Betsey Johnson-Inspired Floral Explosion Dress

How many types of flowers can you spot on this dress?

But...it's so comfy!

I really meant to have this done on Thursday so that I could post it on Friday. Then I promised myself that I would finish it on Friday. And I swore it would be up on Sunday. But alas, hand-sewing and fit issues got the better of me, and what I thought would be a few-hours-to-completion dress turned into a two-movies-worth-of-hand-sewing dress. This is partly due to my appalling hand-sewing skills, and partly due to Walnut's interference. I swear, he knew that I was in a hurry and insisting on sleeping so cutely and peacefully on either the fabric or the patterns at every step, depending on what I needed.

When I saw this, I knew I'd found my inspiration.

But let me back up a little bit. One of my favorite sewing blogs is Sew Weekly, where the fabulous Mena issues a new sewing challenge every week. Past themes have been UFOs (unfinished objects, something I dearly need to work on), summer dresses, black-and-white Ascot outfits, ugly patterns, and movie-inspired outfits; the point is to be sewing weekly. Well, I decided that I needed more structure to my sewing so I decided to try last week's challenge: since it was Independence Day, sew something inspired by an American designer. At first I was going to do something related to Jason Wu, since after all, he's Asian and so am I...but honestly, I just wasn't inspired. So I looked through the list of American designers, trying to see if I recognized any of the names. In the end, I just started clicking on random names. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon Betsey Johnson, who, according to Wikipedia, is "best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. Many of her designs are considered 'over the top' and embellished." A lot of what I saw was very vintage-looking, lots of colorful florals, and definitely whimsical.

My sheet supplier, Shayna, had also given me a lovely colorful thrifted floral sheet that had bows and lace, which is pretty much spot on for a Betsey-Johnson inspired design. I ended up using McCall's 5800, a retro-looking pattern, with a few modifications to make my dress. This turned out to be a mistake. I assumed that since a previous size 8 McCall's had worked out beautifully, this one would be a piece of cake. I didn't bother making a muslin, nor was I especially critical when trying on the pinned-together pattern pieces before assembling the dress. As it turns out, I am not...well-endowed...enough to fill out the top. I ended up making several spur of the moment corrections, and while it ended up mostly working, it's not my best fitting work.

The fabric itself is a poly-cotton blend with some eyelet lace sewn to the edge. I decided to use this as the hem of the skirt, thereby keeping the integrity of the original material, maintaining a Betsey Johnson-esque embellishment, and saving myself from hemming! Three birds with one stone! I need to give myself a bird-killing prize! Um. Right. Back to business. The lining is from another thrifted white poly-cotton blend sheet. Since I had two sheet's worth of fabric to gather at the waist, I decided to cut down the width of the skirt -- this is actually two-thirds of what they recommended. I can't even imagine how thick the waist would be if I did as the pattern said!

My emergency SBA hack consisted of gathering the straps at the front and back to reduce the amount of extra fabric flapping open. This ended up working really well since it gave me a place to put my other embellishments, a rose lace trim from WholePort's Creativity Expo. This company has amazing trims and laces and things, and they so kindly sent a free one-yard sample to me last week! It was the perfect shade of dusky rose to match the fabric, so I used it around the waist and on the front straps at the gathered spots. I couldn't believe how perfectly it matched!

Click to see my hideously uneven stitches.

One of the reasons why it took so long to put this dress together was that I hand-sewed the lining down by stitching in the ditch. Trying to maneuver aound yards of skirt while not tangling the thread was ridiculous. Then, because I apparently hadn't had enough, I also put in a hand-picked zipper per Tasia the Sewaholic's instructions. Mine doesn't look nearly as neat as hers, but it was definitely a good learning experience! I think what I mainly learned was that I don't like hand-sewing, unfortunately. While it is a cool effect, I don't know if I like it enough for it to be worth the time. Invisible zippers are much easier to put in, at least at my current sewing level.

Given how much time this project took, I don't know if I'm up for another Sew Weekly challenge. It's tricky because not only do I need to find the inspiration that fits the challenge, then I need to go get fabric and notions and a pattern. I have a decent-sized stash, but not a big enough one that I can always find what I have in mind. So in the future, I think I'll definitely try to participate in Sew Weekly by sewing something every week, but it may not always fit the challenge.

