Silky Polka Dot Pleats

 One of my oldest and closest friends got married this month. It was a beautiful backyard wedding in CA and we had such a good time celebrating with them. I wanted to make my dress for the wedding so I set out some fabrics for my husband to choose from (after all, it was a weekend away without the kids!) and he chose this polka dot silk. We matched it to the excessively pleated and now out of print Vogue V1223 by Anne Klein. The fabric was in the bargain bin at Michael Levine in LA due to some spots where the dye ran but most of those I was able to cut around or hide in the pleats. 

Before I made the muslin I made a protruding belly adjustment (I call it my mama belly adjustment) to the pattern. This is my most common adjustment no matter what size I happen to be in. It requires extending just the front pattern pieces at the waist only. I actually nailed it on the first try and the muslin fit perfectly! In addition to the mama belly adjustment, I shortened the dress by about 4" in order for it to hit above my knees since I'm 5'4" on a good day.

There are SO MANY pleats on this dress and they start and end randomly. I cut a test piece of fabric and tried a number of marking tools but everything ended up leaving a mark even after wetting it. I ended up tacking every... single... pleat... and... dart. Pain in the butt, totally worth it.

The dress came together well but I picked a cheap lining fabric---and boy did I pay for it! The silk sewed up like a dream... the lining fabric snagged, twisted, puckered, billowed, you name it. Ugh, lesson learned! Anyway, I finished it in time and paired it with a thin yellow belt, a me-made denim jacket, and a pair of my favorite all-day heels. 

Congrats, Jenni and Endy! Lots of love and happiness in your new life together and thanks for letting us celebrate with you!

Dawg Jacket and Genie Pants

Liv: "Mom, can you make me a dawg jacket and genie pants?" 

The genie pants I had heard of, but dawg pants? We looked it up and, much to all the kids' delight, found pictures of dogs in leather jackets. While adorable and hilarious, that wasn't it. Turns out it's the name of a jacket you can make for a character in a video game called Stardew Valley. Ah, that makes so much sense... right? She pulled up the game and was shocked that I couldn't make out the details of the outfit she designed on this tiny little character. Sorry kid, the eyes are old. So she drew it for me:

I love when she draws her designs and ideas! I still have a picture of a mullet she drew when I "couldn't seem to understand" what she meant by short in the front and long in the back for her 1st grade haircut. 

We shopped mom's stash and found some light blue french terry and floral pleather that she was happy with. The pattern for the jacket was an easy choice, there's a really simple one in the Simplicity 8027 set. The genie pants were a little more difficult. I spent a while looking up different designs and decided that a jogger base would work best so I went with Simplicity 8268 for the cuffs.

Next step was to figure out the hacks. The jacket was straightforward and, aside from working with pleather, didn't seem to hold any real challenges. The pants were going to take some work, though.

We took measurements. Lots of measurements. Then we got out the trusty Pellon-810 Tru-Grid Tracing Paper. We talked about where the crotch should hit so that she can still dance, run, and jump in the trampoline. Right off the bat, I eliminated the pockets because she was adamant that she didn't want them, so I taped the pieces together and just drew one continuous line. The jogger pattern is a slim fit so I increased volume in the legs by adding 4" to each front leg with a box pleat at the waist, then tapered to the original ankle width to fit the original cuff pattern. I then added 2" to each back leg with a dart and, again, tapered to the original ankle width. Next I dropped the crotch of the front and back pattern pieces by 4", keeping the original curves. 

The genie pants came together like a breeze. Honestly, I've made so many Hudson pants that I could probably make a pair of joggers in my sleep. 

I got stuck once, and for longer than I'd like to admit, on the jacket. I misread the instructions on the collar and could NOT figure out how it would attach. Once I figured it out (and felt like a dope) and recut the pieces it came together easily. The jacket is unlined, which is fine for desert life where we use a jacket about 11 days out of the year. I found a separating zipper in my stash but it was too long so, aside from learning to insert a zipper on the body of the garment (as opposed to a seam insertion), I also got to learn how to shorten a separating zipper that will be inserted on the body of a garment. I'm not sure did it right but it still separates and the zipper doesn't come all the way off when zipped to the top so I call that a win!

I finished the genie pants a couple of weeks ago but she wouldn't wear them for the first time without the jacket (It's a whole outfit, mom!) My husband overheard her asking her sister for a hairstyle that would look good with a lollipop for a "punk" look. In fact, she actually drew the lollipop stick in her original design and was quite offended when I asked why she has a cigarette in the model's mouth. "It's a lollipop! Smoking is bad!" The whole outfit together, we assembled in the front yard for some "punk" pictures, complete with a top bun, aviator glasses, and a "who cares" look on her face in place of a smile.

This kid! I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!