Creative Notions

Spring Cleaning Giveaway

May 1, 2013

To start off my first Me-Made-May I’ve got a giveaway for ya’, and it’s a big un’! This giveaway has something for sewers and non-sewers alike.

From My Stash to Yours

For the sewists out there, I have some patterns to give away. I will mail these to fellow stitchers anywhere around the world.

The envelopes are not in pristine condition and the bell skirt is the only uncut pattern. Without further ado, here are the patterns:

First up, a swimsuit and beach-coat pattern. The top is similar to the one that I used (with some modifications) last summer for my retro swimsuit.

Simplicity 7692 from 1968, size 8, bust 31.5

Next, a bell skirted evening dress pattern.

Butterick 2906, size14, bust 34

Finally, a basic princess seam dress with different variations. There’s a detachable collar and buttons option, a cute pleat with contrasting insets option, and a dropwaist bow belt option. The dress can be sleeveless or have set-in sleeves.

McCall’s 8263 from 1966, size 14, bust 34.

From My Closet to Yours

As I said in the beginning, this giveaway isn’t just for sewists. When I was going through my wardrobe and making my plans for Me-Made-May, I realized that there are several items that I made over the past few years and rarely wore or only wore once or twice. These dresses deserve to be worn and loved. I can’t bear to give them to a thrift shop, so I thought I’d see if anyone out there might be interested in a couple of them.

First up, a reconstructed dress that I’ve only worn once or twice.

Here’s the blog post about the dress, if you’re curious. Here are the approximate measurements: bust-34-35″, waist-27-28″, hips-free, length-37″.

Second, this dress with a pintuck bodice.

I absolutely adore this dress, but I’ve worn this maybe three times.

The neckline is cut a bit low for my taste, and it’s always been a bit too big for me. I’ve never really been able to comfortably wear it. Here are the approximate measurements: bust-35″, waist-27-28″, hips-free, length-40″, bodice length-14″.

To enter:

1.) Leave a comment letting me know which item you’re interested in. Make sure to include some form of contact information (blog or email). You’re not obligated to follow this blog for your first entry in the giveaway (but it would make me happy if you did ).

2.) Here’s how you can gain extra entries:

-Follow this blog on bloglovin, through email or whatever feed reader you want to use (except Google Reader, which as we all know is shutting down). If you already follow, just let me know.

-Follow on Twitter

-Follow on Facebook

-Spread the word somehow (Twitter, Facebook and/or blog) about the giveaway

*Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry, letting me know what you’ve done and which item you’re interested in. Each entry can be for a different item, if you’d like. Make sure to include some form of contact information (blog or email).

This giveaway is open to readers all over the world. The deadline for entries is 11:00 PM EST on May 17th, 2013. I will draw entries from a bucket or use a random number generator to determine the winners for each of the items. I’ll announce the winners on May 18th or 19th. Good luck!

Posted in General, Sewing & Crafting Tagged dress, giveaway, handmade, retro, sewing, sewing patterns, spring cleaning, vintage | |31 Comments

Baked Potato Cauliflower Soup

May 1, 2013

I haven’t shared a recipe in a while, but this one is worth passing along. It was a rainy day here yesterday, so it seemed like the perfect time for soup. Honestly, it’s probably one of the last days I’ll be able to make it for a while.

I’ve been making this soup since around this time last year, and I would strongly recommend it.

My husband isn’t a huge fan of cauliflower, but he likes this soup. I promise, it doesn’t taste like cauliflower.

Here’s the recipe from Skinny Taste:

Ingredients:

2 russet potatoes, washed and dried

1 small head of cauliflower, stem removed cut into florets

1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth

1 1/2 cups 1% reduced-fat milk

salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 cup light sour cream

10 tbsp reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese

6 tbsp chopped chives, divided

3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (you can use turkey bacon if you prefer)

Directions:

Pierce potatoes with a fork; microwave on high for 5 minutes turn over and microwave another 3 – 5 minutes, until tender. Or if you prefer to use your oven, bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes.

Meanwhile, steam cauliflower with water in a large covered pot until tender. Drain and return to pot. On medium heat, add chicken broth, milk, potatoes and bring to a boil. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Add sour cream, half the chives, salt and pepper and cook on low another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Ladle 1 cup soup into each bowl. Top each serving with 2 tbsp cheese, remaining chives, and bacon.

