Thursday, October 22, 2009

my Carolyn skirt

Did you see Carolyn's fantastic 1950s inspired dress? Wow. I love the collar! I got to inspect some of her dresses and jackets very up close and personal and oh my, she sews beautiful pieces. So I left her sewing get together with a yard of the gorgeous berry fabric she used for the dress, and made it up into a little work skirt. I've been thinking of it as "my carolyn skirt".

Unfortunately, the camera timer and I had some issues. (I just bought a new plastic Diana film camera... so perhaps my digital is acting like a sulky child because it's not getting all the love right now??)

IMGP3634

Of course, my dog was also contributing to the camera woes. Can you seriously pose for a sewing fashion shoot when your BOY dog is doing this? Geesh- get some manners, Declan!



The ribbon at the hem was left over from last year's christmas sewing- I believe it's from Joyce Trim in NYC, but my memory is a little fuzzy on that front. It's lined in bemberg (which I still detest sewing with, but I suffered through) and has a zipper at the center back. In honor of Carolyn, I used my TNT skirt pattern, an a-line skirt pattern 122 from BWOF March 2008. This is my kind of sloppy hem:



And a ribbon waistband:

waistband

I also finished up Kate's halloween costume. This is what she requested- the cream print dress in the photo. It's a page from an American Girl book about Felicity, who lives in Colonial Williamsburg:



And what she got:

Kate's halloween costume

Kate's halloween costume

Kate's halloween costume

Eh. Sort of close. It's a Halloween costume, so good enough. The point on the bodice is completely wonky, but it's done and Kate doesn't seem to mind.

Finally- anyone have any opinions on wedding dresses with tiny buttons over invisible zippers? I think it looks a bit odd. Seriously, I'm rather leaning towards a size zip and plain back... or just dealing with it and doing the buttons and making my mom button them up.

14 comments:

Faye Lewis said...

Love your skirt, I really do!

Kathi said...

The skirt is really, really cute!
The halloween dress is amazing!! I am sure she will wear it for dress up as well!! She'd better!!!

kbenco said...

Your skirt is classy.
I vote for real working buttons. It is a wedding dress, you do not need to hurry up to get dressed (or the reverse ;))

Karin van Dam said...

That skirt is lovely!

About the buttons: I had a weddingdress with about a thousand little buttons. While getting dressed I indeed had my mom there. Getting undressed that evening was a bigger challenge ;-)

Anyway, I wouldn't do the zipper AND button together thing. Why would you? I don't really see the point.

Anonymous said...

I will second the undressing concern. The women had no trouble buttoning all those little buttons before the wedding. Hubby was ready to rip it to shreds or get a pair of scissors. ;)

Lois K

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Wow! It's interesting that we both added trim to the fabric...a good piece that just needed a little ummph! I knew you would get that made up quickly and it inspired me to make my dress up too! Love it btw!

As for the wedding dress, I would go for the side zip because of the undressing part. Believe me by that time of the evening...all you want is to get out of the d*mn thing!

Meg said...

Hmmm, my wedding dress was by Carolina Herrera and I bought it at Kleinfeld's. This was back in 1991. It had teeny buttons all the way down the back. The tailors at Kleinfeld's offered to install an invisible zipper underneath all those buttons, and I said sure, why not. I seem to recall I liked the convenience of the zipper.

Uta said...

I actually had that combination on my wedding dress, too. Now, my dress was bought second hand, so the decision was already made for me. Also, I was pregnant at the time and very glad to get out of the dress fast, because my waistline had expanded about an inch more than I'd hoped for... (I had a second dress on standby for the party.) All said, if I were to make my dress, and had the choice, I'd go for the buttons without a zip. A zipper isn't really pretty, is it?

meredithp said...

I like the invisible zipper under the "fake button/loops" idea if you like the loops. Depends on the dress, I guess.

I really like the skirt-I'm going to remember that one. And love your cute "crotch dog".

meredithp said...

One more question/comment: You cut this skirt on straight of grain? (Just checked out pattern and it's on the bias, I think.)

Anonymous said...

Your photoshoot reminds me of mine! I love the skirt with the trim--perfect. The fabric is lovely. I adore both Carolyn's dress and now your skirt!

Barbara at Cat Fur Studio said...

The skirt looks fabulous. You worked quickly! As for the wedding dress - in my limited experience, oftentimes, the invisible zipper is installed, then the buttons and loops are installed on top of (in concert with) the zipper - for looks alone. I say go with the zipper alone if you want a clean look.

Brooke said...

I had the same issue with zipper/buttons when I made my dress. I got around it by putting in a regular zipper, but offset to the side a bit with a big overlap...and the overlap is where I installed real working buttons/loops. I had the secure support/closure of the zipper, but the pretty of the buttons because the zipper was completely hidden by the overlap. Does that make sense?

It was a heck of an adventure getting in and out of it though! :-)

Kat said...

Cute skirt!