Other Creative Dabblings

I was originally going to post about my Sew Weekly project today, but it isn't done yet. Oops. So instead, I think on Fridays I will post about my non-sewing related creative dabblings. As hinted at by yesterday's bird skull pendant, I like to try as many different kinds of arts and crafts as possible. A running joke with my sister is that whenever I see something remotely handmade and cool, I say, I want to learn to do that! Or when I'm out with Elaine, she gets annoyed when I refuse to buy things because I could make it myself. Unfortunately, some things, like carving wood, building furniture, and glassblowing are currently out of reach due to either money, space, or other constraints. They're awfully large hobbies, you know. But two summers ago, I was lucky enough to get to dabble in a little bit of letterpress and printmaking. I only took a month's worth of classes, but it was enough to get a taste of setting type, putting in all the wood blocks (I forget what they're called), choosing ink, and running the huge letterpress machine. While fun, I don't know that I'll ever get back into it -- the classes are kind of expensive, and finding a studio to do it at might be tricky once we move to LA. Honestly, I'd rather invest my time in sewing, since I already have a sewing machine at home!

Even though letterpress isn't something I want to do for the rest of my life, I did get some cool prints out the class. Since my husband and I were about to get married, I decided that my big project would be to make a print from one of my favorite silly romantic poems, "The Owl and the Pussycat." It's so light and whimsical, and while my husband isn't particularly owlish, I do love cats. I also learned to carve linoleum blocks to make an awesome linocut image to go with my set type. And of course, choosing a pea-green ink seemed only natural!

I know they're supposed to be dancing, but let's just say they got tired.

I still have a couple of lino blocks left, so I'm toying with the idea of making a couple blocks for printing on fabric. Should I do something sciencey? cat-related? abstract? Too many options!!

Bellatrix Costume Progress and Another Anthro Knock-Off

It's actually a lot less shiny in real life.

In the last two days, I have finished the top and the necklace for my Bellatrix costume. The top was tedious only because I had so many grommets to put in (25!)...I finally decided that the sleeves were just going to have the laces sewn in instead of putting in another twenty-some-odd grommets. The necklace was surprisingly fast: half an hour of sculpting this morning with silver Sculpey (and it only took 1/8th of the package!), then baking and cooling for an hour, coloring in the eye sockets and nostrils with black Sharpie, and quickly twisting up a wire hook to hang it on. Total hands-on time: 45 minutes! It doesn't look exactly like the actual necklace, though, probably because I started sculpting and then was too lazy to wash my hands and pull up a picture to reference. The skull needs to be a lot wider, and of course mine isn't as hollow and delicate as the real one. However, rather than making another one and have two bird-skull pendants lying around, I think I'll just call it good enough :/

Now I just need to make the corset and a wand, and possibly purchase a wig. The only problem with the leather pants is that they smell overwhelmingly of grandma. I don't know what grandma was wearing these leather pants, but I definitely experience some cognitive dissonance when I look at and smell the pants. Somehow, a grandma-smelling Bellatrix just seems wrong to me, so I'm going to need to find a way to deodorize them.

***

Besides the scary smelly pants, I also picked up a skirt at the thrift store yesterday that was perfect for an Anthropologie knock-off I had in mind. I've always loved the full, flowy floral skirts that Anthro does so well, like the Apothecary Skirt, the Full-On Floral Skirt, and the Settee Roses Skirt.

I'm calling this the Calliope Skirt, because that's the brand on the tag! When I saw it on the rack, I was immediately drawn to the fabric. The pattern of flowers and various fruits was just right combo of vintage-y but not kitschy. Originally, the skirt was pretty long -- ankle length definitely makes me look granny-ish! -- but the waist fit nicely, so all I had to do was cut and re-hem. I love an easy refashion! Other things to love about it: 1) it has pockets! huge pockets! Pockets are so useful on skirts! 2) the sweetheart waistline! 3) it was only $1.50!

All in all, it's been a super-productive morning. And I still have all afternoon to work on my Sew Weekly challenge!

Incidentally, the top I'm wearing was a self-drafted disaster. I was trying to go for merely flowy sleeves, but instead I got this fabric-ruffle-overload thing that makes me look like I'm wearing some kind of weird football gear. However, I needed a white top to wear while photographing the skirt, and I have to say, both are deliciously twirly...

Here I am imitating the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil.

Ukrainian Folkwear, Anyone?

The rider is trying to run off with the girl,
but her grumpy old dad is preventing it!

I used to think thrift stores were gross and unsanitary and only old ladies who already smelled like the thrift store shopped there. When you're young (or maybe just when I was young), having the newest stuff that happens to be the same as all your friends is the important thing. Now, I know some high school-age bloggers out there are big on thrifting, upcycling, and refashioning, and I only wish I had such presence of mind when I was younger. But! Better late than never, and now my favorite places to shop are these not-just-for-old-ladies stores. I mean, where else can you find things like unopened patterns for Ukrainian and Russian folkwear?! What I really love about thrift stores, though, is the idea of taking someone else's discards and turning it into something wearable. Reduce, reuse, recycle, right? This way, I can be assured of something unique, and I am helping to prevent more waste by not buying something new off the rack.

