Christmas Dress, Kate Middleton Style

Awhile ago I picked up this white and red polka dot fabric for super cheap, but struggled to know what to do with it since it was Jersey. Jersey is not something I've worked with before. I came across Simplicity 2145 and laughed because it was a knockoff of kate middleton's engagement dress (shown below). So I decided to use this fabric with this pattern to make a Christmas dress. The dress doesn't photograph well, but it does have the wrap around the front like her dress.



I made a size 12 and it fits pretty well. Not as well as my other dresses I've made, but pretty dang close. This dress fabric only cost me $8 so I'm very pleased about that. Like most dress patterns this pattern was too short. Must I always add 4 inches to every pattern? Ugg! The other thing I changed is I took the sleeves in by 5/8 of an inch since I was drowning in them. I probably should have taken them in even more, but laziness struck.

Overall I am pleased with it and it's really comfortable. A lot of people liked it at church and said they liked the retro feel about it.

Gingham Dress Knock Off

I saw this dress at Net-A-Porter and thought it was cute. When I saw it, I thought it looked similiar to the dress I just made. So once again I used Simplicity 2549 and just used gingham fabric this time. I learned how to do a blind hem on this dress. I used this tutorial and it looks great. I also added a sash for the bow. I'm thinking I might make another sash in red so I can wear it different ways. I love this dress and it's my favorite thing I've made so far.



I modeled it with my red purse Matt got me for my birthday last year. Yep he is a keeper! Matt kept telling me to put my purse higher so it would fit in the picture, but this made my arm look weird. I'm in no way a model so forgive me for my akwardness.

The original dress cost $343 and my dress cost $18 so I saved myself $325. Wow, I really need to become a dress maker because they make a killing!

Lace Skirt

About a year ago I saw a cream lace pencil skirt at New York and Company and fell in love. The problem was it cost $64 and it was too short. My solution was to finally make one. I grabbed some cream lace and lining from Hobby Lobby and got to work.

I took a pencil skirt that I had from Gap, traced the shape onto wrapping paper then added seam allowance to that to make my pattern. Then I serged the lace and the lining together. Sewed a facing for the waistband. Sewed the side seams and added a side zipper and wah lah a new lace pencil skirt. I am in love with it and I'm really proud of myself for making up my own pattern. I had to make tweaks here and there, but it ended up being a perfect replica of the jean pencil skirt I was copying.

Simplicity 2549 Dresses

While Matt's mom was in town we decided to sew dresses together. It gave us an excuse to check out Hancock Fabrics my favorite fabric store. We used Simplicity 2549 and used our measurements to get the perfect fit. I think we were a size 12 on the top and a 14 on the bottom. Sewing pattern sizes are depressing because your size is so much bigger than in store. Leave it to pattern companies to make you feel huge! I love how the dress came out especially the pleats in the front which are very flattering. I learned a ton from completing this pattern with Matts mom like how to do pleats, facings, and darts. I think I will definitely be making another one of these dresses since the fit is so great. My only complaint is the skirt ended up being too short so I had to go back and add a band at the bottom which wasn't fun. So if you are 5"9 like me cut your pattern 2.5-3 inches longer.

When we first walked into Hancocks this lime green damask caught my eye. I love damask! However I always thought it was more for pillows and totes, but Matt's mom convinced me to make my dress out of it. I wasn't sure at first, but I really love it now. I'm not sure why my dress is looking more gold than green in every picture I tried to take of it even with our nice canon camera. It's really a vibrant lime green in person. Pictures never seem to do justice to seeing things in person, but it could be because I don't know how to use my nice camera. Add it to my to do list to learn how.

Here is a picture of Matt's moms. Doesn't she look cute?

Junebug Dress Sewalong

I decided to take a break from sewing skirts to join Craftiness is not Optional's Junebug Dress Sew Along. Mostly because everytime I do a sew along with her I learn a ton. Yay for free sewing lessons! She even provides a free pattern for this adorable dress. I was going to give it to one of my nieces, but I love it too much so I think I might just hoard it for when we have a girl. One less dress to make later right? I didn't hem it yet because I'll just wait till I have a model to get the right length.

The dress came together really quickly except when I reached the buttonholes. My Bernina has an automactic button hole foot that memorizes the length of a button holes after sewing one of them so that you get the same size button holes everytime. However it wasn't working consistently no matter what I did. After playing with it for over an hour I looked it up on the internet and realized this just happens if the foot is dusty. So note to self dust off your buttonhole foot before using it. After I dusted it it worked like a charm. I'm just glad there wasn"t something seriously wrong with my machine and it was an easy fix.

I love how the dress turned out especially the daisy buttons. Thanks Jessica for being my sewing teacher for the week.

Spool 72 Knockoff

While I was on pinterest I came across this dress from Spool 72 and loved it. I thought the skirt was the cutest part and thought it looked easy enough to knock off. I used New Look pattern 6569 then made a sash that is 2 1/2 inches wide by 96 inches long. I should probably add belt loops, but I'm feeling lazy.



This skirt ended up being a real pain. First it was really hard to find the right color. I eventually found this coral color at Hancocks in the quilting section, but the fabric wasn't very wide so I ended up running out of fabric. Then once the skirt was almost done I realized it was see through and I couldn't get away with just wearing a slip. So I had to go back and add a lining which forced me to go back to the fabric store once again. Then I made the sash too short and then made it too long. I finally got the perfect length for the sash through lots of trial and error. Sewing can get frustrating at times, but the end product is usually worth it in the end. Especially since it saves a lot of money on an outfit that I love. This skirt cost about $15 to make including the lining and the striped tank came from Forever21 for $4.50. The orignial dress cost $57 so I saved myself $37!

Ruffle Skirt

This skirt is really quick and easy to make. I cut out a piece of pre-ruffled fabric to 44 inches wide by 25.5 inches long. Then I sewed it into a tube, gathered the top, and then sewed the top to a piece of 1.5 inch elastic cut to my waist measurement. Here is a similiar tutorial, but I made it less gathered because I was worried if it was too gathered it would accentuate my thighs which is not my best feature.

I bought the ruffle fabric here. This is the best deal I could find. Most other places I've seen it selling for $17-19 a yard. So go snatch some up because this fabric is great!

I plan on using my scraps to make a pink ruffle tank top for layering. Yay exciting!