A Glance at the Past , A Gaze at the Present , A Glimpse at the Future - my mini warderobe 2014 entry

All breaks down into five pieces :

1. Butterick 5747 - Green Polka Dots Dress
blog post here - a beautiful green jacquard dress comfortable and feminine

2. Frankenpattern - Navy polka dots Dress
blog post here I was looking for this navy polka dots fabric for a long time and when I finally found it I had to sew it right away and could not wait just as long for the perfect pattern. So I used patterns already cut and on my sewing table: BurdaStyle Magazine 06-2014-111 - split sleeve blouse + full circle skirt + U shape pockets from the same pattern as the apron just different views.

3. Vogue 2787 - Elegant black velvet dress
blog post here - I have been looking at the pattern for this dress ever since I first seen envelop patterns. It seemed so out of my league but still I could not help it, I just had to stop and admire it every time. After reading some wonderful reviews for it and many saying it was not hard at all to do it I gathered my courage and bought the pattern. It took me a while longer to actually cut the pattern and start sew it but I am so happy that I did.

4. Simplicity 3544 - reversible 50's apron
blog post here This was the most difficult piece for me - working with 2 layers of fabric and trying to sew both at once so the overlapping would be good took a lot of time and effort. I think I never did so much pinning.

5. Vogue 8232 - simple white summer jacket
blog post here - this was an easy project to get some more closure to my wardrobe. It was easy to sew and it is easy to wear in the summer, but it was hard for me to stick to the plain white fabric. I can't wait to do this pattern again in a more fun print fabric.

Little black dress - Vogue 2787

I have been looking at the pattern for this dress ever since I first seen envelop patterns. It seemed so out of my league but still could not help it, I just had to stop and admire it every time. after reading some wonderful reviews for it and many saying it was not hard at all to do it I gathered my courage and bought the pattern. It took me a while longer to actually cut the pattern and start sew it but I am so happy that I did.

White summer jacket - Vogue 8232

After doing the velvet and fur coat I realized it will not work for my mini-wardrobe entry on PR. It all is so obvious to me now that I don't know how I could ever think otherwise. I think I just wanted to to the coat and tricked myself into thinking it will work with the dresses. So today I was in need for a quick fix. After going through all my patterns I settled on Vogue 8232 jacket. It seemed doable in just a few hours and a good fit to my dresses.

 This is a very lose fitting. I think that size 6 had 104 cm for bust. That is a lot....  The sleeves are also very large so you will need a fabric with nice draping.  All went down very fast except attaching the neck band. It took me 2 seam reaping to be OK with the gathering. All things considered I think this is a very good option for summer and it goes great with my current dress collection.

Reversible retro apron - Simplicity 3544

I love looking at nice aprons. And this vintage inspired ones are crazy ... more work then an actual dress. I bought this Simplicity 3544 pattern thinking that this is one of the cutest collection of aprons.

I could not decide what fabric to use and how to do to be nicely finished so I just decided to do a reversible one... That may have not been the best decision.... This apron is a lot of work but a reversible one is insane.... I have never done so much pinning trying to keep both layers even. I decided to sew both layers at once so they will really stick together. The fabric o the green side was a lot softer then the white one so I needed support for this side.

I did the bias myself and it as a lot of bias involved. I changed the belt for it a little bit to help myself get a clean closure.Work, work, work and lots of hours later it was all worth it. I just love my apron. Is one of those thongs that make you feel better right away if you wear it. I may just keep it to cheer me up.

And a few pictures wearing the apron:

Green polka dots retro dress - Butterick 5747

Here is my second try at this pattern in a very very beautiful green jacquard. My 1st dress with this pattern was Miss Fancy Hair Dress.

My envelop had 8-16, but I there is a 16-24 available as well. I cut mostly 12, going to 10 at the bust and 14 at the waist.  I only added a little more ease at the waist and took 2" out of its length.

I have 2 now so I don't know if I will sew it again. I have so many other patterns I want to try.  On the other hand I want to try some color blocking for it as well. It is not a hard dress if you find the right fit.The pattern does have the final measurements so it should not be hard to decide what size you need. It  was a rather fast dress for me the second time around. With the fabric cut 2 days before sewing, I was able to finish it in one of my free days without sweating to hard and taking rather long breaks to play with my son.

Update with photos from the park:

Retro coat - Butterick 5716

Vintage looks hold some sort of fascination to me. I am not sure if this patterns really suits me but I sure want to try them. I bought Butterick 5716 because it looked sophisticated and easy at the same time. For a long time it has been black coat with black fur in my mind but I didn't yet found the fabic that felt right. To day I stumbled upon this green plaid cotton velvet and I thought it may work with my pattern. I went in a hurry to the fabric store  to find a fur for the contrast part and got home and start cutting and sewing. I was quite motivated to finish all before 1 august for the mini wardrobe contest so I worked with just minimum breaks.  I had 2 dental implants yesterday so sewing was a good distraction from the big swallow on my face.

I worked with the XS sized and I only did minimum changes : shorted the sleeve so the cuffs will not be folded,  just slightly enlarged the armhole and put the pocket a little higher and did a simpler version for pockets. The original pockets would just had to much volume in fur.

The velvet is very thick and it was perfect for this coat. It has just the right amount of stiffness and draping. The fur on the other hand is a bit to stiff. Now I wish I would have only used velvet.

I am also very proud of the lining. It is a printed sateen. But is a good quality one and it feels more like silk then other sateen fabrics  I have worked with. And the color and the print are just lovely.

And here is me wearing this monster. In the end I decided I didn't really like the coat but that is because the fur is to stiff and it is very had to coordinate with something.