Once again, I had on the tv and glanced up at the screen and it was sewing kismet! There was a dress that I had to have!

Hilary on The Young & The Restless (she's pregnant in real life) was wearing this striking pink dress with bows on it and I had to know more. My favorite site for locating wardrobe from my favorite tv shows, never lets me down.

The dress is Black Halo Mystic Bow Dress.

To make my dress happen, I simply looked at the lines of the designer dress. The main thing: princess seams with no waist seam. So, I knew I'd be starting off with Vogue 1532. For the neckline, I went with a pattern I'd already used prior -- McCall's 7728.

First thing first, I had to marry the two patterns and picking fabric. My fabric is from my Spring/Summer Fine Fabrics Haul. It's an ivory rayon/viscose crepe.

For the center front, I cut it on the fold eliminating the center front seam.

I left the back like Vogue 1532, well... I lowered it by 2", instead of having a v-back like my inspo dress. I made bias cut straps for the dress as well.

To create the bow detail, I left the seam on one side open at the upper thigh. I spread open the seam so that it would hang apart and sewn in an inset or gusset... whichever you want to call it.

Here is the inside. Now, I haven't seen the inspo dress in person. This is just how I feel things should go. And as you can see from the results, it works.

I sewed the bows the same you would sew a fabric belt and hand stitched them on.

I installed an invisible zipper.

The dress is fully-lined and I used a nude lining. My lining fabric is Donna Karan Warm Beige Italian Stretch Silk Georgette. My sewing tip: Never skip the understitching. It keeps your lining from rolling forward. I've been noticing lately that a lot of people skip that step and *think* that they can just press and go... nope. There's my way -- there's your way -- and there's the RIGHT WAY.

I finished it off with a 2" deep machine-sewn blind hem. So, that's it. I hope I didn't leave off any details. I hope you all find posts like these inspiring to know that you never have to sew a pattern straight from the envelope -- unless you want to. You can take pieces, add new parts and adjust anyway that you like!

So, it's been a while since I've sewn anything for Mikaela. We've both been super busy. But I was determined to get her something made before she left for school. We're going to call this dress a birthday present since her birthday was at the end of July. Can y'all believe my sweet baby girl is 20 years old?! Where has time gone?

I wanted to make her something girly, cute, youthful and perfect for these last summer days.

I was inspired by this Caroline Constas Apollonia Dress which retails for $495.

For this dress, I used McCall's 7563 as my base pattern. I only needed 2 pattern pieces, the front/back and the sleeve of view D. Shirring creates stretch, which creates shrinkage. So you pattern should be 1.5 times your normal size. For example, Mikaela has a bust size of 34". So the pattern's bust size should be 51".

I found that 20 rows of stitching was enough to cover the bust area for an empire waist. If you're smaller than her, maybe 15 rows and if you're larger 25 (or more).

I created 20 rows of stitching also for the sleeves.

I also modified the sleeve by created a tiered effect and finishing with a minuscule narrow hem, using my BERNINA Narrow Straight Stitch Hemmer #62.

I love the way the sleeves turned out.

I finished the neckline simply by serging.

And hemmed the dress with a 5/8" hem.

The fabric is Cotton Seersucker from Joann Fabrics.

This was such a fulfilling unselfish-sewing project, because she is so in love with this dress!

I've written a How to Create Shirring with Elastic Thread Tutorial on BERNINA's We All Sew Blog. Go see how to do it!

My idea of a perfect 4th of July dress is bright, colorful, cool, comfy and cute. Which brings me to this dress. 

My dress is inspired by this Mara Hoffman dress that retails for $425.

My dress started with the fabric. I lucked up and found a fabric that was very similar to the one used in my inspiration dress to give me a real "See It! Sew It! Style It!" moment. It's this multicolored bold striped cotton from Mood Fabrics.com. Unfortunately, this fabric is so amazing that it's sold out. The good ones always sell fast.

To achieve my inspiration dress, it was all about the empire style bodice.

