The Prom dress - finished!

Well, I know I teased you all with a post that included the fact that I was making my eldest daughter's prom dress so here it is.

I used McCalls 6893 and some lovely fabric from Fabricland, with some ribbons for the straps.
The blue was a bit of a pain to sew but once I figured out what it needed (to be held taut while sewing) it went well.
There were a number of fittings to get the top correct and I did not add any boning as a) I've never done boning before and b) her bra already had some.
I also didn't do an invisible zipper as that's something else I've never done.

The top has about an inch more coverage than the original as neither my daughter nor I was happy with the amount of clevage showing. There were some adjustments for a full bust but I think I kind of did it backwards (taking in at the top and sides) rather than doing an FBA. Eh, it worked, who cares how! I also shortened the bodice (see previous post) and added that length to the skirt (which was needed) as a precation

Since it did take so much work and the fit is quite lovely now I'm taking the rest of the material used for the skirt muslin (a thrift store sheet that's really nice material)  and making her a white summer dress. Why waste a good fitting, right? I'll be adding pocket to the sundress version because everyone needs pockets!

Here's another picture of C and her beau B. Aren't they cute?

Can you be petite and not...at the same time?

It was a holiday weekend recently here and for me that means sewing!
I was working on two seperate projects but both of them led me to that above question.

The fist project is DD1's prom dress. Yes, I get to make her dress and honestly, I'm thrilled. A little scared, but thrilled.
Here's the pattern we're using, McCalls 6893 and here's a picture of the view we're working on.

 



 

At the same time I was working on a Tonic T from Skiin Bitch Curvy Chicks for myself.

 

 Now they are technically a company for petites and at 5'7" I shouldn't fit into that.

 

But!!

 



In the course of test fitting DDs dress and straight cutting (after comparing to t-shirts I already own)  I discovered that the best fit occured when I took out 3/4 of an inch from DD1s bodice and left my t-shirt alone. Even after knowing that others lengthened the t-shirt by up to 4"s.
(DD is only a wee bit shorter than I - 5'6")

My conclusion - neither of us are "regular" petites but we're probably both "top half petites". This is something that NEVER would have occured to me before but it's pretty hard to ignore and it sure explains why t-shirts can be very long on both of us.

Things that make you go Hmmmm

My next topic - different sizes front and back? LOL

Ta

OMG I made leggings!

Hello all, sorry for the radio silence lately. I have some posts partial written but 2013 just didn't seem like "the year of finishing posts" or something. LOL

Today though I have a doozy because I broke out of my comfort zone and made something I never would have thought I would or could! That's right I made leggings!

Now, let me say that I don't usually wear leggings (and never as pants, sorry I'm just too old fashioned and too big for that...plus I have a flat tush so they don't have a rear to accentuate lol) but I'm going to Quebec City next month on a field-trip with DD2 so I knew I needed some extra layers.

I was thinking about sweatpants (too bulky) or normal leggings (too thin) and then I came across some fleece lined tights. Now that sounded warm and not too bulky, but my first purchase was terrible. They weren't fleecy at all (which means a soft fuzzy inside to me) and they looked moth eaten when they were on!

My next thought was some fleece lined leggings I saw but I after my first purchase I was hesitant to spend that kind of money.
Then I saw some posts and happy reviews about Cake Patterns Espresso Leggings

and discovered that they were a) available in my size and b) totally customizable!!!  I thought...I have got to give these a try. So I bought the PDF off of the Etsy site and started doing some measuring.

This weekend I finally got around to cutting out and sewing the pattern I traced out and I am thrilled!

The leggings I made aren't 100% perfect but baby, they are sooooo close (98%?).
I have never had a pattern fit like this on the first test and I can honestly say that the fault is not the pattern it's me and only because I was being extra cautious.
The best news is that they fit my apple shaped front, they don't bag over my flat tush and they don't bunch up ANYWHERE.
They do need a wee bit more room in the front thigh (seems my thighs are like my abdomen - more in the front than the back) and they are a bit long (tall?) in the crotch-waist (which has NEVER happened before but is totally due to me being paranoid about things rarely fitting me there). Totally wearable though and so comfy. These test ones will probably become dog walking leggings for wearing as an under layer with my jeans to keep me warm. I don't need much more than that for walking at night here in the rain-forest of BC.

For Quebec I have some polar tec with lots of stretch (Sewing Cake recommends 5% spandex/lycra)  coming the mail from The Rain Shed. They have been a great place to deal with and I'm in love with them.
 I ordered a couple of samples around Christmas and then just ordered my fabric choices last week. Now normally I would never order material to make something for a trip in less than three weeks (NOT the fastest sewer) but the Espresso pattern is so quick to sew up, I have NO worries that I'm going to be able to get 2 pairs of leggings done in time for January 31st.
As soon as I do I promise to post some pics...just not of me wearing them LOL

**Sewing for Apples addendum - one of the things that I did when I did my measurements for the pattern was to measure and use 2 separate measurements for my waist.
 I took a separate Front Waist and Back Waist measurement and inputted those numbers in rather than just the 1 number.
One of the problems I have as an Apple (carries weight in the front mainly in the abdomen) is that while a pattern may fit my waist it will often "pull" to the front because there is too much material in the back and not enough at the front.
By doing the two measurements I fixed that and my leggings don't skew at all. Yay