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Floral cap-sleeve dress

Floral cap-sleeve dress

Floral cap-sleeve dress

Floral cap-sleeve dress
dress: self-made, pattern here // earrings: c/o Michal Golan // shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

Heh. I made a big deal of limiting my Me Made May photos to Instagram this year and here’s day 2 making an appearance on the blog. Whoops.

In my defense, this dress is special. This was one of the first everyday dresses I ever made and I actually still love it. It’s not the most well-made garment ever but it’s wearable. The bias stitching is totally off, the side zipper is atrocious, and it’s made of quilting cotton, but somehow it’s still one of my favorites.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I got an email from Michal Golan Studios that made me squee inside and then laugh out loud. Not only had they noticed my inclination for lady-like glitzy jewelry and offered to send me a few pieces, they also started up a (still ongoing) email conversation about classic computer/video games. I chose these gorgeous heart-shaped earrings and proceeded to completely fail at focusing my camera. Seriously though, new favorite earrings. They’re beautifully hand-made and I’ve been wearing them pretty much everyday because they go with everything. Also they have an entire line of heart-shaped jewelry. You can check out their store here and a post featuring me and the fabulous Miss OonaBalloona here.

And now I should probably go find some pants. So far Me Made May ’14 has taught me that Elisalex either needs yet more tweaking or just doesn’t fit my bust-shape at all and that I need to make more pajamas in order to participate. And that my next goal in life is to make sixteen Netties in favorites colors and lengths and just have that be my wardrobe.

 

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A floral Laurel

Floral laurel

Floral laurel

Floral laurel

Floral laurel

Floral laurel
dress: self-made, pattern here // tights: Modcloth // glasses: Bonlook // shoes: Seychelles // belt: thrifted

I was kind of ambivalent about this pattern at first. I wasn’t sure how it would look on me and I didn’t really have any ideas that were screaming out to me to be made. But then I decided I was making things too complicated, trying to think of cute sleeves to add or fun trims to try. Why not keep things simple and jazz it up with a cute floral print?

The pattern itself fit me decently well, except for the usual armpit area issues that I tend to have with Colette patterns. I kind of suspected that might be the case though, and just slicing off about an inch of the lower arm-hole area was enough to fix the fit issue. Seriously though, do I have huge armpits? I also took in the sides a bit.

I picked this fabric up from a discount fabric store back home ages ago and it’s just been sitting around waiting for the perfect project. It’s a deliciously soft rayon challis that was a bit difficult to sew but Laurel is such a straightforward pattern that it wasn’t too much of a headache. I think I somehow got away with only using one 60″ wide yard for this dress.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, although it does look a bit church-lady-ish without a belt. I was playing around with the idea of adding three tucks or pleats on either side of the waist, right under the bust but haven’t gotten around to it yet. For now I love the way it looks belted.

This dress actually took me way longer than it should have due to sheer laziness. I’d sewn up one sleeve to the arm hole to check the fit and found it way too tight, but the sheer prospect of ripping that 10″ seam was just so daunting that I threw the whole thing under the bed for three weeks. Realistically this project should take an hour or two, tops. Definitely a great project for a beginner!

I want to do another one in lace. And one with some sort of front bib or neckline trim detail! Ooh and pockets!

PS I recently discovered Kollabora! As much as I love Burdastyle and Ravelry, it’s so nice to have one place where I can post all my rando craft projects! You can find me here.

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The backless Belladone

Backless Belladone

Backless Belladone

Backless Belladone

Backless Belladone

Backless Belladonedress: self-made, pattern here // shoes: Minnetonka // glasses: Bonlook

I had this dress in mind when I first bought the Belladone pattern but I never had the right fabric for it. When I was home recently, I went to my favorite discount fabric shop and found this gorgeously simple floral rayon challis (I think?) and I knew it had to come home with me and become this dress.

I’m *mostly* happy with how it turned out, but there are definitely some things I would tweak next time I make one.

I made the bodice according to the pattern, except the two bottom back pieces, which I basically slashed off a bunch of. I wanted the lovely diagonal lines meeting toward the middle, but I wanted this to be an easy dress to slip on so I opted for an elastic waistband just in the very back. This meant the bottom back pieces had to meet the waistband a little farther out than I had originally planned. For the skirt, I just drafted a circle skirt with a little extra circumference than the actual waist in order to accommodate the gathering.

I think that next time I’m going to include the original waistband in the back only, and then have the skirt come out of there. It’ll be easy to attach some sort of short back zipper closure (or buttons!) and I can have the bottom back pieces meet in the middle and not gape so much at the sides.

Anyway, this dress is super comfy and super easy to throw on. Plus, backless dresses are just tons of fun to wear!

In other news, I just realized my post title sounds like a weird and possibly skanky murder mystery.

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Darling Ranges #3

In case anyone was doubting my sentiments toward Megan Nielsen’s Darling Ranges pattern.. here’s yet another one!

Darling Ranges #3
dress: self-made (Darling Ranges by Megan Nielsen), shoes: Modcloth

I saw some really gorgeous sleeveless ones so I decided to make this one sans sleeves. I almost like it better than the ones with sleeves! Definitely a different look. I also decided to add a faux-collary thing to this one. Totally experimental but I think it turned out really cute. This collar’s pointy but I think I’ll have to experiment with a Peter Pan collar next.

Here’s a fun instagrammed close up of the collar detail.

This is definitely one of my favorite things I’ve ever sewn because it fits me PERFECTLY. No joke. By some miracle every bit of it fits like a glove. I added back darts to this one and eliminated the back ties and I love it!

Darling Ranges #3

It’s been chilly lately so I’ve been pairing this with a long cardigan and some tights. Can’t wait to wear it out as a summer dress!

PS If you’re looking for ideas on variations of this pattern, check out Megan Nielsen’s Darling Ranges board on Pinterest!

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Floral pretties

I’m not sure why or when this started but I’ve been obsessed with florals lately. Obsessed.

I’m also slightly obsessed with this pattern! I love the cap sleeves and the amount of gathering in the skirt is perfect for surreptitious twirls.

DSC_0711
dress: self-made (02/2011 #101 by Burda Style Magazine), belt & headband: F21, shoes: Modcloth

Edit: Here’s a photo of the back!

DSC_0708

PS lookit my new sandals! I bought them as a yay-you’re-done-with-year-one-of-grad-school gift to myself. Sadly, I think they might be going back because my feet are super wide and they just don’t look that great on me. Boo.

Look, unflattering feet!

DSC_0700

It’s ok though, it’s possible that I have a pair of sandals from Lotta from Stockholm on their way to me..

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