I used the fabric of shame!

Those of you that live in the USA are currently gearing yourself up for the ninth season of Project Runway, which starts this week. So you might be a little surprised to hear that here in the UK transmission stopped at season 6 and there are no plans to show seasons 7 or 8. However, to my delight, I recently managed to get my hands on a dvd of season 8.

Whilst watching episode one, I was thrilled to see that one of the designers picked out this fabric

I purchased some of this very same silk fabric at Mood, back in August of 2009 (blogged about here), and I used it to make a dress shortly after. How excited I was! Could it be that this fabric was going to be used to make the winning creation? Would Heidi, Nina and Michael love it?

No, of course not. The designer was McKell Maddox and her dress was the losing dress. McKell was out.

I am trying not to feel too mortified because she only used this fabric for a part of the dress (the waistband and sash). Also I think that it was the design of the dress (Michael hated the "side cleavage") and the styling ("a train wreck"), not this particular choice of fabric, that the judges took issue with.

When I used the fabric I didn't mix it with other fabrics. Here's the dress I made (I originally blogged about it here.)

McCalls 5927 - made in November 2009

I actually love this dress - it is now over a year and a half old and I still wear it quite often. I stand by the fabric, it handles beautifully and I really love the colours and print. I have some left and I do plan on using it - with careful thought!

With McKell's dress I think it's a case of good fabric being made bad, although under that kind of pressure I think she can be forgiven! In fact, I think that one of the most difficult things about making your own clothes is working out what fabric is going to work with what style, especially when used in combination with other fabrics. I have certainly made quite a few bad choices and I believe that even the most experienced of sewists have sometimes been surprised to find that their style judgements haven't quite worked out as they expected.

Have you ever taken a fabulous fabric and turned it into something disastrous? Do tell .......

The sheath dress with a little bling!

With not too much trouble at all my McCalls 5927 ‘fashion sheath’, that I promised in my last post, is complete and, with as much modesty as I can muster, I have to say that I like it and think my sewing and fitting skills are improving of late.

and here's the back view

Yes, I can hardly believe it, I made it myself!

The fabric is a silk twill designed by Rebecca Taylor – purchased from Mood Designer Fabrics, during my trip to NYC in July, for $14 per yard. I made the sleeveless version of the pattern, View B, but I added the neckline tabs from View C, onto which I have sewn some jewels bought in M & J Trimmings. Here’s a close-up so you can, hopefully, see the ‘bling’ a little better -

I followed the pattern instructions fairly slavishly but added a couple of ‘little improvements’. After cutting out I stabilized the armholes, neckline and centre back edges with a lightweight fusible interfacing to stop them stretching and help the zipper go in smoothly. Like this -

The bodice lining is an ‘edge to edge’ one (no facings) so I used the technique I learnt from Connie Long’s book where you trim the armhole edges of the lining to stop it rolling out – as explained in a previous post.

I really like the cut-in pockets of this style and the neat vent at the back. The vent is the kind where you machine stitch the seam allowances of the dress and the lining together – I had never done this before and was pleasantly surprised by how quick and easy it was.

This is the first sheath dress I have made – I’d been feeling rather cautious about making such a close-fitting dress style but this one has some little pleats at the top of the skirt at the front which means that the dress skims rather nicely over an area where I (and maybe you too?) like to have some leeway. Mr Fabulous and I are going out to celebrate his birthday tomorrow night so this dress is going to get its first outing at a very fancy restaurant where I want to look good - I hope it's up to the job!

NEW YORK CITY - FABRIC, FASHION, FOOD AND ART

I recently returned from a two week trip to New York city. Although I live in London I travel to New York as often as I can and every time I get there I feel the urge to kneel down and kiss the sidewalk - I love, love, love to be there so much! So, here's a few highlights of my trip ....

Of course no trip to New York is complete without a thorough look round the fabric suppliers of the garment district. Unfortunately I have put myself on a very strict fabric regime at the moment - my stash is getting rather overstuffed (more about that at a later date) so I showed unprecedented restraint and only made two fabric purchases, both from Mood Designer Fabrics (I always imagine myself on Project Runway in there!).

The first is a light-weight cotton with a lovely satin finish in a large peachy orange and bright pink print (I've photographed it with the carrier bag so you get an idea of the scale.)

I'm imagining this made up in a caftan type of top - something along the lines of Tory Burch or in the style of Michael Kors' wonderful summer casual wear.

My second purchase was a real find. It's a silk twill and, as you can see from the selvage, was originally produced for the designer Rebecca Taylor -

Aren't these colours just gorgeous? I am planning to make this up into a traditional style party frock. I am considering this pattern, New Look 6723 -

But don't hold me to that because there is a lot on my to-do list and I might have totally different thoughts by the time I get to this!

In New York I have lots of favourite places to go and things I like to do but I always like to add something new to my list. This time I found a wonderful place to have tea - Alice's Tea Cup - which is in three different locations (check them out at http://www.alicesteacup.com/). Their scones are sooooo delicious. Also, and this is a big WOW, was The High Line (the walkway running from the Meatpacking district up to Chelsea alongside the river). What a great stroll and wonderful views. I had heard about it but I actually stumbled on it accidentally after having visited Trina Turk's boutique in Gansevoort Street, which is where the High Line starts (for more about the High Line go to http://www.thehighline.org/).

We also visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, as you might expect, went to see their exhibition The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion, which was very inspirational for a humble home sewer like me and even Mr Fabulous, my lovely husband, enjoyed it! We also climbed to the roof to look at Roxy Paine's sculpture, Maelstrom. Here I am entangled in it -

Finally, back to a strictly sewing theme, here I am strolling the New York streets in a top that I made from New Look pattern no. 6892.

This is such a great pattern, I really recommend it - it's easy to fit and quick to make and I love those sleeve flounces. By the way, the fabric is from Gorgeous Fabrics. For more info on this one, please take a look at my review on Pattern Review.