Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sewing 101: The dress, the curtains & the birds.

Remember the dress I mentioned I was sewing a few months ago? Well, it is now finished!

Despite a few sewing glitches around the neckline and a 2-week hiatus from completing the hem of the dress, I can now say that not only is the dress finished - but I also wore it!

The dress is form-fitting and slimming. The fit is absolutely perfect as it should be because it was made to fit my body. My favourite part of the dress is the neckline and the bodice area. There is something to be said about making your own clothing. Not just from the satisfaction of finishing a project, but that you actually get to use the finished product, and the end result looks damn good too! FYI - This photo does not do the dress justice.


Truth is, I had help making this dress. My sewing skills from Grade 7 and 8, just didn't cut it to complete this dress flawlessly. I must give credit to my good friend and sewing tutor, Cara of Leopard Spotted Designs. Cara's background is in costume design and she has worked in numerous films and movies as a professional costumer, dressing many famous celebs. She also teaches sewing at a Toronto-based sewing studio.

Cara also made these lovely kitchen curtains for me from (get this) cheese cloth fabric!! This loosely woven fabric, provides privacy, while allowing natural light to penetrate through. Clean, simple and with no frills. I LOVE my new curtains! Thanks Cara!!




And because all good things come in threes, Cara also sewed up these adorable fabric birds for me and I stuffed them with polyester fiber fill. I also added some rhinestone eyes to the birds, just because. I have a vase with some branches in my living room and these birds will look just perfect on there, once I've finished attaching the ribbon on them, of course.



So this ends my foray into sewing 101. I don't think I will be sewing anything else at the moment as I must tend to other pressing matters, like my neglected Etsy jewellery shop.

6 comments:

cserdan said...

love the dress! and those birds.....gorgeous.

I haven't sewn anything since grade 6. I tried knitting and that didn't go over either.

can't wait to see what you make next!

Anonymous said...

Jo I am so proud of you! We finished the dress! The picture certianly dosen't do it justice. What will our next sewing project be? hmmmm....

Joanne said...

Thanks Charlene! I had fun making the dress! I tried knitting (about 6 years ago) but given my short attention span, I gave up on it quickly after I only managed to make a scarf, LOL! Hmmm, I too, wonder what I will make next :)

Aw shucks Cara - thanks! I couldn't have finished the dress without you. I think our next sewing project will be a skirt!

kickpleat said...

I'm super impressed with your dress-making abilities, even if you got some help. I'm thinking of taking a sewing class to get my sewing skills up to par as I'd love to make some of my own skirts & dresses again.

Joanne said...

Thanks kickpleat! I thought that by using a Burda pattern, making a dress would be easier but it was still challenging. I definitely learned a lot about sewing. Lot's of do's and dont's. I highly encourage you to take the sewing class. Once you learn the basics, it's easier to transition onto more advanced projects. Just think of all the great stuff you can make for yourself :)

something little said...

i loved the curtains :) could you please tell me where your friend bought cheese cloth fabric from? i did some online search but can't find it