I substitute nonfat plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream, and I use reduced sodium chicken broth and bacon. I usually steam my cauliflower in the microwave with chicken broth and a little light butter.

The website this recipe comes from has some really yummy food. I’ve tried several other recipes, including the Skinny Texas Cheese Fries.

Seriously, these are the best! I made them several times last year, but haven’t made them yet this year. Now I need to work them into the meal schedule soon.

*Reminder: If you aren’t interested in this, or other posts, about topics other than sewing, you can subscribe to just the sewing & crafting section of this blog through the sidebar.*

Stay tuned for a massive giveaway post to kick off my first Me-Made-May, later today.

Posted in Cooking & Baking, General Tagged baked potato, cauliflower, cooking, soup | |3 Comments

Black & White Polka Dot Renfrew

April 27, 2013

In preparation for Me Made May, I’ve been hurriedly making more casual tops to wear.

I know I’m behind the curve on this one, and the sewing blogosphere has been aflood with different version of this shirt for quite some time, but I made a Renfrew.

Just like everyone else, I love this pattern. Sure, it might be something I’d be able to draft myself, but I like supporting independent pattern designers. Plus, it’s nice to work on a project that doesn’t really involve much thought.

I opted to leave off the sleeve and hem bands and used my double needle for the hems.

I topstitched around the neckline with my double needle for a clean and professional look.

I made it pretty short, so it will be easier to tuck into a skirt. I generally prefer my tops shorter anyway.

I also like my knit tops to be a bit more fitted. So, I cut a 4 at the hips and bust and curved in to a 0 at the waist.

For this top, I used a remnant of fabric that measured a bit more than 3/4 yard. It’s a super lightweight double-knit. I really only used about half a yard of material.

It was such a snap to make! I’m actually working on several others at the moment. It’s a nice quick project to squeeze in between other projects.

The first day I wore this top, I wore it with a cropped cardigan that matches those shoes. I like being matchy matchy sometimes. :)

When I wore this out, I paired it with a cropped cardigan that matches those shoes. I like being matchy matchy sometimes.

For me, the best part about this top is that it’s striped on the inside and polka dots on the outside. Maybe I’ll wear it inside out sometime. ;P

Sorry if that was too many pictures of such a basic top. I’m just super excited about polka dots, lately. I’ve always loved them, but for some reason they’ve been largely missing from my wardrobe for the past few years. I have another polka dot top planned, but I’m waiting for my Sewing Cake Hummingbird pattern that I ordered during the pre-sale. I’m so excited to get my hands on that pattern!

Posted in General, Sewing & Crafting Tagged polka dots, Renfrew, sewaholic, sewing, shirt, top | |21 Comments

Striped Button-Up Skirt Reconstruction

April 25, 2013

When I found this dress at the thrift store last month, I snatched it up with no hesitation.

I’m fairly certain that I wasn’t trying to make a duck face. I must’ve been talking to Newton when the timer went off. Haha!

I liked a lot of things about the dress: the colors, the stripes, the buttons, the pockets, the shape of the skirt. However, I don’t usually do maxi length dresses or skirts. They tend to make me look extra short. As I was going through my wardrobe in preparation for Me-Made-May, I discovered that I really need more separates. I especially don’t have very many skirts. So, I decided to make a skirt.

I plan to alter the collar of the bodice (it’s a bit much for me) and make a peplum top with the bodice of the dress and the left over skirt pieces.

I can wear it with or without the belt. Once I have my peplum top made, I can wear the belt with it when I want also.

This was an easy peasy reconstruction. Here are the deets:

The first step was to separate the skirt and the bodice.

I pinned the existing pleats, and basted around the top of the skirt.

I measured and cut the bottom of the skirt to my desired length, and used a portion of the left-over skirt to make the waistband.

I cut two rectangular pieces for the waistband, added interfacing to the pieces, sewed them, right sides together, along the short edges and one long edge (the top of the waistband), and trimmed the seam allowances. The length of the wasitband pieces equaled my waist measurement plus the overlap on the front edges for the button closure. The width of the waistband piece was simply the width of the finished waistband plus seam allowances for the top and bottom of the waistband.

