Pattern Grading in Illustrator

I am excited to announce I am going to begin to offer pattern grading! If you are a seamstress/pattern designer and need your patterns graded please think about using me! I really found pattern grading fascinating and one of the most useful and great classes I have taken as far as Fashion Design courses at a college level go.

So again if you are making patterns and wanting to turn them into different sizes, consider commenting below and I'll get with you about pricing etc. I can also provide services for turning a pattern into a PDF if needed. Please leave your email in the comments below!  I can provide more information about pricing etc in individual emails. I had the chance to be a pattern grader for a project earlier this year and would love to continue pattern grading. It's also one of those things you need to have the skills to grade correctly, and can sometimes be less fun that the creative process of making a seeing up a design. However I really enjoy the challenge! So let me know if you need help! Have a wonderful day!

Easy 1 Hour Lace Skirt DIY

I have a new post!  I made this skirt a couple of weeks ago.

I love how it turned out!  I made up a few instructions on how I did it in case you wanted to make one too.

I used Ponte de Roma knit for the lining and a cotton lace with the bottom edge trimmed along the scalloping if that makes sense.  Both were 60 inches wide, so that only left me with one seam too!

My sister really was the one who came up with the design.  She is great, has great taste and when she saw these two fabrics in my stash is the one who recommended they go together.

It was super quick and easy to make.  You basically cut the two rectangles, hem the lining (or lace if you need to) and sew them together, then to the elastic.

Here is how I made it!

That's it, pretty simple and pretty quick!  Happy sewing!

Beating the Summer Heat

I got a new job offer recently.  I can't wear jeans to this job however.  I am secretly kind of excited about that as I love a good excuse to get dressed up a little bit. 

I also have been brainstorming cute casual summer dress/skirt options to beat the summer heat we've had.  The past two weeks I have actually worn a cardigan to work a couple of times.  Yes, a cardigan and I did roll the sleeves up, but I realized this was madness.

It was time to make another something casual, comfortable and cool.  It is July starting tomorrow after all.  It's probably smart to say no more long sleeves until this fall from here on out if I want to save myself from heat stroke. 

So I broke into my fabric stash and pulled out this rayon challis to pattern test a very simple, very unfitted (except the elastic at the waist) casual summer dress I had pop into my mind.  I wanted something I can wear just about anywhere.  I also wanted to be able to wear it, since I was pretty sure version 1 would work.

I think I succeeded, I can wear this to work, church, on Saturdays, running errands, on dates, pulling weeds in my garden, going fishing with my family.

Okay, okay so I wouldn't really wear it to work in the garden or go fishing, but I am really actually very excited about this pattern.

It is UBER comfortable, so light, so airy.  It has pockets, (of course!) and will just be great for wearing to work or otherwise.

I am most excited about a few other ideas I have of improving it.  I have some really cute ideas floating around and plan to make a couple more versions with the style changes.  I will also make another version or two in knit to have just to throw on when I need a fast cool option too.

I didn't have enough fabric left to make the tie any longer than what is shown, and I am on the fence about the tie anyways.  I think it's totally casual and fine without it.

Now I am off to run errands in my new dress!

Happy sewing, crafting, working, napping, blog reading, facebook stalking, whatever it is you plan to do today!

Coral Floral

I have a few new makes.  I have been sewing a lot!  I tweaked the striped dress pattern for a perfect fit.  I used my computer program and my measurements to draft the striped version.  It worked well enough I can wear it, however there were a few fitting issues that bothered me so I made the changes to the pattern, and made another dress. 

I remade it into this coral floral fabric and used some flat bias for trim.

These pictures just don't do the fabric justice I feel.  I also used a matching coral bias as trim.  I also got rid of the waist seam, since you really don't need it for this pattern.

 

I haven't hemmed the dress, I also plan to take out the sleeves and fix them.  Those are the last two things before this dress is done!

My sister was over the day I took pics, and my nephew came outside to "help" me take pictures.  I had pins in the hem and had to fix a couple before taking the photos.  So of course he had to rearrange a couple of spots too.  It made me laugh.  He picks up everything!  Smart kid.

The pockets are one of my favorite things about this dress.  I just love having somewhere to put my hands!
 

This is a close up of the bias tape at the neckline.

The back with an invisible zipper, and the same bias trim in the princess seams.

Oh do I have the cutest idea for a casual summery white knit dress in my head.  It's also been so hot in my neck of the woods lately.  I just keep dreaming all these cool comfortable ideas in my head and am just itching to start them.  It's been so nice to have time off from school to start them!

Off to start a new project!  Have a lovely day!

