This is hands down the easiest skirt I’ve ever made. It’s also without a doubt the most comfortable! Don’t you love whipping out a project in no time at all? Those are few and far between for me, but I’m thinking it would be nice to add more of them into my sewing rotation. It just feels so good to have something done and done with minimal effort (and cost!).

But before I chat about the skirt, I just wanted to add that these photos were taken next to Grand Central where I was meeting friends for drinks at the Campbell Apartment. I may have asked one of them to snap some photos while we waited for everyone else to arrive. :-D I later headed over to meet up with Lladybird Lauren (in from Nashville), Vicki of Another Sewing Scientist (in from Montreal), Juli of Sweet Little Chickadee, Fleur of Frau Fleur, and other lovely ladies! Gotta love Friday night in Manhattan chatting about irons, sewing machine repair, and Elna presses. ;)

PATTERN. None, and done! Originally I was going to use the Sewaholic Cambie gathered skirt pattern, but I didn’t have nearly enough fabric (wow, gathered skirts take up a lot of yardage). I realized I didn’t need it to be super gathered, so I just took some basic measurements to create this skirt. My main goal was to let the fabric do the work – it’s so eye-catching that I didn’t want to touch it too much. Let it be the star of the show, I say!

FABRIC. I used the most amazing rayon knit from Metro Textiles in the Garment District. I think I first heard about this store through Sown Brooklyn‘s Instagram feed, so thanks, Nettie! You have to take an elevator and turn the corner to a small store to get there. I scored two yards of this super soft fabric for $5 per yard.

I love the print, which is perhaps difficult to see in photos so I added some close-ups! It reminds me of tiles you might come across in some city off the Mediterranean. Not that I’m an expert on Mediterranean tiles, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. ;)

Besides the blue and white, there are small bits of warm yellow in it. In typical me fashion I would have bought one more yard to make a dress, but this was the last of the bolt. Soft, pretty, $5 a yard – don’t blame those buyers before me!

SIZE. Super easy. I cut the fabric from selvedge to selvedge for the width (so there’s only one serged side seam) and then cut the length about 25″ long, which is the length I use when I want the hem to hit below the knee. I ended up making it a little longer so I wouldn’t cut off the motif on bottom.

NOTIONS. I had 2″ wide white elastic on hand that I used for the waistband, which I then inserted into a fabric casing. I like using a safety pin to draw the elastic through the casing. Bodkins are the pits, if you ask me!

To gather the skirt, I just shirred two rows starting at about 5/8″ from the seam edge. They sit about 1/4″ apart. Easy peasy gathering! I left the gathering stitches exposed just below the waistband, which wasn’t my original intention, but I liked the effect and left it.

For the hem, I used a narrow hem stitch on my serger. I liked the ripple effect this stitch created on one of my RTW dresses, and that’s the look I got here.

I think this is a nice effortless style for the summer, and I can see myself pairing it with flats in the fall and spring. It just goes to show that a simple project every once in a while isn’t a bad thing. And sometimes all you really need to do is let the fabric be the focus and that’s all there is to it!

It’s June! How’d that happen?

Anyway, this fabric reminded me of Oreo cookies when I first bought it, so that’s what I’m calling this dress. I based this one on a Diane von Furstenberg dress I saw in the display window of her store in the Meatpacking District.

PATTERN. After the Colette Chantilly dress, I wanted a quick and easy project. Enter Vogue 8379, my go-to wrap dress pattern. I’ve made two other version so far – the “October Issue” and the “Purplue” – but this time decided to go with a more fitted skirt. The knit wrap dress may be my favorite. It’s not only easy to make, but it’s even easier to wear!

I love how the collar looks on one of the DVF dresses so I added the collar piece that comes with the pattern. Wouldn’t it look great in a solid-colored version of this dress?! I also twin-needled the collar to keep the fabric from rolling over, and I think it gives a finished look. I’m not crazy about how I attached it to the dress so I’ll probably add binding next time (the pattern comes with facing pieces, which I omitted. Just not a fan of facings.).

SIZE. Straight size 10. Nice and easy – thank you, knit!

FABRIC. I used about 2 1/2 yards (60″ wide) of this poly blend knit that I bought at Gizmo Sewing Supply** in the East Village. Good ol’ Gizmo. Actually, that’s not the store owner’s name, but I know a cat named Gizmo and, alas, Gizmo it is!