I know that some bloggers are capable of taking a hideous/huge dress and cutting it up to make a super-cute, totally different outfit, but I'm not that talented. My refashioning only goes so far as taking up the hem of a skirt or cutting it down a size. When I go to thrift stores, I actually usually just look for cute sheets that I can use as fabric. After all, why pay $3-$12/yd when you can get a whole sheet set (usually at least five yards) for $2? More recently, I've begun looking through their boxes of sewing patterns as well. I used to think that $1.99/pattern at Yardage Town was a good deal, but $0.25/pattern is even better! Of course, not all the patterns are winners. For example, check out these patterns from the 70s:

Exhibit A: Hardy pioneer-type jacket. Look at him staring heroically into the distance, just like Pa Ingalls!

Exhibit B: I totally remember seeing my dad wearing shorts like these in old pictures. Eww, I just grossed myself out. 

Exhibit C: Who doesn't need a velour tracksuit top? I especially love how the drawings look just like a stereotypical creeper/stalker.

Obviously I didn't buy those patterns. I did, however, add the following vintage and not-so-vintage sewing patterns to my collection. I am looking forward to making some cute sundresses!

I also picked up a couple yards of turquoise and white striped jersey, some navy blue bedsheets that I'm planning on using to make a sailor dress, and lastly, black leather pants (who even wears such things?!) for my Bellatrix costume. All in all, a very productive day at the thrift store!

Walnut investigates the bags of thrifted treasure.

Weird Hobbies

Elaine and I after the Tucson Zombie Walk.

I think most little girls enjoy dressing up, but apparently I haven't grown out of it like a normal person would. I am partly enabled by my best friend Elaine, who seems to like doing the same things. When The Return of the King movie came out, my best friend Elaine and I went to the midnight showing all dressed up. Everyone thought we were crazy; she dressed up as Frodo, and I dressed up as Minas Morgul. My very talented sister painted a balloon to look like Sauron's flaming eye, which I then suspended on a horned headpiece. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures since that was pre-Facebook, and apparently our photo-hosting site from that even went defunct many years ago. More recently, we've also dressed up for a Renaissance Faire and a couple zombie walks. This is apparently strange (at least in my circle of friends and acquaintances), since I'm always greeted by "You did what?!"

Now that July is upon us, my next big project is getting ready for the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows 2 midnight screening. It's the last installment of the HP movie series (octology?), and when this is over, there is nothing else in Potter-verse to look forward to...sadness! I remember when I first read the Sorceror's Stone so many years ago (in secret, because my dad wouldn't let us read it because it had magic and witchcraft), and how beautifully JK Rowling developed the story over the next several years. When the last book came out, I was so sad because it meant there was nothing else coming. Well, that wasn't entirely true, since there were still the movies, but now that this is the last movie there really is nothing else!!

Too much gray, even for me.

I thought cosplaying for ROTK was a once in a lifetime, silly college fangirl thing, but it looks like I've found other people crazy enough to dress up with me for the HPDH2 midnight show! Well, one other girlfriend. My husband, despite my pleading, doesn't seem too keen on the idea.

While Hermione is my favorite character in the books (bossy know-it-all bookworm? that's me!), I decided I wanted to do something a little more offbeat than just finding a gray jumper and a school uniform skirt. I mean, I worked at private schools for six years; school uniforms are not exciting. So...I am dressing up as the ultimate crazy person, Bellatrix Lestrange.

This was my first self-drafted nightmare bodice.

Having made at least part of all my previous costumes, it only stands to reason that I do what I can for my Bellatrix outfit. I thought about going all out and getting velvet and silver paint, but let's be reasonable here: I'm not bringing in any bacon currently and my husband is going to be a grad student shortly. The theme of the story is good-enough-to-get-point-across. So I'm refashioning an old black long-sleeved shirt for the bodice. I already have a fantastic thrifted black skirt that I originally bought just because it was too beautiful to pass up...I'm so glad I did! I'm still hoping to thrift a black leather skirt to cut up for the waist corset thingy, and thinking about getting a wig since my hair's not that long yet, but we'll see. I'll be making my own wand, and if I have time I might even attempt the bird skull necklace!

 

I would really, really, really love it if my husband dressed up as Lord Voldemort (we could be the best couple that never was!), but for some reason going as a bald pale nose-less dude doesn't appeal to him. Gee, I wonder why. 

Feather Forecast Blouse

 I'm totally giving in to whole birds/feathers fashion trend (possibly a little late, but whatever). Heck, even Walnut is into feathers, and he's a cat. At any rate, I started small by applique-ing some feathers, cut out from a thrifted blouse, onto a t-shirt. I still had almost an entire blouse left, but I wasn't sure my seamstressing skills were up to refashioning fray-tastic silk yet (my bowhunting skills, on the other had, are level 6, according to my D&D character).

