My Holiday Dress!!

Remember the Holiday dress I blogged about?? I used the following pattern:
...and decided to go wtih a deep red satin material and black, gem-like button accents! Here's the finished product!!

I had a few issues with keeping the material from fraying and decided to use fray chek - a bonding substance. Well, I kind of overused this product (and by kind of, I mean I totally overdid myself), and the cleaners kept my dress to the very last minute (2 hours before start time) to fix my mess up (bless their hearts!!), BUT my husband and I had a blast!!! That's all that matters, right?!? :)

Gold Evening Gown

Here's the low down on my latest project:

The front of the dress will be shortened at the knees; it will look similiar to the dress farthest to the right. The back of the dress will resemble the picture in the middle. Quite unigue!! What a wonderful backless dress.

For the fabric, I will be using a gold, almost crushed material from the home decor section (the same section my wedding dress material came from...lol)! I will post pictures of the completed gown in a few weeks. :)

My Holiday Dress...the saga continues!!

Remember how I joked about seeing how many times I'd change my dress pattern, color, etc... before the Holiday party?!? Well, here we go - I'm changing the style of the dress:
I am actually going to go with the dress farthest to the left. It's a great dress for showcasing my high heels. Now, I just have to pinpoint a color. My husband's vote is for a brown solid (he's such a guy). I'm still leaning towards green, maybe even a shade of burgundy. I honestly won't know until I stop by the fabric store tomorrow night.

School Girl Costume!

Done!! Here's how it turned out.

You didn't think I was going to make her model this, did you??? :)

Now, on to the next project...

Online Dress Watching

It's kind of like bird watching...but with dresses...that don't move or make noise.

Okay, it's nothing like bird watching, but it's the best title that I can come up with at the moment.

So...generally, while I'm looking online for ideas on how to start a particular project, I tend to get off track. Here are a few dresses that I've stumbled upon while I was supposed to be researching something completely different.

Wedding Dresses

I'm partial to cream colored wedding dresses...they just seem so elegant!!

I like the colored band...helps the bride coordinate with her wedding party.

I LOVE lace wedding dresses...again, they scream elegance!

Evening Dress

This Nicole Miller dress is amazing...I like the colors and the design!! We will definitely be seeing a ZJ version of this dress in the future! ;)


Casual Dress

A lace applique is used to form a racer back...pretty creative!

Okay, back to work!!

Holiday Dress '09 -- Revised!!

So...there's been a change of plans! Turns out, I'm also making a holiday party dress for one of my co-workers who coincidentally wants the same color scheme and similiar dress style as I've previously blogged about. Good taste is good taste, right?? Formal dresses need to be unique, so to make sure that we are both stand out, I've decided to tweak the style & colors of my dress. My co-worker will stick with the Hanukah theme, and I will use the good ole' Christmas tree as inspiration! Don't laugh. I'm thinking green (obviously) and gold (to symbolize gold ornaments - time out: I just used the word "symbolize" to describe my dress. I didn't know sewing was so deep!)

Here are the shades I would like to use:

Olive Green

Gold

For style, my new inspiration will be the following dresses:

I still like the bottom portion of this dress.

I like the top portion of this dress - mainly the lace. The chiffon is gorgeous (the see-through material), but in my opinion gives the dress a more "Springy" feel, so I will more than likely use an opaque material. I also like the 3 rings of lace but will do without it for this dress. The body of my holiday will be green and the lace appliques will be gold. Not sure what color the band will be. Decisions, decisions!!

I will use the same patterns as the base design of my dress:

Top - will more than likely use spaghetti straps.

Bottom - that's the green I want...how about that??

Let's see how many times I change my mind between now and when I buy the material!!

Holiday Dress '09 -- Sewing Patterns

So, I think I've "pieced" my dress together! (It's really hard to do when I don't have an exact idea of what I want and can be easily moved just by looking at pictures of other dresses...lol!)

As of today, I would like to use the top portion of this pattern:

I will use the polka dot version, but I think I will somehow make it with spaghetti straps. (I don't like the overlap in the actual spaghetti strap versions - on the left). I may put a silver applique, lace, etc... on the band to make the fabric appear more vibrant!

I think the bottom of the dress will resemble the following:

Gorgeous, huh? Stay tuned for the final product - the dance is on the 21st of November. :)

Halloween: School Girl Costume!

I am thrilled to make a naughty school girl costume for one of my clients! (Don't worry...she's happily married)!! Here are my reference pics:

I took a trip to the fabric store this past weekend and was able to find this business pattern:

Don't laugh! :) I chose this pattern to cut costs; it will keep me from having to buy separate vest and skirt patterns. The plan is to make a "sleeveless" jacket. The skirt will, of course, be shortened. The vest will be made out of black twill fabric - I'm thinking black buttons. For the skirt, we decided to go with the pink swatch (below):

The amount of leftover material will determine whether I make a short, girly tie or a scarf. I love making costumes - you get to be so creative! Stay posted to see how this project turns out (I'm working on a 1.5 week time frame)!

2009 Holiday Dress

It's that time of year again...time to get started on my holiday dress for my company's holiday party. All of the men are required to wear tuxedos, so it's natural for all of the ladies to dress up as well.

Color: I've decided to go with a deep blue

Fabric: Something lightweight that will fall nicely against my body - I will more than likely go with taffeta, since their colors tend to be more vibrant

Accents: I'm thinking this year's dress should sport some kind of silver trimming

Design of dress: I would like this dress to be long (covering my shoes), spaghetti-strapped, and possibly backless.

Here are a few dresses that caught my attention online:

I like the bottom of this dress, although I originally envisioned something a little more A-line. I also like the band around the waistline - I would more than likely sub the bow out for something a little less adorable! lol

I would like my back to be exposed. Not sure if the straps should criss-cross in the back or not.
Again, wasn't looking to complicate the bottom of the dress, but this tapered look keeps drawing my attention.
I like the V-neck top on the right (and the silver trim). I would bring the V-neck up a bit, since this is for a company function.
I like the top portion and the "band" that connects the top to the bottom.

Will definitely have to keep looking...

Homecoming Dress

I've been tasked with altering a homecoming dress. I'm not going to lie, making alterations is not a glamourous job, but it is very necessary. Think about it...how many pieces of clothing have you had to pass up because it didn't fit your body properly???

Problem: This dress is basically one size too big, leaving too much room in the bust area.

Solution: Take seams in along the sides of the dress and around the neckline.

"Trouble areas": This dress has a side zipper (not a seamstress' best friend), which means the zipper will need to be taken apart & shifted.

I decided to get the hard part over with first. I removed the zipper...

...measured for its new location and sewed it in its proper place.

...adjusted the other "side" of the dress. ...and shortened the strap around the neckline. Result: A much more snug-fitting homecoming dress - guaranteed to keep everything in place while dancing the night away!!

This site is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

You all know I love making custom garments & home decor, right?!?! Well, it's understandable if you don't; I haven't been very vocal about my interests.


I've decided to expand to 2 blogs: one that will focus on my latest fashion projects (this one) and one that will continue to document my progress in getting out of debt and saving money (http://www.keepurmoney.blogspot.com/) -- you can actually view this blog now!!


Stay tuned, and thank you all for your support!