I cut two rectangular pieces for the waistband and waistband facing, added interfacing to the waistband piece, sewed them, right sides together, along the short edges and one long edge (the top of the waistband), and trimmed the seam allowances. The length of the waistband pieces was equal to the finished waist measurement plus the overlap on the front edges for the button closure. The width of the waistband pieces equaled the width of the finished waistband plus seam allowances for the top and bottom of the waistband. (Yep, that’s a Renfrew that I’m working on in the background. I know some of you would consider me a fool, but I usually work on about three projects at once :O)

I don’t know why, but I’m missing a picture for the next step. I turned the waistband in (wrong sides together), and pinned the bottom edge of the waistband to the waist of the skirt (right sides together). I was careful to leave the bottom edge of the waistband facing free. Once I stitched the bottom edge of the waistband to the skirt from front edge to front edge, I trimmed the seam allowances and pressed the seam allowances up.

Fold and press the bottom of the waistband facing under and over the seam allowances that you just pressed up. Pin the facing down (from the right side) along the inside of the skirt. You'll be stitching the facing down from the right side of the skirt, so you need to make sure to pin through from the right side of the skirt.

Next, I folded and pressed the bottom of the waistband facing under and over the seam allowances that I’d just pressed up. Then, I pinned the facing down (from the right side) along the inside of the skirt. Since I’d be stitching the facing down from the right side of the skirt, I had to make sure to pin through from the right side of the skirt. Do you see what I mean in the photo?

Stitch in the ditch of the skirt/waistband seam from front edge to front edge. Go slow to make sure that you're catching the waistband facing on the underside.

I stitched in the ditch of the skirt/waistband seam from front edge to front edge, making sure to catch the facing on the underside.

I sewed a vertical buttonhole on the right front edge of the waistband, matching it up with the buttonholes down the rest of the skirt. To complete the waistband, I stitched a button to the left front edge of the waistband. I used one of the buttons from the left-over skirt material.

Finally, I hemmed the bottom of the skirt. I did a rolled hem on my serger, as it looked really nice with this fabric.

That’s it!

I should have made my buttonhole a bit smaller; I didn’t account for how much it might stretch. Everything about the waistband matched up perfectly at the beginning of the day. Oh well! I’m sure some washing, drying and ironing will do the trick.

Um..not sure why I didn’t straighten out the waistband under the belt.

It’s a bit wrinkly because I wore it for a day and neglected to iron it.

I received several compliments on my outfit the day that I wore this skirt. That always brightens my day.

It was such a beautiful evening when I took these pictures. Alex and Newton went out on the deck at one point, so I took some pictures of them.

Newton just looks pissed off in most of these pictures. He really doesn’t like getting his picture taken. He usually tries to turn away from the camera. I think he’s afraid of getting his soul stolen, or something.

I had to take some pictures with the Newt, too.

He loves people, most of the time. But some of the time, he acts like a cat, and he couldn’t be bothered with us or with the antics we get up to.

Sometimes, I think I’m the victim of unrequited love. He’ll try his hardest to ignore me. At times, he seems downright disgusted with me. At night, if I’m being too loud and he’s in his bed trying to sleep, he throws mini tantrums. He’ll sigh louder than I’ve ever heard a dog sigh and he’ll throw himself down facing the wall, refusing to look at us no matter how much we talk to him.

You will be cuddled, and you will like it!

He has a lot of little quirks, but they make him even more lovable. Our life wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun without him around. How could you not love that cute little face?

Posted in General, Reconstructing & Thrifting, Sewing & Crafting Tagged Budget, button-down, diy, how to, reconstruction, recycled, remake, sewing, skirt, thrifted, tutorial | |20 Comments

Mad Men Sewing Challenge Dress Complete…Barely

April 22, 2013

I finished my dress for the Mad Men Sewing Challenge, just in time. Phew! I was so glad to have an extension.

I aimed to have this dress done on Friday (the original deadline), but I’ve been distracted since Thursday. We’re redoing our whole yard. We’ve pulled out concrete, filled the pool in, re-graded the yard, cleared, pruned, tilled, etc. I’ve had to dig up and temporarily pot a lot of plants to replant when we’re finished. Needless to say, I’m amazed that I managed to squeeze this dress in by the extended deadline.

Anyway, as you may recall for my planning post, this was my inspiration dress.

I gave my dress a much wider neckline, and didn’t make it so tight. I used Butterick 2952 as a base pattern, and made a lot of alterations and additions.

I added buttons on the front bodice, changed the neckline and drafted a collar to go with the neckline. Then, I drafted new facing pieces for the front and back. The collar pieces, facings, and front edges of the bodice are interfaced.

