Not much, but it's something . . .

You can never have too many simple black dresses right? I've had this one for years and love it. It's just a polyester knit dress that has some waist gathers. It's simple and I really like it. It had these fluttery butterfly sleeves on it though. They were looking a bit flouncy and dated so I lopped them off! Actually, I turned them to the inside and topstitched so now it's a tank dress. Much better!

Here's a close-up. I used to have this same dress in red but don't know what happened to it. I'll have to search. I like it so much better with no sleeves!

Tomorrow: An epic fail on what I will be calling The Saggy Boob Shirt. Stay tuned.

LBD

I've been searching for a good pattern for a Little Black Dress for a while now. I just finished this one up and I love it. Because it is black it is incredibly hard to photograph. Here is the line drawing. It is from the 11/2008 BWOF. (And I don't know why Blogger is making all my photos so big! I have clicked on the small button for the last few blogposts but it isn't changing the size anymore. Sorry!)

I drew the pleats on because they are hard to see. Well, in fact, impossible to see.



Sort of a view of the pleats. Of course, my arms are out at weird angles trying to take this picture so the pleats don't look even.


With a belt. And my hair kind of looks like that one politician doesn't it? That was not intentional. I don't want to look like our governor.


The back that you can't see.


Belt-less front that you can't really see. sigh.

Here's the full review over at PatternReview.com.

Burda 05-2008-125 LBD Muslin

I decided to do a muslin for this dress to see if it qualifies for LBD. I think it does. This muslin certainly has some problems. First and foremost, I screwed up on my right and left so the gathering is on the same side. Oops. The gathering is supposed to be on different sides on top and bottom. I think that will help with the gathering "bumps" I have. There is a picture below to show you what I mean.

I know it's black. Sorry. You can't really see the details. This is a cheapy poly suiting woven from Joann's. I actually melted it a bit. Oops. I drew in the gathering lines so you can see them.

It has a full skirt and then an overskirt. The overskirt is gathered and then sewn into the front side dart. There is a second shaping dart under the overskirt.

I used my lovely dressform for the first time to pin out back darts and it worked like a charm. I just threw a zipper on it so I didn't try very hard. The zipper ends (complete with bubble) right at the most protruding part of my butt so it looks funny. You can see that the front gathering gives you a little extra in the front. I think it will be better when both sides of the gather are not on the same side.

Right now, I am making myself a pair of paints out of the 09/2008 BWOF. It is this pair. Hopefully, I'll be done tomorrow. :)

Questions and Answers

Okay Dokey. A few people have asked questions I haven't been good about answering them lately.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Two duds in a row . . .": This is timely for me as I had planned to make that jacket from a small piece of fleece in a spectacular color. Now that you've worn it, do you think it's just the color or does the style not work with the fabric? VtMartha

VtMartha: I think that Polartec 200 fleece is not a good fabric choice for this pattern. Also, there is something wrong with either the tracing (me) or the pattern. If you look at the waistband and zipper length, they were way off from the line drawing. But if you look at Melissa's version, everything works. I am pretty sure it is my attention to detail or, in this case, the lack there of that made it bad.

judith has left a new comment on your post "Snap Press is here . . .": I have one of those presses, love it, but hate the plastic snaps that came with it. Have you been able to find metal snaps? I tried snapsource, but theirs are all prong type. I guess I'm looking for size 20 post snaps - would appreciate any help. thanks.

judith: Try TheSnapStore.com. They have post-type snaps in various sizes. Here are the size 20 ones. In fact they have a whole page of post and spring-style snaps. You have to buy the separate die for this type of snap.

Lindsay T said...
What pattern did you decide to make the LBD from? I'm hoping it's the BWOF from 5-08 because I'm dying to see this cute dress on a real person. Dawn, you'd be proud of me. I'm almost done with my Very First BWOF!

LindseyT: I did decide on the 05/2008 dress! That, and a few others. :) I have it traced. Now I just have to find a time when all the kids are in bed to cut it all out.

Myra said...
Gosh, except for kids things, mine have gone that way too. Your Jalie top with the boatneck is a great one for you. What about drafting that to a LBD with a waist sash?

Myra: Thanks for this comment! This is totally what gave the inspiration to try the Jalie top as a dress.

Kristine said...
Hey, what the inside Alaskan scoop on McCains' VP pick?

Kristine: I try to stay away from politics so I can't tell you much. Here is the Alaskan take (or my take) on the situation. Most Alaskans really like her. She has appeal for me because she is a "real" person. She has five kids and the youngest one has Down's Syndrome. They totally seem like the type of people I could sit down with and have a beer. I think it's important that they are "real" people. On the other hand, McCain is not a spring chicken and may not make it four years. I think people are concerned, and rightly so, that she might become the president and not have much experience. Most people here are excited because she is one of us. Alaska is a republican state so Alaska would have voted McCain anyway. I don't think anything will change that.

LB(and white)D

I think I'm working my way out of my slump. Here is a version of Jalie 2806 turned into a dress. I really like it and I think it would make a nice LBD. This is my trial version. The only thing I'll change in my "real" version is to make it a bit wider at the bottom. I'd like to use a silk jersey or a black jersey with a subtle pattern. And I'm making 05/2008 #125 also because I couldn't decide between a knit dress and a woven. So, why not have two??

And I love that it is cool enough for tights again. These are purple to continue the purple/grey trend.

Search for the LBD

So, my husband got this new job.

It's a good job. The pay is really nice.

Now I'm one of those wives. You know. The social networking, giant diamond, quad-shot drinking, Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses-wearin' wives*. Except that I'm not that wife.

But as a wife of that guy I have what are called "mandatory events" that I must attend. So, I am in need of a little black dress that will work for cocktail hour. What do you guys think? I have a few requirements but can you guys think of any others?

• It must have sleeves. I have toned arms but it is chilly here in Alaska and even a summer day can be brisk. I'm thinking short sleeves so it will work for the summer.
• I want to be able to dress it up or down.
• I am thinking knit but I know this isn't as sophisticated as a woven. Or is it?
• I want something knee-ish length.
• I want something that is more classic versus trendy.
• I like wrap dresses. They are pretty neutral right?

Here are some options. Do you guys think they would be okay? I tend to err on the side of too casual rather than too dressy. You don't want to be more dressed than the bosses wife.

Here is the really cute jumper from the 09/2008 BWOF. Cute but no sleeves. I will make this but maybe I could make this in a black wool crepe and wear a cute top under it.

I would shorten this to knee length. I like the bust gathering and the stomach runching.



Cute but too froo-froo?


I like this for the unique shape of the sleeves. Would it be dressy if I did it in a black? The pattern is for a woven.

The wrap dress.


I love the shape of this dress. I can't resist boatneck/high neck tops and dresses. No sleeves but . . .


*No offense to anyone out there. It's just not me. I'm more of the polarfleece-wearing, child-carrying, blueberry-picking, cupcake-stained, school teacher type.