The pink dress

After many days of cataloging my fabric stash by measuring, taking photo and inputing yardage and details onto my ipad app, I think we are finally finished.  My newly retired friend spent a lot of time helping me with this huge task! I think she learned so much that she could be hired at Joann’s now!  This photo is only half of the boxes in the studio and shows none stashed under the stairs and in the back room!

It was good to see old forgotten fabric cuts with a new eye and I even pulled some aside to use soon…shock!  Among the cuts is this linen/cotton blend that is hot pink, the favorite color of my friend. We both shop for nice summer dresses on sale every year so I offered to make her a summer dress and she chose this Mc Call’s 7118 pattern.

Project #14 for this year!

It’s very simple and only took a few hours so it’s a good beginner pattern. I love the back strap detail.  It fits her perfectly and she loves it. What a difference to sew a size 6!!  Now we wait until the weather is warm enough to wear it in Ohio.

While looking for more fabric in the back room I found some beautiful blue linen which would be enough for a dress with matching jacket…so let’s see what pattern she selects next.

 

Koos, 2 new dresses

March was a short trip to NYC with friends and I went in a day early to see the head designer and the owner of KOOS. It was the first time I’d seen them since he died and it was odd not to see him in his cluttered design room at the studio. The room was empty and cleaned and painted white. All that was left was his Juki industrial machine and a large portrait.

Here are some photos from the boutique. I made the dress on the left twice and it has such a nice draping/bustle detail in the back. It’s one of my favorites.  The store was very busy so that was good to see. Everything was beautiful and inspirational. 

I love this detail on a blouse with a net base. How unusual.

Project #12 for the year. We stumbled onto the store PURL SOHO and they had this Kaufman fabric that is very light and airy so I bought some for this Vogue 1312 by Lynn Mizono. (Forget what I said in January about not buying fabric for a while since I bought 100 yards!)  I love the skirt and it went together so quickly.

Project #13 is Vogue 9112 by Marcy Tilton, one of my favorite designers. As soon as this pattern was released last week, I was dying to make this dress! After weeks of sorting, cataloging and arranging my fabric stash we finally came to the box of Asian fabrics. Inside was a collection of these Japanese dobby weave fabrics. OF the main fabric, I only had 1 3/4 yrds so I had to use the two other fabrics but I wanted to mix fabrics in this dress anyway. It took every inch of the fabric and lots of squeezing in the patterns…a big puzzle!

I love how it came out and can’t wait until the weather is warm enough to wear it in Ohio! From cutting to finish, it took me about 6 hours, so very fast but I think it is an intermediate level since you need some skill with easing in round areas and applying bias tape. I will be making it again for sure! Just wish I had a source for this fabric!

What to sew next?