Tracing is Done! Cutting has begun! Still no sewing YET!

All 5 dresses have been traced out.
4 dresses have been cut. I am still having a hard time trying to decide on the fabric for BWOF June #107. I don't know why it's a hard decision but it is. Maybe because I think that it will look beautiful in white could be the reason why...
Something else I noticed is that Knipmode's pattern layout is not based on the best way to save fabric (if that's how you say it). The Big 4 pattern companies provide the best way to lay fabric out saving as much fabric as possible (their general goal).
Knipmode's 05/2008 #13 dress says that it's supposed to use a little more than 4 yrds of fabric. Of course this was a chore looking for fabric in my stash were I actually purchased more than 4 yrds other than the holidays for gifts. I found one and still only used 3.5 yrds. Their layout was not pattern piece/fabric conscious at all, there were large areas of fabric were other pieces could fit nicely and I took advantage of that. Oh well... you live and learn... I guess I was lazy at the moment, I could laid it all out and judged from there...
I plan to start sewing tomorrow even if I haven't made my final choice on the last BWOF dress.

Cheers!!!

TNT - BWOF 09/2006 #115

Here are the two dresses that caused me loose my focus on my current plan.
I love this pattern! You can literally make this dress in one day, 4 hours tops!

Dress #1 in a purple knit from Fabric.com's recent sale.

I didn't use the facing or collar. I topstitched with a tri color thread.

Here is the thread I used for topstitching.


Dress #2 in a bizarre knit print. Purchased from a discount fabric store a few years ago. Made a Burda top out of it the first time and still had enough for this dress with 1 yd left.

armhole zig zag stitched

a close-up of the bizarre print. I love the colors in it which is why i bought it.

I'm done tracing and right now I'm cutting out the patterns and organizing to prepare for the next step. After that I'm going to press the pre-washed fabric and wash the rest.

Still Tracing!

I would have been done by now if I hadn't gotten distracted and made two dresses. I forgot about a recital on Saturday and that was it after that. I will post those pics soon.

So far three of the five dresses are traced out and maybe more can be traced out today when I get home.

What's Next

If you hadn't noticed I LOVE dresses! I believe that dresses are the absolute easiest thing to slip on and go when you are trying to get ready for work. Especially for those of us that don't iron clothes at night (just can't do it)! I have a long list of dresses lined up and probably won't be posting for a while because I have A LOT of tracing to do!
Dress #1 - Knipmode #13 May 2008. Haven't decided yet which fabric or color that I'm going to use yet.


Dress #2 - Knipmode #21 June 2009. I am going to make this one in tan w/black contrast in linen.

Dress #3 - Knipmode #1 April 2009

The great thing about this dress if you notice in the next two pics is that this dress can be made out of cotton or knit, gonna have a ball with this one! I have chosen either my pea green knit (which may be too bright) or my sage green knit or my tan knit, so may options!

Dress #4 - BWOF June 2009 #107 - I have not decided what color this dress is going to be in yet. This looks like it will be cute in white or tan...

Dress #5 - BWOF June 2009 #110 - I have chosen a fuchsia cotton with a black cotton skirt to go on underneath (model is wearing a skirt under the dress).

I plan to put a pattern together for mom tonight while we are watching the game and then maybe I can trace at least one out after that.
That's all for today I know I've said a mouthful!

Three More Dresses!!

The gold strapless dress was a success. I got tons of compliments. I hemmed it on Friday night and it didn't look right when I pressed it. So on Saturday morning I serged the hem and removed the stitched hem leaving the edges with the serged stitching.

I'm ashamed to say that I could have made these two dresses a long time ago. These two are made of fabric from cotton and pre-ruched at the top. All you do is select the right fit by pinning it on and then sew it up, and that's it!

Here is the second dress made from this pattern except I changed the neckline to scoop from the original v-neck version.

Next up I'm deciding between three dresses from Knipmode's May 2008, April 2009 & June 2009. We'll see!

And It's almost Done!!

All I have to do now is hang it and hem it tomorrow.
Also I cut the skirt in quarters, it was much quicker. There is elastic in the bodice top which I also lined.

here with a belt, I'm wearing gold sandals to match

Graduation Dress Mock

Here is the mock-up of the dress for this weekend. I love how it turned out! I love this fabric but it's initially made for athletic wear (cotton lycra) and it has a yellow line going down the front & back. Not too flattering IMO. I'll wear this around the house and maybe for food shopping & etc with some cute flip flops. The skirt is a circle skirt and since the fabric that I was using is around 180" wide I had no problem cutting the half circle on the fold and having the seams on each side. In order to make this in regular fabric I may have to slash the pattern and cut in quarters and have seams in the front, back & sides (not my favorite), either that or spread the fabric on the floor and cut it that way (back won't allow it). We'll see and I will be pondering on this tonight and while I'm at work all day and will have made my decision by the time it get back home. Until then folks have a great night! Thanks mom for taking the pics!

Another Graduation Dress

Hubby is graduating this weekend and here is a dress that I'm making this week.

This dress is actually going to be strapless. I'm going to secure the top with a piece of elastic that I will conceal into the top facing of the bodice. The skirt is a circle skirt, a little longer than knee length. Now I need to think about a crop jacket or bolero to make for it so that I can dress it down for work next week. I have a white knit that has brown & green circles or squares (or something going on it) that will be very cute with this style. I will post pictures when this is done and I will also post pictures of another dress that I made last week when I was on holiday break.