The fabric feels super soft. I don’t know about you, but I never get the press I want with polyester when I use the synthetic setting on my iron (in fact, it ends up not looking pressed at all). To get around this, I’ve been turning the iron up to the cotton setting and then using a cotton press cloth folded over twice. From what I’ve seen this higher heat setting doesn’t damage the polyester and the result is so much nicer. Just don’t make the mistake of pressing without the cotton press cloth. Ask me how I know. Yep, the soft feel of the fabric went hard real fast.

**Gizmo is a small mom-and-pop store and the fabric selection is pretty minimal, but he also sells lots of handy things you need at the last minute – zippers, buttons, snaps, twin needles, the works. Every New York neighborhood should have a Gizmo, if you ask me. Especially for those times when you go to the Garment District to buy a zipper, and then end up coming home with tons of fabric!! No, I am not guilty of that. ;)

NOTIONS. Being the simple project that it is, I only needed twill tape for the shoulders and fusible knit interfacing for the under collar. Yes! The twill tape was basted on first and then serged when I attached the front and back bodices.

I also added a snap tie to keep the inner part of the left wrap in place, both when I sit down and for particularly blustery days (or wind gusts from incoming subway trains!). The snaps are attached to the dress with embroidery thread. I’m actually thinking of adding these to my other wrap dresses too.

MODIFICATIONS. 

• STRAIGHT SKIRT. Since this pattern only comes with the full skirt option I used the skirt pieces from McCall’s 5179, a wrap dress pattern my sister gave me when her friend’s mom was giving away sewing patterns. Passing the baton! I once tried to remove width from V8379’s skirt pieces to create a more fitted skirt, but that landed in Disaster City. Clearly need to work on my drafting skills. In any case, M5179’s side seams are pretty straight and in the future I’m going to add some width to the lower half of the skirt so it hangs a bit better. Also, I accidentally chopped off too much length from the paper pattern and I wasn’t able to go with the just-above-the-knee length I originally intended. Oh well, guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles.

• SLEEVE LENGTH. I fiddled with the sleeve length and I think it looks okay, but I’m wondering if short sleeves would look better. Thoughts? I could even lengthen it slightly by adding bands…

• IN THE FLAT. Andrea of Four Square Wall’s post on sewing in the round vs. in the flat had me thinking. I’ve only sewn sleeves in the flat on the Sewaholic Renfrew since the pattern instructions say to, but Andrea made me realize that I should be doing this on other projects too! And I have to say, it was great. I’ll still be hemming the sleeves in the round since I like the finished look better, but for inserting the sleeves? In the flat all the way!

• TWIN NEEDLE. This is the first version of this dress where I’ve used a twin needle (another Gizmo purchase – Gizmo power!) instead of a single straight stitch to hem the skirt, sleeves, and wrap edges. I really like the look of it. If you’re curious the single straight stitch that I used for the other dresses has still held up, and those dresses get a lot of wear let me tell you!

And that’s a wrap! (sorry) Feels great to have another creation done and done. Not sure how much wear this poly creation will get in the coming months considering our humid New York summers, but I’m never opposed to having something ready for the next season.

Until next time!

Oh, how I love, love, love Christmas in New York. So festive. And where better to celebrate some holiday cheer than at the famed Plaza Hotel just off Central Park? Look at all those holiday decorations! There are a gazillion public rooms in the Plaza, but these photos feature the beautiful Palm Court and main entrance.

• Fabric: 2 1/8 yards of zebra-ish knit (no idea what it is, but it’s soooo soft!) from Les Fabriques in Charlottesville, VA; 1/2 yard of black cotton tricot for the bodice lining from Spandex House, NYC
• Pattern: McCall’s 6462 (knit)
• Size: 10 with adjustments
• Notions: Black stay tape to stabilize the neckline
• Adjustments: omitted center back zipper and just cut pieces on the fold; omitted lining at skirt; omitted inseam pockets; shortened arm straps to remove gaping at front

So, yes, I have a me-made party dress – woohoo! And in fabric that’s kind of unusual for me, how ’bout that? I bought it in 2011, and every time I’ve picked it up since then I’ve thought it’s way too soft a fabric to be sitting there any longer. Well, now I’ve finally gone and turned it into something.

My half-attempt at a Vanna White pose to show off that nice Christmas display.

With knits, my least favorite part is lining up the pattern pieces. I always cut knits on a single layer rather than on the fold, but it’s still tricky when the ends curl and such. The good news is once this is done, the rest feels like a breeze! This pattern can definitely be made on a regular sewing machine, but I love how my serger handles knits.

Favorite part about knits? I can cut one straight size! With wovens I usually need to go up one size in the waist (only with sewing though; don’t have that problem with RTW…).