The dress was almost free to make, since the teal material was given to me by my grandmother a couple of years ago. This was the only teal material I had, and I only had about a yard and half. Therefore, I didn’t have enough of the teal material for both collar pieces, so the underside of the collar is made from the scarf material (which I actually think is kinda fun).

I really wanted to use a stretch poplin for this dress, but I couldn’t find any or have any shipped quickly enough. Unfortunately, the material that I used for this dress doesn’t have the stretch I would’ve liked. For a closer fit, I lengthened the darts on the front and back of the skirt. I also had to take the darts in a bit more at the waist.

I sewed an invisible zipper to the left side seam for closure. If only I’d left myself more time, then I could have hand sewn the hem and sleeve hems.

The buttons are covered with the teal material, and the scarf is just a small folded rectangle with a pin on the back. Since the scarf is detachable, I can change up the look of the dress when I want. I really like the way the dress looks with a white belt and white shoes. There are a lot of belt and shoe combinations that will look cute with this dress. I can’t wait to mix and match, depending on my mood.

I recently acquired a buttonhole cutter, and I am in love! It makes the buttonholes so precise and clean. I could never go back to using a seam ripper.

Well, those are all the details I can think of, at the moment. So, I’ll show you some more pictures of the dress. I apologize that some of these are blurry. I had a really hard time finding a place with enough light for pictures (serves me right for waiting until the last minute to finish the dress and take photos). Our yard is a muddy mess, so I wasn’t about to tromp through it to take photos.

Upstairs was the only location with enough light for photos. If you’re a long time reader of the blog, you’ll understand why the upstairs looks like it does. For those who don’t know, we are in the process of a top-to-bottom home renovation.

Haha! Newton photo bomb!

As you can see, my mother-in-law and I took down some more walls upstairs this weekend. Now, Alex and I can work on rebuilding the upstairs.

But first, it’s time to clean up a bit.

I’m enjoying seeing other bloggers’ outfits, and I can’t wait to see Julia Bobbin‘s wrap-up.

Posted in General, Sewing & Crafting Tagged 60s, clothing, dress, Joan, Mad Men, Mad Men Dress Challenge, retro, self-drafted collar, sewing, teal dress, vintage, vintage pattern | |46 Comments

More Unselfish Sewing

April 21, 2013

I have more unselfish sewing to share with you. I made a dress for my momma, using my self-drafted cowl top pattern. I’m getting pretty decent at pattern grading, but it still took me a while to get the fit of the pattern right. It was well worth it though.

I made an obi belt that she can pair with it, if she wants.

I took my “first draft” of the dress with me to California in February, had my mom try it on, and took notes on alterations I needed to make. I had to take most of the dress apart and resew it. I finally finished the alterations a couple of weeks ago and sent the dress to her with the dress I made for my youngest sister.

I love the dress paired with the dangle belt best. Great style choice, momma!

For the future, I will make the sleeves a smidge shorter.

The material was really heavy, and I can see that it pulls on the waistband a bit, but it seems to work well with the belt.

I also made a dress for my sister, Brittany, earlier this year, and finally finished some alterations that needed to be made. I’ll post some pictures of that dress when she has the time to take some.

Happy Sunday! We’re working on the house and in our yard this weekend. Have you been working on anything or doing anything this weekend?

Posted in General, Sewing & Crafting Tagged clothing, cowl dress, design, diy, dress, pattern, self-drafted, sewing, verity cowl top | |8 Comments

Reconstructed 80s Bow Print Dress

April 18, 2013

Before and after

It’s been a while since I’ve done a complete reconstruction, but I did the one above a couple of weeks ago.

Ahh, yeah! Rocking the choir robe style dress!

When I saw the purple bow print material on the dress above, I immediately thought of my youngest sister. She loves purple. Plus, what teenage girl doesn’t love a colorful bow print?

So, I reconstructed the dress into a little summer frock. Here is the dress, pictured on my adorable baby sis’ (she’s seventeen, but she’s still the baby).

She’s such a skinny Minnie! And let me tell you, this girl can EAT! She regularly shovels down a Gotta Have It size ice cream from Coldstone (or from a carton). If I did that, I’d gain weight rapidly. So not fair!

The belt came out of my belt stash. It matches the turquoise bows in the print perfectly.

The back has a racerback with a bow

The Reconstruction Process

Behold, the thrifted dress in all its former glory.

Ooh, Foxy Lady! Hahaha!