Well, that was almost a year ago. When I saw the Feather or Haute Dress on ModCloth recently, I decided to bite the bullet and take on the blouse. It's a large, shapeless thing with some missing buttons, and luckily for me, no darts! That meant I could actually cut it down however I wanted without worrying about darts ending up in weird places. With One Pearl Button's silk shirt refashion in mind, I began by cutting off the sleeves right at the shoulder seam (fortunately in this case, my shoulders are quite linebackerly and the shoulder actually ended in the right place to make the extended shoulder look I like), then folding them over a couple times and stitching it down. That wasn't too bad, since the silk was already serged there so it didn't fray. But when it came to cutting down the sides and then restitching those, it was definitely a race against the clock to get it basted, stitched, then zigzagged before my entire seam allowance disappeared on me. Someone needs to come up with a half-life for fabrics based on how quickly them fray.

I was originally going to leave it as a collared blouse, but my husband, who knows how much I love Emma Pillsbury's style, sagely suggested that I further alter it by getting rid of the collar and putting a bow on it instead. Thank goodness the sleeves had just enough material for ties. Ahh, much better...less frumpy-lady-on-hot-day, more vintage-inspired chic. I foresee lots more feather goodness in my future!

See the missing sleeve portion where I'd cut out the feathers previously?

This is a much truer representation of the color of the blouse.

 

Walnut noms a feather.

Anthropologie Knock-Off: Artist's Rendering Dress

Now that Me-Made June is over, I can document some of the other projects I've been working on. It's been lovely having my summer days free of students and grading papers -- I can sew all day if I want to! Of course, I don't actually end up sewing for eight hours a day since I waste time making Wikipedia trails, re-reading books I've read a million times before, and hanging out with Walnut.



Which brings me to possibly my greatest accomplishment of all time (not really): an honest-to-goodness Anthropologie imitation! This is my version of the Artist's Rendering Dress by Odile. I actually didn't even know about this dress' existence because my Anthro catalogs stopped arriving for some reason, but my friend Shayna kindly gave me an end-of-the-school-year present: a page torn out from her latest catalog AND the material to make the dress! She found this vintage bedsheet at a thrift store before she ever saw the dress; I think this makes her a genius who mysteriously channels Anthropologie designs.


After reading about Gertie's Black Eyelet Dress, I had McCall's 5845 sheath dress bookmarked as a possible pattern to try. It seemed like a good enough approximation of the Anthro dress, so I picked it up at my local Yardage Town in their $1.99 pattern bin. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, since in the past I've only ever done full skirts that didn't need to be fitted over the bottom portion. I am irrationally afraid of pouring my time and effort into a sheath dress/pencil skirt only to have it burst when I try to sit down. But hey, I've done circle skirts and dirndls, I've got to conquer the fitted bottom sometime, right? 

The pattern was relatively straightforward, even it the 28 darts were a little tedious to mark and then sew and then press. When it came time to attach the skirt portion, I agonized for about a day over whether I should just scrap the bottom and put in a full gathered skirt (it's a queen-sized sheet, so there was plenty of fabric left) instead. Finally, I decided that I needed to give the pattern a fair trial, and I am so glad I did! There are still some weirdo wrinkles here and there (I attribute it to not having a butt to fill out the dress), but overall I'm happy with it.

My attempt to look like a disinterested model.

My favorite thing about this dress is how well I matched the fabric pattern on the side seams -- check out how that sky continues from the front to the back! I remember reading somewhere that one of the hallmarks of couture designs is that the stripes/plaids/whatevers actually line up. Unfortunately, the back is a little off, so I'm not quite there yet...

Shayna suggested that I could wear this as a reversible dress.

I'm also quite proud of the neat job I did on the inside. I used another thrifted white, poly/cotton blend bedsheet for the lining (I'm all about using thrifted materials whenever I can), and even cut it so that I could reuse the original hem (because I hate hemming).

I almost got stuck in the dress inside-out.

I didn't really make any changes to the pattern other than raising the back (so that I could wear a normal bra with this dress) and putting the darts inside rather than outside (You know, like a normal person. I think darts outside is a silly design feature. But I think an exposed zipper is cool. Does that make me a hypocrite?). I do like how the neckline looks with my collarbones (is that a weird body part to like?), and the cut of the armholes doesn't make me look like a linebacker! It's always a good day when one doesn't look like a linebacker.

It also occurs to me that this sheath is very Mad Men, if Betty Draper were to walk around in old pictorial bedsheets.

Pattern review here.

And because I didn't forget, here's Me-Made June, Day 30. I don't have much to say about it other than I love this skirt; it reminds me of Scarlett O'Hara (green flowers! swishy!); and it is possibly my favorite self-drafted piece of clothing.