Elasticated Blindstitched Neckline

The tutorial is up! Here’s a link: TSD tutorial.

Burda WOF 4/07 #107B Dress

Here are some photos of the finished dress. I love it but you can see that the skirt is much straighter than the illustrations would have you believe. The little cap sleeves are adorable and so easy. I love the fact that they are cut on the fold and therefore require no hemming.

I thought I’d copy Phyllis and actually style my photos for a change. I’m wearing this today with some high-heeled black boots. Yes, it’s warm outside but it is still February and I’m talking myself into believing that it’s still winter plus I have an appointment today that requires the strut and I-mean-business attitude only high-heeled boots can give you!

Here’s a better shot of the dress itself:

As you can see, I did not use the elastic finish on the neckline. Instead, I serged some plain lingerie elastic to the wrong side of the neckline and turned it under. The neckline could then be topstitched but I often use my blindstitch machine instead because it gives me a dressier finish. On a print like this you can’t even see the tiny little stitches! Hmm, maybe I should do a quick little tutorial so you can see how easy it is.

The fabric is a fantastic rayon/lycra that I bought last year from Ebay seller Bestonlinefabrics. I’ve purchased a few things from this seller and it’s all been really nice.

UPDATE 2/26/08: The tutorial is up! Here’s a link: TSD tutorial.

Déjà vu all over again

As many of you know, in addition to being a fabriholic, patternaholic and shoeaholic I am also a purseaholic! What can I say? I am just a little bit compulsive! As I was reading one of my favorite purse blogs this morning, I came across this:

It’s a lovely bag from Moe Bags. Look familiar? Let me refresh your memory:
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1940s Vogue Pattern

Sewing Workshop Obi Bag Pattern

I had originally thought to make this bag in velvet but I think the leather is fabulous and better suited for an everyday bag.

Organza-edged lingerie elastic

So many of you have asked about the organza-edged elastic that I felt the need to talk about it some more! Here is a close-up photo of it used as a sleeve finish on another garment. I believe I bought this particular one at MJ Trims in NYC a couple of years ago but I’m not 100% positive. It’s a very pretty and super-simple way to finish a neckline. Just serge it on, turn in and topstitch.

I did a quick search on Ebay for “organza elastic” and came up with quite a few auctions for it: Ebay auctions so it’s readily available. You might also do a search for “ruffled elastic”.

Burda WOF 4/07 #107B

I loved this style the minute my April 2007 Burda magazine arrived but am just now getting around to making it. Surplice tops look really good on me so I can’t resist one that has some unusual detail to make it a little different from all of the others in my closet. Well, when I was in JoAnn’s last week, I noticed that Burda had released this style as a paper pattern, #7828

So, I bought it figuring that the cost of the pattern would more than make up for not having to spend the time tracing. 🙂 I cut a straight 34 which fit me perfectly right out of the envelope. The only alteration I made was for a forward shoulder, I also narrowed the forearm of the sleeve by 5/8″ on each side during my final try-on. I don’t think my forearms are particularly thin so that might be an area to watch if you make this. The fabric is a beautiful rayon/lycra that I am pretty sure I bought from Textile Studios. I also have this in a red colorway but I thought the purple would look great with jeans.

I used an organza-edged lingerie elastic to finish the neckline – what could be faster and easier than that? The pattern allows for a 5/8″ turn-in at the neckline so I cut it down about 1/2″ because the edge of my elastic is narrow and I wanted to compensate somewhat for the width of the organza edge. That worked out really well.

I really like this style a lot and intend to cut the cap-sleeved dress out tomorrow and probably one more top with the cap sleeve. I highly recommend this as an instant-gratification project!

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that my Japanese Vionnet book arrived today too! You can read about it on Fashion Incubator.

I have been AWOL quite a lot lately and missed Kathleen’s post but I did manage to buy a copy from a Japanese Bookseller on Ebay. Here’s a link to the Buy-It-Now auction: Vionnet book. My copy arrived quickly – in about a week. Mostly, I just enjoy looking at her various designs and how they were cut – pure genius. However, if I ever find myself with a lot of time it would be really fun to copy some of these garments.