The Sari Minoru

I finally got outside this weekend to take photos of my finished Minoru jacket!

Spring Wardrobe Challenge Underway!

Ahhh springtime!  Days are getting longer, people are walking around town in shorts paired with a puffy vest, dust is flying up off the road from vehicles, and I'm getting a sudden craving for pastel-hued clothing!  I made this office-appropriate dress based on the 9 to 5 dress from the Built By Wendy Dresses book (so awesome).  The book suggested making this dress out of an orange linen, but I ended up using a cheap pastel orange twill that I bought on clearance for $3/m.  I think the twill works alright, but in hindsight I should have not bothered with interfacing on the sleeve facings... it's a bit too stiff for my liking.

I pretty much followed the book exactly, except that I added 2 darts in the back to reduce some of the volume on either side of the zipper.  This is also the first time I've used an actual zipper foot to install an invisible zipper and it looks frigging fantastic!  The book also suggested making a belt out of the same fabric, but for now I've just styled it with a dark brown skinny belt that I already had.  I also ended up making belt loops to keep the belt  from floating randomly around my torso.

I'm still not 100% sure about the colour.  I really like orange a lot, but I think this shade might wash me out.  Luckily I get pretty dark in the summer (hooray for Spanish bloodlines!) so I think it will look better then.  Sorry the pics are kind of blurry... I guess the lighting wasn't too great today (too bright out).

I also finally got some photos of my finished Crepe dress...  It's been done for a few weeks - I swear! 

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, but as I said in an earlier post, I'm not sure if a sew-along is the right process for me...  I prefer to just keep on sewing once I'm in the groove and get the entire project finished!  I did a Pattern Review for the Crepe dress, and plan to make the dress again, but maybe with a few alterations.  I found the bodice to be a bit short for me (I have a long torso) and even though I made the second smallest size, I still had to alter the bust.  I think Colette patterns are meant for curvier gals, and sadly that is not me...

Crepe Sew-Along (Update #1)

I'm pleased to report that I am finished the top of my Crepe dress as part of Gertie's Crepe Sew-Along!  I think the sew-along has been a great way for me to learn better sewing techniques, but the actual sewing schedule doesn't really work for me...  I'm definitely more of a "guerrilla style" sewer where I like to tackle one project at a time and finish it in (more or less) a single day, rather than someone who only does one small bit each day, dragging it out over a long period of time.  That being said, I do realize that I am fortunate to have lots of spare time - no kids to take to soccer after school, etc etc.  So fair enough - it works for lots of folks.

See feedback and fitting tips on Flickr

I followed Gertie's alterations and moved the bust darts down about an inch, but now it seems a bit weird.  The fabric keeps bunching up under the bust, and some ladies commented on my Flickr photo saying that I should probably move the bust dart back up to its original spot as well as take it in a bit under the bust.  So far, I've just pinned the fabric (no photos yet) and it definitely seems to improve things.  So a big shout out to the Flickr folks!

Anyhow, we took a week-long vacation to the coast (Vancouver Island and Squamish) to visit some friends and just get away from it all, so I fell behind a bit in the Sew Along.  Oh well, I will try and finish the last of it this week.  Possibly tomorrow, I'm rather sleepy now.  Good night!

A picture I took at the Victoria Butterfly Garden - a great place to go on a wet, grey day in February!