the cute vintage kids patterns I had collected but never used started to make me feel guilty. So I thought up an Easter "collection" for my kids! The first one I'm displaying is a mint gingham Simplicity 8306. I LOVED how it turned out and I want one for myself! Someone pointed out that I made the empire waist line too high, and that is true, but I still like it!

 This dress is a Simplicity 8348 made in a lovely coral color. The frills and sleeves are just too cute!!!

This dress is a Simplicity 1075 with a thrifted white button up shirt. Again, I love this dress! I wanted to make it a bit more "Easter" like so I used a vintage lamb pattern instead of the poodles it calls for. 

I also learned how to sew a zipper properly from Allie J. on her instastories and I adore how (more) professional it looks from the inside!

So I foolishly didn't start sewing this pink dress until the night before Easter. I sewed from 11 o'clock at night until 5 in the morning, no joke. I can't believe I actually did it, and I don't recommend it! However, I really didn't want my one daughter to not have a special dress, since her sisters' dresses were already done. I didn't get to the pinafore though. I sewed that two weeks later and I adore how it turned out! The roses and ruffles are a sweet addition to the dress!

This was a small project, but fun. I wanted an outside banner of sorts for Easter and I wanted it to be Spring like but also a reminder of what Easter is really about, so I made a lamb, because Jesus was the lamb of God! It is a sweet reminder to me of the Savior.

Forgive the grainy picture but I love this skirt! I finally did some selfish sewing and work on my capsule wardrobe. Using the correct fabric for a pattern can make a huge difference! I made this same skirt with a stiff jean and it was a flop, as I have mentioned before! But I love the colors of this skirt!

I also made up a Pussy Bow Blouse in the same fabric and I adore how it turned out! It's so feminine and the contrast of colors I think look great and work well for me. Also, florals are too much fun! I had to include them in my capsule wardrobe plans, which I hope to blog about more soon. Technically I finished the project in May, but I had cut it all out and started sewing it in April so I will count it still!

Finally, I also sewed two Colette Sorbettos that I already blogged about last month! My Moana shirt (because of the tropical print) and a mint gingham one with leftover fabric from my daughter's dress.

Wow! Thank you pinless sewing, nap time, and one all nighter for helping me get all this work done!!! 

(P.S.- I really don't suggest pulling all nighters! Be smarter than me and get sewing projects done early!)

Dress Like Your Grandma Challenge

 I find the subject of family history endlessly fascinating. When I heard about Mrs. Hughes' Dress Like Your Grandma Challenge where one gets to sew an item of clothing to recreate an ancestor's picture, I knew I had to join in! Sewing and genealogy?! Yes please!

I used the top of pattern Butterick B6212
to make this shirt. I have a few things I still want to tweak about it, but it is good enough for now!

I chose to make a copy of my Great Grandma Jackie's sweetheart shirt because I always thought it was so pretty and it was from one of the few family pictures I have. 

My Great Grandma Jackie was a very different person than I am. She was very funny and popular. That information always intimidated me, a very introverted nerd! She was an extremely talented pianist and she was very fashionable.

Doing this challenge was so much fun! I get that I am not the greatest hairstylist and maybe this whole look works better for my grandma, but it's still neat to see oneself besides an ancestor! It's cool to look back and think about where one's family comes from and hear the stories of their lives!

And because I can, I am also adding it to the 2017 Vintage Pledge Pinterest board!

Belle Inspired Emery

 One fact about me is that Belle from Beauty and the Beast is my home girl. My soul sister. My spirit animal! Whatever you want to call it. She has been from 1992, that's how far back we go. We both have brunette hair, we both love books, we both want more than this provincial life, and we both fell in love with Beasts (ha ha, I kid, I kid! About the last similarity anyways... I love you Matt!).

I have been anxiously awaiting the release of the live action Beauty and the Beast for years and I am so excited that it is here! I had to make a dress to go with it.

Will you accept this rose?

 

 I wanted a dress that could double as an Easter dress, so I found some perfect yellow eyelet fabric. I have been meaning to have an excuse to make a gorgeous Emery dress from Christine Haynes patterns and this seemed like a perfect one! It really was such an easy pattern to follow with great lines.

I think I kind of do look like Belle!

What was Disney thinking hiring a famous Hollywood actress to portray Belle in their upcoming movie! They should've picked me! I killed in my fourth grade production of Rumplestiltskin!

I will be linking up to Akram's and Judith's Easter Dress Sewalong (even though I am a tad early!) and Allie's Social Sew!

Day and Night Dress Challenge

Elizabeth from Elizabeth Made This has put together a really cool sewing competition called the Day and Night Dress Challenge. To be apart of it, one must sew a day dress of any color and a night dress that is all black (I double checked with Elizabeth just to be sure!). I really enjoyed this challenge, and yes, worked really hard too! My house is a disaster and I will probably have to take a week off of sewing just to catch up on my chores! 

 I call this my Zooey Deschanel moment ;)

 I wanted to take pictures outside for this "Spring time" dress, but my whole town is covered in snow and ice!!!

 Daisies are one of my favorite flowers!