On to the process…

The first step was to remove the shoulder pads, separate the skirt from the bodice and cut the sleeve cuffs off.

The next step was to cut and sew the bodice.

The next step was to cut the bodice, sew the shoulder seams, right side seam and center seam.

I cut a racerback shape on the back bodice piece

I cut the skirt away from the waistband…

and cut a new skirt from the original skirt along a carefully pinned cutting line (the material was very slippery). I then sewed up the right skirt seam and the left skirt seam up to the point of the future zipper insertion.

From the leftover skirt material, I cut strips for finishing the armholes and the neckline.

For the bow piece, I cut rectangles from the old facing and a piece of the sleeve. I also made a small strip to go around the center of the bow.

I cut the collar pieces from the sleeve cuffs, and added interfacing to the pieces that weren’t already interfaced.

Here's a picture of all the bodice pieces

Here’s a picture of all the dress pieces. In the middle on the far right, you’ll see that I sewed the two rectangles for my bow and bow ring together and turned them right side out. I also sewed the ends of the ring piece to make a ring.

Once I slipped the ring around my bow, I messed around with the placement of the bow and basted it to the edges of the racerback.

Once I slipped the ring around my bow, I messed around with the placement of the bow, basted it to the edges of the racerback, and trimmed it to match the armhole edges.

I attached the skirt to the bodice, right sides together, leaving one side open for a zipper.

I gathered sections of the bodice and the skirt to make the proper waist measurement.

Then, I attached the skirt to the bodice, right sides together, leaving one side open for a zipper.

I sewed the collar pieces along the outside edge (right sides together), trimmed and notched the seam allowances, turned the collar out and pressed it.

Next, I basted the collar along the neckline

With the bias strip pinned around the neckline, I sewed the bodice, collar and bias strip together. Then I trimmed and notched the seam allowances, folded the bias strip in and handstitched the bias strip down inside along the neckline.

With the bias strip pinned around the neckline, I sewed the bodice, collar and bias strip together. Then, I trimmed the seam allowances, folded the bias strip in and handstitched the bias strip down inside along the neckline.

To finish the armholes, I sewed my other two bias strips around the armholes…

trimmed the seam allowances, folded and turned the strips to the inside, and handstitched the down.

trimmed the seam allowances, folded and turned the strips to the inside, and handstitched them down.

Next came the addition of a zipper and a hook on the side that I left open. I couldn't find the eye that went with the hook, so I just made thread loops.

Next came the addition of a zipper and a hook to the right side seam. I couldn’t find the eye that went with the hook, so I just made thread loops.

Finally, I stitched some buttons down the center front to complete the dress.

Surprisingly, I had very little material left over, but I think I’m going to make a headscarf out of the remaining material.

As I said, it had been a while since I’d done a full-fledged reconstruction. I forgot how much I enjoy the challenge. I should really make an effort to work them into my sewing schedule more often.

My sister told me that she really likes the dress, so I’d say this was a successful reconstruction.

I love the bow in the back. I see many more of them on future makes.

Remember last week how I said I’m usually pretty selfish about sewing? Well, look at me, being all unselfish, and such.

Do you sew or make things for others regularly, or do you stick to creating for yourself?

Posted in Life & Writing, Reconstructing & Thrifting, Sewing & Crafting Tagged '80s, bow, bow print, Budget, clothing, diy, dress, how to, purple, reconstruction, recycled, redo, remake, repurposed, retro, sewing, thrifted, tutorial | |18 Comments

Floral Pintuck Yoke Knit Shirt

April 16, 2013

I’ve been working on getting more me-made casual tops into my wardrobe in preparation for Me-Made-May. So, I finished this floral pintuck yoke (I know it’s technically a bib, but I don’t like calling it that) top this past weekend.

I’m happy to report that I’m really making progress on my UFO pile lately. This is another item that I cut out last year but left unfinished. I drafted the pattern around the same time as my lace yoke sweetheart and dolman tops. It was as simple as cutting a yoke out of my basic shirt pattern and slashing and separating to create the new pintuck yoke pattern piece. The sleeves have darts on either side of the shoulder seam.

I think pintucks are one of my favorite details on clothing, and I really enjoy sewing them. Any other pintuck lovers out there?

After looking at these pictures, I realize that I need to wear a camisole underneath this top to help, erm, smooth things out a bit. The material is super-duper thin and it’s probably slightly see-through.

