Vogue 9238 in red velvet

My cousin also attended the wedding event last weekend and a short while before the event we were discussing some new dress possibility. She is close in size to me so is not very hard to me to sew for her. She tried some of my favorite patterns and the Vogue 9238 seemed to be very flattering on her and I always felt a dress in this pattern would look great.

We picked red velvet as the fabric for a luxurious look and it was a great choice. I made sure that all the patern pieces of velvet were cut on the same direction and it doesn't change color from one piece to another. The only problem was the front band that is cut on a different direction as the rest from the instructions and I thought it was important to have the stretch on the length and didn't dare challenge that so there is a bit of contrast there in certain lights but is nice.
   I experimented a bit and decided to create a V in the back as well:

She looked amazing at the wedding and the red tie her date wore was a perfect compliment to the dress. they were so sweet together.

 Slowly catching up to my purchases. Sewing 54 - Shopping 55.

Last minute lace dress for my sister in law wedding - Vogue 9253

This year I went totally crazy with special occasion sewing ... Last year bee gave me a lot of confidence that I can make anything and it looks like I had to prove it... but now it is finally over. The wedding was last weekend and now my like can finally go back to normal... I made 6 dresses - 2 for the bride - city hall and the church/reception one; 2 for the mother of the bride ; 1 for myself for the reception and one for my cousin for the reception and of course the kids outfits that I took to a whole new level this time as well... so I will have a lot of catch up to do. I already shared my mother in law evening dress but I will try to update the post with some better photos from the event.
   I thought I will start this parade with my own dress that is actually started the day before and finished once again very close to the deadline... I did the hem between church and reception. I was unsure if I will manage to make anything for myself as I was extremely busy finishing everything else so i let it be the last one as I had some backup options but it felt wrong to go with a RTW dress when it looked like I made all the other best outfits at the wedding so I pushed and pushed and once again my family have been amazing helping me cross the finish line in time.
  I have spent a lot of time last summer tying to adapt Vogue 9253 for myself and it felt a lace version will look amazing:

 ...and I was right. It was a good call. The lace I had was right and soft and I loved wearing it. The lining I had picked for this was a Georgette fabric and while it did looked and felt amazing it was a real pain to work with..
 I used all the fitting alterations I developed last summer for the floral version except for the back cutout. To time consuming to get it right. I moved the zipper to the side this time and skipped the belt for a more formal look.
   The photos were all taken at the event where the party lights did all kind of tricks to the colors on the photos. So the colors are all over the place. The real color on the lace is heather maybe in the diagram below and the Georgette mauve.

The modified bodice lines are more visible in the floral version but the front is almost the same for both except that this stime the lave scallops extend a bit over the edge and overlap creating a softer V. I tried to modify the drawing to reflect my changes:

Once again I kept the sleeves shorter and I am thinking of remaking the hem on the sleeve and attach some scalloped edge from the lace to it.I am also impressed my hem looked quite even considering I only let my dress hand for a few hours during the church event and then hanged it on the  door and mark it at an even distance from the floor and free cut between markings....

I had a shiny dusty  pink pair of shoes in the beginning that went with my nail polish and earnings but with such a long skirt I could soon change into flats so I can dance pain free ...

For now Sewing 53 - Shopping 55 but there are quite a few items to count and review...

Being godmother - sewing for the baptism - Butterick 6380

If last year we were there for their wedding this year we had to be there for their little guy. The initial talk was that we will be godparents early this summer but the timeline was changed at the last moment and was moved for the first weekend after Easter ... right in the middle of the last minutes preparations for my sister in law wedding. I really really wanted to make the outfit for the little guy myself but was unrealistic to do on a short notice in such a busy time so with a heavy heart I went out to buy one. It is very hard to buy as a sewist... nothing was good enough for the little guy. The fabric was not pleasant enough for a child for most of them, some were badly made and quite a few for witch I really didn't like the colors, print and other details... I was starting to lose hope when I finally found a linen suit.  The bright red was really nice and worked so well with navy pants. They were really nicely made and  looked comfortable to wear. And it didn't come with the really really boring white shirt. It had a fun print with read and blue. Someone finally found a good coordination and made my job of buying this feel less a burden. It was a bit more price then most of the other options I have seen but it didn't metered ... my mind was made...

I had quite a few outfits I could have wore for the occasion but once the little outfit was chosen I felt a very quick matching dress for the godmother was in order and remember some really cool navy and read fabrics I got last fall...

And I felt that if I make the same dress I used for the wedding day it will have more meaning and consistency so deiced to make a new Butterick 6380:

 So here it is my godmother dress. I made a gathered skirt this time so I can make a better pattern placement but other then that no change this time just went on with the modified patern pieces from last time.

I only made this dress for the baptism but I least I had no time for fabric shopping.
So Sewing 52 - Shopping 55.

Lekala 4671 summer coat in not a summery fabric

I have been crazy crazy busy with my sister in law wedding coming in 2 weeks. I can't really believe I made the wedding dress but after countless hours of work is almost done... just a few more hours with some hand finishing touches... and I have just started on the little outfits... I will probably not have much time left for myself but it is OK.
  2 weeks ago was still crazy cold and that got me thinking that I don't want a dress for the day events but a coat... so I was thinking of making this quick summer lekala coat in a cute brocade and decided to use some stash wool for a test drive.

It turned out a lot thicker then I expected so I added an extra band at the sleeve to make it long sleeved rather then 3/4 and skipped the pockets - seemed to bulky already though I might add them later... Spent way more time then I should have on it making welt pockets and dealing with fabric issues but this is the result...

 And now that I made a wool coat the spring is finally here...
 I have been shopping again online and in person 12 new fabrics ... oops! and I am behind with blogging since almost everything I made lately is for the wedding so Sewing 51 - Shopping 55.