 ~Shoulder bows are so hot right now~

 The before mentioned Elizabeth took photos of her night dress with her violin so I had to as well!

Yes, I can play violin. Once upon a time I thought I was going to go pro! But I didn't and I don't regret it at all.

 I am a big Project Runway fan but only in the last couple years figured out what the judges mean by the word "cohesion". To put it plainly, it means the same kind of person would wear all the clothes in one designer's collection. Well, from watching all the amazing entries that have come in for this competition, I must say everyone has their own "cohesive aesthetic"! I hope mine does too! I love vintage, French style things and maybe my dresses won't come across like that to everyone, but I certainly am reminded of those things when I wear them! I love these dresses and plan on getting a lot of use out of them! I used a Frankenpattern hack of Butterick B6259, McCalls M7087, and the sleeves of Simplicity 2444 to make my day look dress (a more modest copy of a Forever 21 dress from long ago that I couldn't afford at the time but I never forgot). I straight up copied the picture on the envelope of Butterick 6582 for my night dress. I've always wanted to just take the artist's cues for fabric on a pattern and I'm glad I got the chance to this month! I also used Simplicity 2444's sleeves for the night dress, I just cut them a little shorter. Also, I am very proud of myself for yet again trying French seams! I love how they look!

Thank you Elizabeth for putting this together! 

(Belated) Fourth of July Shirt

 Everyone has a strange quirk right? One of mine is the love of celebrating every holiday to its fullest, at least the major ones. Like Buddy the Elf for Christmas, but also Halloween, Easter, Valentines, and don't forget St. Patrick's day! Anyways, I always see these adorable seasonal fabrics and want to use them but really don't feel like making a quilt. So then I had a brilliant idea to use one of my favorite patterns, The Sassy Librarian Shirt, and make a subtle or not so subtle (depending on the cuteness of the fabric) shirt to wear!

 I really tried to get this shirt done in time for the Fourth of July, which is kind of like the Christmas of summer (I would know, being a holiday connoisseur). I thought this "Sommer" fabric was a nice nod to the red, white, and blue and would be a good summer shirt. Then life happened and I could not for the life of me make any progress on it, simply from a lack of free time.

 Then the Olympics rolled around and I thought maybe I could get it done in celebration of that!

Nope.

 Finally, the planets aligned and I got this blessed shirt done! I surprised myself and made the shoulder seams larger.

 I also made the executive decision that although this pattern is precious and lovely, it is a time consuming one. Free time is something I don't have a ton of so I am going to stick with my crazy holiday shirt plan, but use a less complicated pattern.

 

 Happy Fourth of July! I love my home country.

Lemon Dress

 It's summer time! That means I finally have some time to sew.

 

 When I saw this fabric I fell in love! The lemons are perfect and the teal color is so fun. Then I saw a dress on a "Dapper Day" photograph that looked like the Simplicity 1459 pattern. I decided to try and copy it! I love how it turned out.

 I did French seams and a full lining inside. I have never made anything so nice (even though it is not perfect).

One has to have a drink of lemonade with a dress like this! It all makes me feel so summery and happy.

I'm linking this dress to the 2016 Vintage Pledge and Allie's Social Sew.

Vintage Pregnancy Dress

     

My poor neglected blog! It's been too long. I've been consumed with moving, then Christmas, and now the last home stretch before baby is born. Also, my kids refuse to let me type! But I must share that before I moved I took the time to sew a dress! 

 My original plan was to use this beautiful floral fabric, but then when I got around to sewing the dress, it just seemed too Spring-like. I wanted something warmer and my aunt just happened to give me some warm plaid fabric. I had to use it.

Someone pointed out to me that the plaid is in "Hufflepuff" colors! Every time I take a Hogwarts quiz I get sorted into "Hufflepuff", and it makes sense! As much as I'd like to be in "Gryffindor" or "Ravenclaw", I'm just not that. At least I'm not in "Slytherin"! ;)

 Vintage patterns can be challenging! This one had a lot of room for error but I'm pretty sure (even after I made a decent muslin!) I made the shoulders too small! It somehow still works for me though!

I was debating if I should include this very cheesy photo! It was around Christmas time, I had this adorable baby deer, and I wanted to copy Zooey Deschanel on her Christmas "She and Him" album. Yes, I'm a total goofball!

Vintage Apron

 Life has become increasingly busy with the new school year and I find myself very consumed with all kinds of work! I need to fit in more sewing time but I am not sure how I will do this. 

Anyways, sorry if you've already heard this story on instagram, but I am going to repeat it! I read a great book, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up", and it inspired me to just get rid of stuff. I got rid of so much that I didn't really care about that was just sitting around, including aprons I had. 

Then I read another great book, "Lessons From Madame Chic", where it explains that one should wear their nicest clothes every day, even if they are a stay at home mother like myself. They should just wear and apron to keep their clothes nice while they are doing chores. Seems basic but I never saw this as a child so it didn't occur to me until I read the book! 

 I wanted something with cute ruffles and I thought one of these patterns would work!

I love how it turned out! The pop of green binding is nice in my opinion. I admit the straps are a bit wonky in this picture but no worries! I took them off and readjusted them to a better angle.