More Snow Storm Sewing

Well, the snow stuck around for a week, and I was perfectly fine chipping away at the homework that I could do and sitting at the sewing machine whipping out more doll dresses. I'm only now just getting to posting about them because, well, school and work.

First up, this fun little ensemble.

It's inspired by Eowyn's shield maiden dress from the Lord of the Rings movies. 

I would have put more details into it, but there's only so much that you can do when a movie costume is scaled down to 18". ;)  

After all that 'serious' sewing, I felt like doing something a little more whimsical. I had some cheery scrap fabric in the box and some bits of vintage ribbon. They were meant to be together. 

My next projects are going to be much more pink. I have another bazaar coming up just before Valentine's Day, and I thought that it would be appropriate to break out all the pink fabric. 

Until next time!

SG

Winter Cloak

With all the snow that blew the the Pacific Northwest, I found myself with plenty time at home. Our corner of the world was turned into a winter wonderland and made life's hustle and bustle come to a screeching halt.  

School was cancelled, I couldn't make it into work, I guess things just lined up perfectly to sit down at the sewing machine. ;) And with the winter-y weather came the inspiration for this little ensemble.

It reminds me of Thorin Oakenshield in the recent movie adaptations of the Hobbit.   

The faux fur was a clearance bin find. Michael's had it steeply discounted after Christmas. I couldn't imagine decorating with a faux fur garland, but it's the perfect size and scale for doll clothes. 

Weird stuff it is... Kinda reminds me of a cat tail. Or a squirrel tail. o.O 

In addition to the cloak, I was able to make a tiny muff to go with it since there was plenty of faux fur left. I quilted a small rectangle with the scrap material left over from the cloak, sewed in the ribbon, and tacked on the fur trim. Would have gone together rather quickly if I wasn't so easily distracted. :P 

Here's a peak at the construction. This is more for my own reference than anything else - Now how did I make that? ;)  

And all together!  

Can I have one in my size please? 

Stay warm, everyone!

Until next time,

SG

The Year Ahead

To (hopefully) be better about getting my sewing to-do wish list completed this year, I'm assigning myself projects that will actually have an event that they will be destined for. 

First up, will be a red poppy dress. For some reason, I kept seeing red poppy dresses in stores and online this year, and I fell in love. I needed one but not badly enough to drop a pretty penny for it. Then, as I was meandering through the fabric store, I saw it. A gorgeous red poppy print! And ooh, look! Simplicity patterns were on sale too!  I had had my eye on this pattern for a while, so it was obviously meant to be. 

A friend of mine had a great idea: what if I wore it to the WWII/Peggy Carter/VE Day ball coming up in the spring? I think that it's brilliant. And it gives me a deadline. 

Next on the project list: what to wear to comic con in September? I hate to admit that it's something that I've been pondering since my sisters went last year. Almost completely out of the blue, I had an idea. What if I did a vintage inspired Chewbacca? It would be simple enough to be comfortable for the event, and I could wear the ensemble elsewhere (like church and school :P). Here's a quick sketch of what I had in mind. 

Please pardon the awful drawing skills. Certainly not my forte. It'll look better when it's made, I promise. ;) 

Next up is just a for-fun, no deadline in sight project. I'm hoping that this vintage pattern with fit (yay for mock-ups!), but if it doesn't, I'll use the same pattern that I used for the simple autumn dress. 

Isn't the tiny fox print just adorable?  I found it at a local fabric shop a couple years ago. 

Beyond these projects, I'm sure that I'll have more sewing to do for craft bazaars. If the muse strikes, I might try to squeeze in a regency dress and stays. But we shall see what actually comes to pass. 

Until next time!

SG

Simple Autumn Dress

As I was going through pictures on my phone, I realized that I had completely forgotten to share with you a dress that I finished back in October! :slaps wrist: 

I found the material (read: bed sheet) at the thrift store. Since there was a burn in the corner, I was able to tell what material it was (cotton!) as well as get a discount on it since it was damaged. Score! 

I didn't exactly know what sort of dress I wanted to turn it into, so onto the fabric shelf it went! And there it sat, and waited, and collected dust, probably forgotten a time or two. Until I found this pattern.

Source

 And then I just knew what I had to do. That lovely sheet sitting on the shelf finally had a purpose in life! And for taking up shelf space. 

The pattern itself was simple, straightforward, and came together in an afternoon. No zippers, no buttons, no bias or draping. Just cut the pieces, sew them together, add in elastic, hem everything, and voila! All done. Brand new dress, for next to nothing. Since the weather was getting nippy, I paired it with a sweater, but kept the sandal heels because reasons. 

Now I'm remembering why I never did an 'official' post sooner - I didn't have nice pictures of the completed project. :P Oh well, maybe someday! 

I definitely will be making more dresses from this pattern though! I love how it fits and how quickly it went together. 

Until next time! 

SG