Sewing Circle: Pattern for a mystery dress

More pattern-searching on Sewing Circle today!

I got an email from Katharine...

Q: I saw this dress in the window of a ridiculously expensive store in my city, and I kind of fell in love with it, but not enough to even be tempted to go into said super-expensive store to see the dress in person (it's REALLY expensive. I'd be surprised if they were selling this cute dress for less than $700). But I love the wide buckled belt, the polka dot fabric, the knee-grazing A-line skirt, the fairly fitted bodice, the button placket, and the high-but-not-too-high neckline. I don't know what kind of sleeves it has, if any, but that isn't really a big deal for me. 


I tried to find out who the designer was or a picture of the garment unobstructed, but the Internet sadly failed me there. I've also been looking for a pattern to adapt, but I haven't been having a whole lot of success. I just haven't seen anything with quite the right lines and I was wondering if you might have a few ideas of patterns that could be adapted into something like this inspiration dress?

A: Hi Katharine, thanks for reading, and thanks for your email!  It is hard to see the dress in the pic, but that means you can make whatever pattern you want that has the same look on the parts that are visible. You're right that the basic elements we can see are, full bodice/high or boatneck, covered buttons on the bodice, and self-fabric belt and buckle. Hard to tell if it has a midriff panel or not, but I think the bust/waist of the bodice are one piece. The skirt is not too full, looks like four pieces with a center front seam, probably for the placket if the buttons on the front are operational. The belt and skirt you can make up without a pattern, or add from other patterns, so let’s focus on the bodice. 

Read on to see my pattern recommendations...

Weekend reading--the best kind!

What have you been up to this weekend?  Lucky me, I've had some lovely light weekend reading to do...

I've wanted Grace Bonney's Design*Sponge at Home since it came out last fall.  I should have gone to one of the signings, like at West Elm here in Portland... oops.  I met Grace once at an event at a cute boutique here, and have been reading her blog for ages!  And, in one of my proudest moments, I even had a DIY project featured on Design*Sponge!)

So I was so excited when the book came out.  I asked for it for Christmas, but didn't get it, so I treated myself the other week.  I ordered it online and... it came...

It's beautiful!!

I was shocked at how heavy it was!  It's like a real textbook or something!  But, the coolest textbook ever!

This weekend I finally got around to poring through it, and did a lot of sitting around and drinking tea while reading.  I put little flags on my favorite pages.  Wanna see my fave sections and projects??

How to Wear DIY: A red skirt and a winter nautical look

Every January I ooh and aaah over the nautical looks that pop up at stores after the fall colors.  It's so nice to see fresh, bright, contrasty looks like navy, red, white... and some fun icons like the occasional anchor.  And some luggage tan shoes and accessories, and maybe a fisherman's sweater.  The look is so classy and classic, very J.Crew or Land's End Canvas, although I saw some great stuff in this flavor last time I was at Old Navy, too.  Oohhh, I love it!!

(If you follow me on Pinterest you know I love my stripes...)

Source: keikolynn.com via Suzannah on Pinterest

Source: thistimeisacharm.blogspot.com via Suzannah on Pinterest

Source: atlantic-pacific.blogspot.com via Suzannah on Pinterest

Source: frecklesinapril.blogspot.com via Suzannah on Pinterest

So now that it's not freeeeeezing all the time anymore, I was excited to pull out this skirt that I made a while back, and add some stripes and other pieces!  Click to see it after the jump!

Clothing sizes are weird. But so are the fits on patterns!

Clothing sizes are weird--I know that's like the understatement of the decade.  But let's talk about clothing (and pattern) sizes.

I've complained before how commercial pattern sizes are not only different than what we expect from storebought clothing, they are also meant to fit terribly.  IMHO.  I've even done a Sewing Circle on how to pick the right pattern size.  But I read an article on Hello Giggles the other day about clothing sizes for store bought clothing, with a lot of good points and sources on the background.  There was a recent NPR story about how stores have their own special sizing (we knew that, if we've ever compared Gap to Target to J.Crew or Forever 21 or anything...), and about the history of standardized sizing.