Baby Shoes and Sisters

Just recently my sister and her husband blessed their baby girl.  In my religion The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we bless infants in a church meeting a month or more after they are born.  Often times the babies father will bless them, or a grandfather or relative, or possibly a Bishop or other leader.  My little nieced was blessed by her daddy.

Often times for the blessing baby girls wear white or off white/ivory blessing dresses.  (Similar to christening dresses.) 

My sister found the most GORGEOUS blessing dress, seriously it is the kind of little dress dreams are made of.   

 

It was simply beautiful.

Here is a little close up of the pretty lace that was over the skirt.  It was beaded and lacy and had a layer of satin underneath.

My mom and I ended up both working on a pair of shoes to match.  

Can I just say that baby shoes are some of the cutest things every to be invented.  Oh good!  Because they are.

My sister took these great pictures of the dress and the shoes and shared them with me. She also took a few photos of her baby in the dress, unfortunately the other pictures didn't work out like she had hoped so she is going to retake them.

Not only did I get to help make the baby shoes, I made a skirt for my sister to wear to the blessing.

Originally I had lace that was supposed to be made into a dress for her birthday last year, however she ended up finding out she was expecting before we started, so it didn't end up happening.

She mentioned she'd like something new to wear to the blessing. So we ended up making a coral pink pencil skirt.

I drafted it for her, and I purposely drafted the skirt waist 2 inches smaller than I had measured.  

Exactly 9 days after measuring her and drafting the pattern I was really glad I took that waist in! 

The skirt was too big.  She must have lost up to 4 inches I think.  Seriously! 

I hid some elastic in the back waistband and she wore a wide belt over it.  We plan to take the waistband in later on when more time has passed.   

She has good taste I tell you.  She found a denim shirt and it looked cute with the coral.

Anyways, cute girls.  I am just so grateful to have a sister.  We didn't get along all the time when we were younger, but I'd say she is my best friend now and I am so lucky to have her.

As always thanks for reading and have a great day!

Having a Life Again!

I have a life again!

 

I remade my old striped dress I posted about way back when.

I am so excited for this summer.  I have already gotten to work sewing.  See this past semester I didn't sew much except things I HAD to make for classes.

It was  pretty productive semester though as I started an internship which turned into a part time job in fashion this past semester!  It's great!  Part of my internship was teaching myself how to flat sketch on Adobe Illustrator!  It's been awesome!

It was also so so so so crazy!

And now I almost don't know what to do with myself.

Wait a second, yes I do!  Get sewing!

It's also time this summer to devote to my pattern making like I have wanted to do for SOOOOO LONG!

The original dress from the post linked above got too tight in the waist, and the grey stripes turned into a gross beige/purple/grey color.  So it was time to make it into another version.

I used my computer program and just cut out the pattern and made it up without making a muslin first.  It does have a couple of fit issues I plan to fix but I think it will be ready soon!  And the fit on this is close enough I plan to wear it proudly anyways.  

I decided to take in the skirt, add princess seams down the skirt and add cute pockets.  I still love having pockets.  Pockets on a dress give you somewhere to put your hands when you need it!  :)

I made this out of a twill and I don't love it, but I do love the color of the grey and white stripes.  

I am working on grading it as well and have decided not to give myself a time frame.  If I do I end up missing my self imposed "deadline" and end up being frustrated with myself.  

Anyways, it feels good to be getting back to making and sewing things up.  Enjoy your day!

School and Christmas Break

I have a few projects to share.

Here are some of my end of semester projects from before the break.

 

 I had to make two men's shirts for my sewing class.  I made this plaid version and a basic men's white dress shirt version.  I didn't get the buttons or button holes in as the night I finished these my machine's tension went out of order. I did get extra credit for the plaid yoke and shirt cuffs on the bias though, so I was happy with that.

 

I love the plaid.  It was really kind of fun to sew these!  Even if I can't wear them!  I do wish I would have had the foresight to put the pleat in the center of the plaid, but overall I love the way this turned out!

I kind of love some of the details like the straight square shoulders, and the flat fell seams on the inside.  Who knew making a men's dress shirt could be so much fun!  Just a fun sew!

A (somewhat wrinkled) tailored jacket made of muslin for pattern drafting class.

This blouse is made out of material I found for $2.00 a yard!  That means the zipper I bought for this blouse (not yet installed) was cheaper than the fabric!  I just love a good find like that.  :)

 I made this hunter green wool crepe skirt for Christmas. I love wool crepe!  So wonderful to work with!  I also think the blouse above will go great with the hunter green, and I am really excited as I was looking for colors to wear with this skirt!

While I like the hook and eye closure, I think next I will try another petersham ribbon waistband. 

 This is another green skirt I made a while ago that I used petersham on the waistband for.  It worked like a charm, and I can't wait to try it again sometime.

Have a great week!

-Em