I need to take in the neck band a tiny bit to eliminate that bit of wrinkling going on.

I took pictures under one of my flowering trees because my shirt matched so well. I think this is a crabapple tree. Can anyone tell from the pictures? If you know for sure, please let me know.

My twin needle setting was being feisty when I did the hem and sleeves, but the stitching won’t be too bad once I give it a better pressing.

Half of my pictures came out with squinted or closed eyes and a frown. There were bees circling me the whole time I was under the blooming tree. So, I was trying my hardest not to think about the approaching buzzing. I must say, I’ve come a long way in my tolerance of bees of all kinds. I used to take off running if I so much as heard a buzzing sound near me.

I should be over it, but I still get self-conscious and embarrassed taking pictures of myself in our yard. The way that our house is situated, all of our neighbors have a front row seat to our life. Ha! They must think that I’m an extremely vain person.

I’m a happy girl with all the spring colors popping up. The tree that these pictures were taken under is outside my bedroom window, so I can look at it while working on sewing projects.

Unfortunately, some icky friends decided to move in along with the blooms.

Caterpillars don’t normally bother me. In fact, I think they’re pretty cool. However, a nest of caterpillars is another story. I’ll admit it’s quite interesting, but it’s also quite gross. The lump in the middle is a ball of caterpillars.

You should have seen this thing midday; it was disgusting! All of the caterpillars were in a dog pile on the outside of the tent.

Blech! Why aren’t all of the wasps doing there job?

Posted in General, Home & Garden, Sewing & Crafting Tagged clothing, diy, floral, knit, pintuck yoke, pintucks, self-drafted, sewing, shirt, top, yoke | |22 Comments

Me-Made-May ’13

April 15, 2013

I’ve signed up for my first Me-Made-May. Yippee!

Here’s my pledge:

I, Becca, of Creative Notions, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’13. I endeavor to wear a different handmade garment every day for the duration of May 2013. I also pledge to sew at least two new garments and two activewear garments.

I’m excited to participate in Me-Made-May for the first time. It will help me take stock of my progress on my goal to have an almost entirely me-made wardrobe by the end of this year.

I plan to just do weekly posts with my outfits from each day, as I don’t want to bore you to death every day.

I have several makes (desperately needed casual wear) that I’m busy finishing so I can meet my goal. So, I’m off to get to work! There will be no shortage of posts from me over the next few weeks.

Posted in General, Sewing & Crafting Tagged Me Made May, Me Made May '13, MMM13, pledge | |2 Comments

A Swirl of Sunshine Dress

April 14, 2013

A touch of yellow is perfect for brightening up a cloudy day.

This dress has been in my UFO pile since before Thanksgiving. I pulled it out a couple of months ago and finished everything except stitching the buttons on the front. I finally added the buttons last week.

I made the bodice from a shirt that I thrifted several years ago. In the fall of last year I was really into grey and yellow, so I paired the bodice with a grey knit skirt. I lined the bodice with the same grey knit and made a collar.

I wish I could go back in time and slap myself until I came to my senses while making this dress. My lazy self from a couple of months ago didn’t interface the collar. What!? Then, my lazy self became even lazier and didn’t trim the seam allowances enough on the inside seam of the collar. I know better; I’m hanging my head in shame. What the heck was possessing me when I was making this dress? I guess we all have those moments, right?

As I'm sure our neighbors will be ecstatic to see, we're finally going to be working on redoing our ugly yard next week.

We’ve had sun for days, but, of course, when I wanted to take a few pictures on Thursday, the sun decided to be shy.

I don’t like the dress sans belt, but I just found a grey belt that I’ll probably wear with it. I need to add another hole to it first though.

I got the sewing machine necklace recently. I’ve been wearing it just about every day.

I really should have ironed the collar before taking these. Yeesh!

I really should have ironed everything better before taking these. Yeesh!

I guess the terrible light doesn’t help, but I didn’t notice the collar looking so wonky before these pictures. Wahwahwah…

I think once I hand-stitch the collar down along the front, I won’t have problems with it flipping up.

The inside of the bodice- I could've sewn the buttons on before adding the lining, so that the button stitching wouldn't be visible. I could've...but I didn't.

The inside of the bodice- The lining is sewn to the sleeve/armscye seam allowances. I could’ve sewn the buttons on before adding the lining, so that the button stitching wouldn’t be visible. I could’ve…but I didn’t.