I knew this from what my professional dressmaker-mother has told me, but sizes were standardized (6, 8, 10, and so on) during WWII.  Measurements were taken on young women, who were paid a small fee... many of these were poor 18-year-olds, so of course they were smaller than we are today.  Here's more of the story:

"During 1939 and 1940, about 15,000 American women participated in a national survey conducted by the National Bureau of Home Economics of the U.S. Department of Agriculture…A technician took 59 measurements of each volunteer, who was dressed only in underwear.Volunteers were paid a small fee for participating…The purpose of the survey was to discover key measurements of the female body…and then to propose a sizing system based on this discovery."


Stores can change their sizes all they want, so we've gotten used to our 2012, well-fed American sizes.  But, what does this mean for us, me and you readers of this blog??  Many of you sew your own clothes.  I've been dealing with picking the right pattern size for some years, and I've got a system down for my fave patterns--but the stakes are high when you're cutting into fabric and putting your time into something, and you really want your project to turn out.

Sewing your own clothes and picking the right size = kinda a bigger deal than trying on clothes at a store and picking a size.  Click to read after the jump--how I've worked out my system for doing this!

A three-hour dress. I like to get creative.

A three-hour dress could be a bad thing, I realize.  But this one I'm really happy with!

I bought this simple rayon print at JoAnn on clearance, I think $1.50 a yard cuz it was half off the clearance price of $3 or $5/yard.  I love the black/warm brown/navy/pink/red color combo!  I wanted something relatively loose, a dress, not a top, but I was originally thinking a dolman sleeve or open sleeve.  But I didn't have any patterns that were quite close enough, so I used this old standby.

Simplicity 2497--I've used it a million times but I never make it like the pictures on the cover show.  This time, I didn't do the waistband and instead zigzagged some elastic to the seam allowance pressed up, and I made it shorter.  I  used the sleeves from view A and the rest was more like view C, although shorter.  Since I had elastic instead of a waistband, I didn't need a zipper in the back so it just pulls over the head!

Click for the rest of the story after the jump!

Sewing Circle: A lovely loose tunic

Sewing Circle again!  This time, Abby wrote me about finding a pattern for a top her sister would like.  Inspired by this pin...

Source: shopbop.com via Sarah on Pinterest

She said:

Q: I've been thinking about making something fun for my sister. Her style is totally different from mine, and she loves loose-fitting, flowing tops as opposed to my close-fitting ones. That's actually good, because I'd like this little gift to be a surprise, and I can hardly surprise her if I'm taking measurements and having her try on muslins!

I found this beachy cover-up on her Pinterest board, and it's perfect for my ideas, but I can't seem to find a pattern for it. I love the open neck, the gathered drop skirt, and the pleating around the neckline. Also, I haven't worked with enough fabrics to be able to figure out what fabrics would work on a particular project, so I'd really appreciate a suggestion. Is this a cotton voile, or am I totally off? :)

Well, Abby...

A: That is sort of a tricky one to find a pattern for!  I didn't find anything super duper close, but I found lots of sort of close ones.  Keep in mind that it's easy to lengthen the top or the sleeves, or add the elastic band at the hips, so little details like that needn't deter you from some of them.  And there are lots of patterns that have the same attitude/look that you might like straight from the package, so look at those, too, if you go to a fabric store--but take a look at these:

This New Look one--just make version B longer and add elastic. Cut the neck more V-like if you want.

Make the sleeves longer on version D, and add elastic.

Very similar feel/concept although the shape's not identical. You could move the elastic down.

I've made this as a dress before, but in a lighter-weight fabric it would work if you made the sleeves longer... (but be warned, the neckline is very low-cut! I'd say make it less so.)

Kinda funky BurdaStyle one. Add elastic, lengthen sleeves... (And I would recommend that you don’t put in the darts at all)

A Vogue one with huge sleeves. You don't have to give it the buttons--just don't cut down the center front.

It's constructed differently, but this Butterick is similar-looking. Make the sleeves simpler and tie the neck instead of button, maybe?

Whew! See, lots of options that could be tweaked, but none are perfect.  As for fabrics, the original was probably a lightweight fine cotton like a voile, you'r right—unfortunately these are hard to find at JoAnn but they may have something seasonal for spring soon.  you can also check the shirtings.  I recommend you just find a soft, lightweight 100% cotton.

Readers, have you seen the perfect pattern?  Do you have any tips for making such a lightweight, flowy top?  Love to hear your ideas!

