My red dress!

I finally finished my red dress. I purchased the fabric from Walmart back when they sold decent fabric for $1 per yard. It is a silky and very lightweight. I used Simplicity 5189 for the basic pattern.

I did raise the neckline using a basic jewel-neck blouse pattern.











I also made the princess seams

begin at the shoulder instead

of the arm hole. It seems to fit

better that way.

New pictures

I have this old dress form I got at a garage sale in Minnesota and finally got around to setting it up and found out the largest it would expand is 1 size smaller than what I wear. Oh well, I will put my outfits on it anyway. A new form isn't high on my want list. Maybe an old one someday.

This is one of the shirtwaist dresses I made using Vogue 8021. I am not a fan of notched collars, but this one wasn't too hard to put together. I purchased the fabric from Hancock's several years ago. The cotton is fairly heavy compared to some quilt cottons offered now. It is a good cool weather dress. I like to have side seam pockets. I add a brown belt to finish it off.

I didn't put in the darts and pleats but sewed it together at the waist and then added elastic. I like a little more ease of movement and sometimes my tummy likes a little more room.

More modest skirts coming up in fashion?

I came upon this article about longer skirts making a comeback and the prediction that it would take hold of stylemakers and more would be wearing longer skirts in a few years. Check this out at New York Times.

Sense and Sensibility Patterns

Sense and Sensibility Patterns has re-designed their website . There are some wonderful patterns and great ideas listed. This apron is one of my favorites. I want to try the Romantic Era dress and blouse patterns. I have been thinking about getting a PDF download of the blouse pattern to see how it goes.

New patterns to try

JoAnn's had a pattern sale over Memorial Day weekend and I got 3 new patterns to try.
Simplicity 4221 , Simplicity 2450 , and Simplicity 5201.
For 4221, I have some fabric I can use for the outer layer and some for the underliner. Now, to find time to sew it all up!