I picked up this pattern after Meg the Grand featured it on her blog a couple of years ago as part of McCall’s upcoming holiday lineup. While I didn’t make it for that holiday season, it’s ready to go now!

An elderly couple stopped to watch as this photo was being taken. I tried to keep my cool…

Normally I like to do a little pattern research before starting a project, but I could only find one post on Pattern Review and some photos submitted to McCall’s Facebook page (but that was a woven version). So I kind of went into this not knowing what to expect – into the unknowns of the jungle with my zebra print, if you will. It’s actually a pretty straightforward pattern so no worries in the end.

I did need to shorten the sleeves (which are attached to the front bodice piece and gathered at the back) by 2″ in order to remove gaping at the front neckline. This is easy to do – during construction or even years later – because the raw ends of the sleeves are attached to the inside of the back bodice. Unhappy with the fit? Just unpick the threads and move the sleeves to a better position. The raw edges are finished so you don’t need to worry about loose threads.

Ooooo, the beautiful glass ceiling of the Palm Court restaurant! What shall I order?

To help reinforce the neckline, I added stay tape between the lining and outer fabric before understitching.

I’m sure there’s a reason to have the zipper at center back, but I’ve never had a knit dress with a zipper. Since this one easily fits over my head I left the zipper out and just cut the back pieces on the fold. This also made quick work of the circle skirt. I didn’t adjust the length of the skirt since I like this shorter version – it is a party dress after all!

The lower back where the bodice meets the skirt could be brought in a little for a better fit, but when I wear this with a wide belt you don’t notice it. Since this is a special occasion dress and I always plan to wear it with a belt, I’m okay with the looseness back there. If I had planned to wear it without a belt I would probably need to make a swayback adjustment.

I think this is what made the back of the skirt hang a bit lower than the front from the get go. I was going to hem it even, but then decided the dip in the back was also a fun design element.

Sorry for the photo quality of these two last shots. The lighting wasn’t the best in the entrance lobby, but the magic Christmas elf photographer was a trooper.

Please divert your eyes if the blurriness in the last photo is too much for you. As I said, it was tricky to get a good shot here, but I can’t have a holiday post without a beautiful Christmas tree. I mean, sheesh. ;)

Well, that’s it from me. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the holiday season and I’ll see you in the new year!

Please excuse my inner-entertainer, but I couldn’t resist this one. It takes me a while to post between projects as you know, but that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about sewing on a daily basis. So here’s a little “Now Sewing” feature from Sewin’ in the Rain Studios; a kind of “what’s on my sewing table”, if you will, only better because it’s just like the movies!

I snapped this photo of the glorious Orpheum Theatre marquee in downtown Los Angeles about 5 years ago. Really you must visit this gorgeous theater! I was attending a Harold Lloyd tribute (silent movie star) that night, but since that time management has been kind enough to update the lettering for my new production. What can I say? I have friends in high places. With Photoshop.

Anyway, here are the stars of the show set to premiere this month. Just in time for Oscar season, too!

McCall’s 6462, aka the Greta Garbo of sewing patterns – I’ve only seen her in two reviews!

zebra print knit

I’m happy to report I’m almost done with this dress! Just need to finish up a few things, such as hemming that circle skirt. Oh, Nelly…

Let’s take a look back at the world of sewing in October 2012 on today’s Wearing Yesteryear!

The October Issue Dress

Blog Debut: October 27, 2012
Pattern: Vogue 8397 Dress
Worn In: Fall, Winter, Spring
Wearability Meter: Ding, ding, ding – we have a winner!
Lessons Learned: Knits are the best

Okay, so I just LOVE this dress! It’s right up there as one of my favorite sewing creations ever. It’s easy to wear, it feels very much like me, and it’s something I’d definitely buy in the store. Ever make something and think that you wouldn’t necessarily have bought it had you seen it in the store? Is that just me?

I also like that, as a knit, the fabric stretches to fit my shape, which means I can do away with going one size up at the waist like I have to do with wovens. This fabric doesn’t wrinkle either – from sitting at my desk at work to traveling here or there, this dress keeps it together! The other kicker is that it’s easy to wash; I put it in the washer/dryer and go on my merry way.

The other nice thing about this dress is that it’s versatile. I’ve worn this to birthday parties, work events, regular days at the office, and so on and so forth. It can be dressed up or dressed down. Gotta love it, yes?

I’d like to make this pattern with a more slim-fitted skirt, especially for some thicker winter fabrics I have planned. But for now I have the Charlotte skirt to finish up so until then – trick or treat!