FO: Lisette

"Lisette"

Just the Facts:
Fabric:  2.5 yards each of blue floral lawn and navy poly/cotton from JoAnn's  $10

Notions:  Thread and zipper $2

Pattern:  Colette Chantilly
Year:  modern ~2009
Time to Complete:  15 hours maybe?  I don't keep track of time.  I focus on getting the details right rather than rushing to get it finished.

First Worn:  May 17, 2014
Wear Again:  yes and I have several times already
Total Cost:  $12 not including the pattern

 

It was really difficult to get photos of this dress.  It was always too sunny when I wore it (not that these photos are much better. . .).  I made Version 1, which is fully lined, and I added pockets like Version 2.  

 

 I love this dress mostly because I get to wear my blue shoes!  Satin, not suede.

 

Adding pockets to a fully-lined dress with a side zipper was quite the challenge.  I had to really think about how all the pieces would fit together.  I didn't want to sew the lining and the shell together at the skirt because that would take away some of the movement the two separate skirts provide.  I could have put the pockets on the lining and tacked the shell fabric pocket seam allowance down to the lining pocket seam allowance.  Ultimately, I decided to sew the three layers of fabric as one between the circles.  Then I stitched around the pocket bag as normal.   I will experiment with adding pockets on fully-lined garments in future projects.  I went through a lot of trial and error and there has to be a better, cleaner way to add pockets to a fully-lined garment.

 

I use a heavily modified bodice front D piece.  On this dress, it seems too modified.  :-/  The midriff front doesn't lay flat between the boobs.  When I first made the bodice muslin for this dress, I couldn't stand all the gaping fabric.  I took out about 5 inches of width and probably an inch of length to get a bodice I was happy with. 

 

I used the size 0 for this one.  I found I have to go up in size when the bodice has actual shoulders.  Here, you can see just how much extra fabric I took out.  I deleted my photos from my fitting session a couple years ago.  I think I'm due for a refitting though.  I feel like my underbust is bigger than it used to be. Perhaps lung expansion due to all the running?  Am I making stuff up here?

Look at all that skirt body!  My lining fabric is about twice the thickness of the cotton lawn, which I think works well for this dress.  My white chantilly is light swiss dot and light batiste and it just floats along.  This blue dress is a bit more stiff and stands away from my body more.  It's like a petticoat without the extra layer!

 

I have crazy hair!  When I do long runs at night, I take a shower after because I quite literally can't stand the smell of myself.  And showers are good.  I normally sleep in the next morning and skip the shower, leaving me with crazy bedhead.  Ugh.

 

This is my third one of these, so there isn't much for me to say.  It twirls really well!  Twirlability is my favorite feature.

 

Side zip like a boss!  I bought a bunch of invisible zippers from zipit on etsy.  Great seller.  I highly recommend her if you don't already use that seller.  I ordered my zippers on Thursday afternoon and received them Saturday.  I was having a really hard time finding a navy invisible zipper locally and I was stuck on the dress waiting for a stupid zipper. 

 

I ordered white and the assorted bunch of 22" zippers.  I loved the extras I got with my order.  The fortune teller fish was adorable.  

 

It says I am in love.  It said I was passionate right after I got out of the shower.  Wonder what my fortune would be if I put my hand in the freezer?  Cold as ice?

 

Look at the lining!

 

Also look at my pockets!  This picture was a great idea in my head.  So Much Leg.

 

I don't like these wrinkles in the back and I'm not really sure what to do about it.  It could be caused by the midriff front being too tight.  

  

I don't know if this is a serger mishap or a defect in the fabric I didn't notice.  I put a bit of fray check on it and am forgetting about.  OWN THE IMPERFECTIONS!

 

I could use a bit of hand-stitching here.  This is the innards of where the pocket is.  The pocket itself is fully closed, it just isn't 100% attached to the lining.

 

Here it is from the lining side.  I didn't serge this pocket.  I knew there was a reason you aren't supposed to feed the gremlins sew after midnight.

 

Oops.  I changed my serger thread already.  Boo.

 

Here's a close-up of the fabric.  It reminds me of something I made with a spirograph.  The pattern says to topstitch the midriff piece on top and bottom and I think that looks silly.  I don't do that for this dress.  I get the value in it--keeping all four layers of the shell's midriff together--but it's my dress.  I do what I want.

 

Another oops.  Didn't sew another fashion fabric to the wrong side of the bodice midriff.  I was supposed to cut 2 each fashion and lining fabrics.  I was running out of fold when I was laying everything out and I forgot to go back and cut it from the crossgrain on top.

 

This was a great project for me.  I got my pockets!  I wear this dress about once a week right now because it's so perfect for me.

FO: Swiss Dot Colette Chantilly

I finished my Colette Chantilly dress.  I like the way this one turned out.  I took a few inches off the length of the last one I made and that was a big mistake.  I don't know why Colette Patterns are made so short.  I had to make a bunch of bodice drafts to get the fit right.  I don't think I have pictures of the stages I made, but I will try to come up with something to make a post of that because those bust adjustments are the whole reason I finally decided to make a blog.  Anyway, this is Version 2 (the one without the pockets).  It's made out of a very sheer Swiss Dot I picked up at Hancock Fabrics in Savannah last year.  I think the 2.5 yards I bought cost $15.  My quick math accounting brain says this dress cost me $30 to make including 1/2 the pattern cost and the white cotton batiste I used to fully line the dress.  Pictures!


This is pre-hemming with bonus crazy hair!  That is 9 feet of skirt.  I want you to know that.



I cut a huge chunk out of the bodice.  The gathers are what make the dress, but I just couldn't stand all the poofiness.  Extreme boob close-up!

That's it for now!  Hopefully I'll have a new WIP to show you on Wednesday.

~elle

WIP: Colette Chantilly

This is actually my second time making this pattern.  I cut out this white swiss dot fabric almost a YEAR ago and never started sewing it up.  How annoying?  I don't even remember what I was up to that made me put sewing aside.  I didn't make much of anything after I cut this pattern out.  Anyway...

This is the fabric.  These are actually skirt pieces--super sheer, right?

 I thought I would share some other quick sewing tricks I have.  You know to wind two bobbins before you start sewing, but if I'm using white or black, I keep the empty bobbin and a second spool of thread right there to be able to wind a new bobbin quickly.  Here's my old sewing machine too.  It's a Singer 401A that I inherited from my grandmother.  I call the machine Josie after my grandmother.

 The freezer paper is making an appearance again.  I trace all my tissue patterns on freezer paper instead of cutting the tissue.  I don't like using tracing wheels to mark my pattern pieces because the tracing wheel can puncture delicate fabrics such as the one I'm using for this Chantilly.  Instead, I cut one leg of the dart open on the pattern and mark it with my chalk pen that way.  You should be able to see my pink markings near my finger in this photo.

 I'm sure this isn't old news, but I'm sharing anyway.  It's easiest for me to pin my hems by folding the entire hem allowance--1/2" in this case--and steaming a crease into it.  I work section by section with my ruler and my iron this way.  Once I crease a section, I pull the pins back up and fold the frayed edge to the crease and repin.  This method works extremely well for me and I don't have to worry about measuring twice.  Shortcuts!  These photos actually show the Chantilly lining skirt.  Sometimes I hate having to make two identical dresses to get one finished object.  Annoying.  Ain't nobody got time for that!

I can't wait to post the finished dress!

~elle