Sewing Apparel Update

Throughout my sewing clothes adventure, I've received so much support from many, many people! Thanks so much! Since my post about sewing the Crepe Colette pattern, I have finished it! Sewing this pattern was lots of fun and I learned a lot! The pattern was so easy to follow and read, after completing this project, I highly recommend it! 

I did go to Modern Domestic and Erica helped me with the fit of the dress. I had to alter the darts for it to fit just right, and it was much easier than I thought to alter them. I love the retro vibe of this dress and it's simplicity. I could see easily making this dress in a few sewing sessions.  

However, I must admit, it's not my favorite for a couple of reasons. One, I'm not a fan of the cap sleeves. The way that they drape is not too flattering one me. Two, I liked this dress for the wrap feature, but because of that, it's hard for the back to lay as nice as I'd like. Also, it needs to be wrapped/tied securely around your waist, making it not too comfortable. Third and finally, it just felt too much like summer. Not enough January Wedding dressy. 

And because a few people asked me to post photos of myself, here is one.  However, I have to say, it takes much longer than I thought to get accustomed to the self-timer and finding the right light! So with great hesitation, here's the dress "on". :) 

Will I make the dress again? Maybe in a different fabric that I like more. Will this be the dress for Kirsten's wedding? No. I'm moving on to a different Colette Pattern: the Peony. I decided to first try this dress in a beautiful dark gray fabric, to see if I liked the pattern. So far, I think this will be the right dress for the wedding. Also, I really wanted to wear a handmade dress to a special event this weekend, the PNW Blogger Holiday Party.  The party is going to be at WestElm in the pearl, so I wanted something much more dressy! I'm almost finished with it, I just need to make some alterations in the back. I'll post photos soon! 

Overall, I'm really enjoying this process. I love that I can make anything in beautiful fabrics tailored perfectly to me. It does take time, but it's well worth it! 

Quilter, Upholsterer, ... Sewist?

The first two terms I've whole hearted accepted and can show evidence to the fact that I am these names. I've made many quilts, and love the process of designing, choosing fabrics, making patterns (or following), assembling, quilting, and finally binding the quilt. Upholstering is still a new process that I'm learning, but I'm enjoying the journey and learn more and more with each piece that I complete. Sewing fabric is something I love to do!

I've never self-described myself as a sewist since this implies I sew clothes. Now I've had a few attempts at sewing clothes over the years. In my teens, I'm pretty sure that I sewed a pair of cargo pants that I never wore, and a vibrant pink floral skirt for my cousins wedding. Last year I attempted to sew a dress for Alt, I wore it, but the fit was awful and I mostly covered the top with a cardigan, and never showed it to my lovely readers here! ;)

However, this may all change! I've been enamored with Colette patterns for a few months now. Sarai Mitnik is a Portland local and designs beautiful vintage inspired sewing patterns. I've followed her blog for awhile (an amazing source of sewing tips) and at Modern Domestic they use many of her patterns in their classes. Being surrounded by this talent has let myself think that perhaps I can do this too? I'll admit I'm pretty skeptical, but with the help of the talented ladies at Modern Domestic and Bolt, I think this is happening!

What motivated me to attempt this now, is in January I'm going to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of a amazing friend, Kirsten. She has opted to give the bridesmaids a color palette and choose out their own dress. Then this crazy idea popped into my head that I should sew my own dress! After a few weeks (ahem, months) I've decided to take the plunge.

Last week, I went into Bolt (our local fabric store) and picked through many of the patterns and decided that the Crepe dress designed by Colette Patterns would be a good pattern to start with. I was just going to get the pattern and muslin to first draft out the dress in muslin before buying expensive pretty fabric for the real dress. However, Hannah suggested that I buy their sale fabric and use that as my muslin practice dress instead. This way if it turns out I could actually wear it! I left feeling excited and ready to get started!

Hannah suggested that I trace the pattern onto pattern paper so that if I need a different size/alterations I won't have cut into the pattern. After I did that, I then cut all of the pieces out with a rotary cutter. This made the process of cutting out so much easier! I had never done that before but on the Colette website, she suggests this method.

Another reason, I chose Colette patterns, is the beginner friendly layout of the patterns. Within each pattern is a booklet of really detailed and easy to read directions, with well-illustrated pictures.

Also, there are links to more photos for certain directions. Finally, in the back there is a pocket for the patterns and a place for notes.

Have you heard of or used Colette Patterns before? What has been your experience?

I'll be sure to post my progress! Fingers crossed!