I had to reach way back in my pattern filing cabinet and dig out 10 year old McCall Patterns 5381, that's been long discontinued.

The first thing I need to do was to modify the bodice. I cut the size 14. The bodice came in two parts: there are pieces that look like bra cups and the overlay pieces that tie in the front.

I omitted that bra cup pieces and cut 4 pieces of the overlay instead, the additional 2 pieces are the lining. I shortened the ties to 6 inches. And I created the cutout in the CF of the skirt.

For the skirt pieces, I left the length as it was. I wanted a length that was shorter than a maxi, but slightly longer than a midi. I like the length where the dress was hitting on the model in the inspiration photo.

I omitted the zipper. Since my bodice is open, it allowed me enough room to slide the dress on over my head. And I also widened my straps to one inch wide.

I could've cut the back of the skirt on the fold, but I cut 2 instead. I wanted the stripe pattern to appear more balanced.

And I finished my dress with a blind 2 inch hem.

So, I wanted a pair of khaki shorts. Khaki is such a basic wardrobe staple that will work with any other color. A classic neutral! 

But what I didn't want is a pair of plain shorts made from chino twill fabric.

I was inspired by these Peserico Suede Shorts. They retailed for $500, but are currently on sale for $199. Talk about an "I can make that" moment!

So, to get started, I drafted the base style from a pair of RTW 5" shorts that I already owned. I know I'd only need to add the details. But drafting pants is not easy at all. I had a lot of kinks to work out. It took me a solid week to create these and I questioned why the hell did I even start with these stupid shorts multiple times. But I have to always see things through until the end.

The first iteration came out way too small. I think I forgot to calculate in the seam allowances. I was almost finished. I only needed to attach the waistband and hem them. But when I tried them on, they wouldn't go past my hips. I was absolutely crestfallen. I threw them in a corner and went to bed.

I got up the next day and started all the way over from scratch and they worked! 

I added 2 darts to the front and 2 darts to the back. Like my inspiration shorts, I added patch pockets with flaps and edgestitched and topstitched them.

I also added inseam pockets.

For the back, I added faux welt pockets:

The reason I chose to use faux welt pockets is "pure laziness". I know I can make welt pockets and if you've been reading this blog, you know I can too! Those are a lot of steps and I had nothing to prove. And it's not like I'm going to stick my wallet in my back pocket! 

I just really like the aesthetic of that classic menswear detail.

I'd planned on making the belt with the D-rings like my inspiration. But I ran short on this fabric. BTW, it's a faux suede that I picked up in Atlanta a few months ago from Fine Fabrics. So I just integrated the channel stitching detail into the waistband.

These shorts were a real treat to make, even if I wanted to burn them in the process. Sometimes I just feel the need to challenge myself!

Okay... So everyone wanted to know about my top I was wearing in the glasses post on yesterday. Well, here it is!

I was inspired by the Ellery Delores Top:

In order to create a top based on my inspiration, I used a combination of McCall's 7542 and 7543.

I started with the back and front pieces of 7543. I cut the size small and graded out to a medium at the waist.

I added an inch of length to both pieces. I altered the front with a FBA and added a horizontal dart. I started to add a vertical one as well, but I left it as is.

I added seam allowances to the back and front centers. Instead of cutting them on the fold, I wanted them to have seams there, like my inspo top.

For my sleeves, I used pattern piece #4 from 7543 and #9 from 7542. I needed to alter the sleeve from 7542 so that it would be off the shoulder.

Here's what the pattern piece looked like.

All of the pieces went together perfectly. 

And I love that the ruffle is a complete circle with no seam line to distort the beautiful drape.

I finished them with rolled hems.

Unlike my inspo top, I stuck to the pattern detail and used elastic in the neckline. The inspo top has a neckline facing and a center back zipper.

I love how these modifications turned out. This fabulous Mercerized Cotton Poplin from Mood Fabrics.com was perfect. I plan to use this design a few more times!