P.S. I Made This: Retro.

This week I made Butterick Pattern 4790 out of a vintage bed sheet that I think came from my grandmother. The dress is a wrap dress and really confused me for a while while I was making it. "Um... what?!" I ended up not really following the instructions very much and then getting really frustrated. I am the "look at the pictures and not read anything" kind of person so often I mess up, get really mad, and then have to go back and read and fix everything. Overall the dress was pretty easy to make. I don't know if you can tell, but shhh.... I haven't finished hemming it yet. I literally have spent hours hemming it by hand, but since the skirt is so full I am barely to the halfway mark. My only complaint is that I am not a big fan of how the dress shifts when you wear it. I constantly have to make sure that everything is in place or I look frumpy and/or not modest.

Happy Sewing!
Carli

P.S. I love the Monkees. Especially on vinyl.

P.S. I made this.

My numero uno goal for this summer was to make a completely new wardrobe. I am starting a new job in the fall (as a sewing class TA!!!) and I really want pieces that are nice and professional for work but also something that I wouldn't mind wearing to school everyday since my shift is between classes. I had a job at the beginning of the summer, before I moved home, that I could only wear a dress to. I love dresses, but I started hating the fact that I had to wear a dress to work everyday; let alone the same dresses over and over. Basically I am trying to create a versatile collection of shirts, skirts, and dresses that I can mix and match better. Also, since I am going to be a sewing TA I thought that I better get to bettering my sewing skills so that when the time comes to actually teach students how to sew difficult things I actually have lots of experience. My goal is to sew at least two new articles of clothing a week! I thought it would be a hard goal to achieve, but I think I should probably bump it up to three! So after that long preface....

Here is shirt number THREE!

 I used Butterick Pattern 5817 and it was super duper easy. It took me two days, but that is only because I took many Netflix breaks (catching up on Arrested Development). I made a few adjustments aside from the basic pattern alterations (I added a little length since I am pretty tall). Because I am not a big fan of neck facings (I think that they are a hassel, I am always having to tuck it back into the shirt!) I decided to do a full lining. Why? Quality is probably the biggest reason. I dont want it to fall apart after a couple of seasons. A full lining helps the garment to last. Another reason is that the neck egde looks flatter. Like I said before... I hate it when those facings come out! It is a little bit more pricy and more time consuming to do a full lining but I really think that it makes the garment better all around. If you have any questions about my method I would love to answer any questions and/or tell you how I did it. Just know that I am in no way a pro. I make mistakes ALL THE TIME. Seriously. but that is part of the learning process. Am I right?!

Carli

P.S. Please excuse my silly modeling. Dont have a clue what I am doing...
P.P.S. I'll share shirt one and two laterz.