Tools of the trade a Ham

So my new favorite tool is a tailor's ham. I wonder where that name came from. Why I have not purchased one before I don't know. It is right up there with my seam ripper! I make so many strapless or curved bodices and this little ham gives me some real flat seams without all the work. I bought a pattern to make one but got this on sale for 1/2 off so I went for it.

It's all ready for the casings for the boning. Slick and quick. I made a rhyme!

16 Days 8 More Dresses to Make

I have 16 days this month and 8 dresses to go. Will I make it? Here are the six bridesmaid dresses. I swear it was like moving in slow motion with these. Major set back! What are the odds that all six of these dresses are going to fit? I guess I find out in a couple of days.

Another day another gown

Well I just received word that my customer loved her dress...exactly as she pictured it. Scary part is she hasn't tried it on yet! The tension mounts.

This gown was made from V2902. You can read about my rantings on the pattern here. For the petticoat I used a 1980's pattern from McCall's. McCall's 7981. For the bottom tier I just added more netting. I wish I would of taken a picture up the dress. Love how all the gathers look. Hate gathering it all though! You should be able to find it for less than $5.00. I got my for free as my mother in law picked it up at a garage sale. Cute pattern just the same.

Here is the dress.I used Joanne's bridal satin. Super nice. The shipment weight almost 4 lbs!

I will be shipping the  blue bridesmaid dresses on Monday. I then have to hurry and get two green dresses with boleros done. After that I will be doing a reproduction of this dress. It will be champagne with 3/4" sleeves. The bow will be detachable and I will add a flower so the bride can decide which look she prefers.

Grace Kelly Rear Window Dress

My Pay Pal says it was delivered. No word from my customer, unfortunately that is normal. Sometimes no news is good news. Of course it would be better to see it on someone but here is the finished dress on my trusty dress form.

 The back view. I deepened the back quite a bit.

My sister did the bead work for me. Thanks so much sis!

I went all out for this order. Gave her a petticoat, stole and earrings to complete the outfit. This truly was one of my dream dresses to recreate. I think next time I will put my sister to work and add more of the beads. Oh crap now that I'm seeing the picture I should of put one in the middle! Duh!!! $@uk

Bomb Shell Shocked

Anyone who follows this blog knows I love vintage clothing! This shop from Etsy BombShellShocked has got it all! First I have to comment on reserve listing thumbnail. How fun and unique is this?

Now some of my favorites from her shop. I LOVE LOVE these pants and this 80's dress. I'm always telling everyone to look at the 80's especially patterns for a 1950's vibe or to just use some of the skirts. My last petticoat the two tier one came from a 1980's skirt pattern. Check out the dress. What a circle skirt it has on it.

Just in time for Spring a 1950's dress. So beautiful! How about a authentic 1940's WWII factory worker uniform. She also has a great selection of vintage patterns which we all know we can never have enough of!

Black Satin Circle Skirt

My customer wanted a dressy circle skirt from my vintage pattern. She request two pockets instead of one that the pattern calls for, to have big waistband and also to shorten it to about 25".  She is going to sew Monarch Butterflies on it. I hope she sends me some pictures with the butterflies on it.

I love this pattern. If you can get a hold of it or something similar I highly recommend it. The shape is perfect. The only thing I will sometimes do different aside from customer requests is the pattern calls for four pieces for the skirt itself. Two fronts and two backs. I don't like the center seam on some fabrics so I will lay the front on a fold. I noticed a lot of vintage patterns have center seams or the other thing I don't like is the slit for the zippers! What were they thinking back then?

Gowns and Petticoats

The Grace Kelly is completed. I'm shipping it on Monday. Sorry everyone that is waiting to see the finished product...it will have to wait until my customer sees it first. I am also going to be shipping a wedding gown made from V2902. I will post pictures at a later date. The bride will be the first to see it. I still need to make a bolero and hem the skirts.

If I was to make this dress over I would do a couple of things different. There is a contrast piece that is supposed to be hand stitched to the outside of the bodice. Talk about a ugly finish! I left the bottom open, but still had to hand stitch it to the outside and the inside of the gown. Lucky I used a bridal satin so it was stiff. There is a lot of weight to the skirt I would recommend if you use a lighter fabric to use interfacing to the contrast of the neckline to stabilize it. I would actually recommend cutting the bodice as directed then taking the two pieces of contrast and cut the bodice around so it can be machined stitched. I could of topped stitched it but that would be tacky. I just used tiny little stitches. Took me a couple of hours to do but it sure beat sewing it only to the front.

Petticoats are pain to make. Some are easier than others. Because of the weight of some of the skirts I've been really trying to rethink how I make them. Here are two that I've just completed. The black and white one is basic but there is still a lot of gathering involved and lets face it netting isn't that fun to work with. I'm improving on my tier petticoats. It may look pink but it is actually two layers of white (4 yards per layer), and in between the white is red. It turned out real cute and works really well with the dress it was made for! Two sections for the top, four for the middle and 8 for the bottom. Times that by 3 that is a lot of sewing and gathering!

Tomorrow I'm hoping to finish the V2902, the bolero and I also want to whip out a full circle skirt and petticoat. OH NO not another petticoat! I doubt I will get done with all that, but I'm going to give it a shot. Then Monday I'm back to blue dresses. I have all the fabric in now.