Thursday, December 27, 2012

Pink and spearmint dress update

Hello all! Been busy working on my pink and spearmint dress (which I affectionately refer to as my "ice cream" dress, since the pink looks like strawberry ice cream, the spearmint looks like mint ice cream, and the tan looks like coffee ice cream, and maybe I'm just a little too hungry when I sew...) and I've gotten a lot done in the last few days. I've sewn the top layer of skirts to the bodice, and I'm quite proud of how it turned out. I used my serger to properly finish the seams, and they look very nice and professional. Sewing points into a cavity is infinitely trickier than it sounds like it should be, and I had a lot of trouble with it until a) I looked at a friend's dress to see how it was done, and b) I took the time to actually hand baste it in place. The trick is to get very close to the edge of the stretchy top fabric that's the concave part you are sewing the point into. This is much easier when you're not dealing with pins and it's hand basted.


Yay for sergers and nicely finished seams so they will stop unraveling!


After finishing the godets, I made the bodysuit and basted it to the bodice. In a super blonde moment, I made the bodysuit tan, instead of the pink I had intended, so I'm going to have to change my plan a little bit. In the end, I think my subconscious knew what it was doing though, cause I think this will turn out better in the end. I also made some elastic straps, which are covered in the cappuccino dance crepe, and are now wonderfully soft and will be the right color for when I'm in comp tan. These are really easy to make, some day I'll make a tutorial for it, since the technique could be expanded for making those arm bands that floats are often connected to (which is probably what I'm going to do for the floats on this dress).


And now I'm working on putting the zipper in. More pics to come once I can actually wear it!

Edited to add: Zipper is in, and thank God, it fits! It's tight, but nice and snug. Phew. Was worried there, this lace doesn't stretch as much as the lycra does.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Swarovski Bangles!

These are so much fun to make, I can get them done in a few hours and the sparkle:time ratio is wonderfully high. I made these for a silent auction, but if you know anyone interested in some, let me know: $25 for one, or $40 for a pair, many colors.

Blue zircon and Aquamarine mixed bangles
Blue zircon and Aquamarine mixed bangles
Sun (orange) and Sapphire Bangles