I've decided I need to learn to use Photoshop.

I've decided I'm sort of pathetic.  I'm a creative and visual and tech-saavy person, and yet... I don't do anything fancy to my blog post photos.  I've been blogging for almost two and a half years, and my pictures have improved tremendously since I started but I still have a loooong way to go.  Although I do have a relatively good camera--a Cannon Rebel--(I think I need a better lens, though, but have no idea what that means.)

But I really think I need to step things up with some photo editing.  I currently use whatever came with my computer--Microsoft Picture Manager or something.  It does a few things that I need, but... I really want my pictures to look cooler.  Prettier.  And in some cases, less yellow?  I try and try and use manual settings on my camera but the colors so often look yellow when I take pictures in my house.  I hate the light here.  (It's okay, we're hopefully moving soon when we find a house to buy.)

(Both pics yellow even after editing. I did my best.)  And sometimes they don't even turn out yellow, just... weird colors!  I swear I'm trying!

Seriously, why does the surface of my white table look pink?!!?!?

And that's not even getting started on some of my How to Wear DIY pics outdoors... so dark!  And so many greys and blacks in the colors!  And it's not just cuz I'm wearing black and standing on the street.  I mean the contrast, or base colors or something...

Annnnnnyway, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and tips on photo editing!

My husband has Photoshop Elements on his computer with two monitors, so I'm pretty well set-up with the physical stuff but I'm not sure if Photoshop Elements is good enough?  I don't plan on becoming totally pro, but will I be able to do everything I need to do with Elements, or do I need the real thing?  I've also considered using Gimp, which is open-source and free but I understand very similar to Photoshop.  Although I want to use widely circulated online tutorials for Photoshop, so the terminology might be confusing for a newb like me if it's not parallel.  I'm also wondering--what's up with Photoshop Actions?  Can I create my own if I find edits that I like, and want to do to several pictures?

I even started a Pinterest board with some tips and how-tos for Photoshop and photography.  But just because I ran across them on my Pinterest home page... I would love some of you who know what you're talking about to recommend some sites I should check out!

Cuz I don't know what I'm talking about, I'm embarrassed to say.  But I'm a DIY-er!  I will learn to do stuff to my photos!

Anyone have any suggestions?

Sew What's New giveaway winner, very lucky reader...

Hope you all had fun checking out Sew What's New--they do have an awesome selection of random cool fabrics!  New and vintage, great prices.

So I'm excited to announce via Random.org that the winner of the giveway is...

#76, Ashley, who said: "Oh my, there is entirely too much good stuff to just choose one thing! The trims! The brocades! The buttons! The vintage feel of it all. Definitely adding Sew What's New to my favorite Etsy sites."

Congrats, Ashley!  Sounds like you'll have a lot of fun using your gift card!

Ruffle skirt for a little one!

Follow-up to my How to Wear DIY post last week--here's something I did with the leftover from the grey cross-over ruffle skirt I made myself!  I used just a few inches of Ruffle Fabric for this simple little skirt for my cousin's daughter.

It's a suuuuper simple design, just gathered to the waistband and sewn together with a center back seam!

Wanna see how it looks on her?  Yeah, me too, but...

(I don't have kids, so I'm not used to this... OMG, is it hard to get a 3-year-old to stand still for a photo!  We snapped this one and she was DONE.  So over it.  On to the next present.  So I didn't even bother trying to get a good pic of her in it, not wearing her new Scooby shirt, etc...)

She loooooooves Scooby.  The old TV shows.  It's pretty cute, she'll tell you about all the characters.

How to Wear DIY: Chunky homemade scarf made over

How to Wear DIY today, although it's not that you need to see how I wear a scarf.  We've most of us been wearing scarves for years.  But this circle scarf thing is new for me, and I love how cute and trendy I can be while at the same time cozy and wearing something I made myself!  Here I am in the scarf I made over last week.

See, the seam of the scarf ends isn't obvious at all!  Even with my v-back sweater.

Sweater: Old Navy. Skirt: J.Crew. Belt: Charlotte Russe.

Boots: Fred Meyer. Earrings: ? Scarf: DIY! Made from one I knitted years ago

So thank you, scarf, for reminding me how much I love that J.Crew skirt.