Bright Paisley Dress DIY & Skirt Donation

I'm a rather predictable person.  Stick me in a fabric store and I automatically gravitate towards nautical / classical prints like stripes, paisleys, and florals.  Similarly, you can expect that I will overuse my favorite McCall's M5972 bodice and self-draft a skirt with some kind of pleated detail.  For this dress, I decided to tone down the bold print a little with a narrower silhouette than my typical fit-and-flare.  Using three box pleats in the center, I was able straighten the hip flare while still masking my ever-present mommy pouch (flat tummy mommies - please share your secrets!).  I added cap sleeves to make it a tiny bit more demure for the office.

Fabric: Joann's, 2 yards, home decor, 54", 100% polyester.  Sooo, technically, this is outdoor fabric and I wouldn't really recommend it for apparel purposes because it is quite stiff.  However, I  really loved the print and noted that it was washable, so figured it'd be ok for my purposes.

Pattern: McCall's M5972 bodice w/ narrowed frame (using this method), cap sleeves (using this tutorial), and self-drafted skirt 

Difficulty: Easy / Intermediate

Time: ~3.5 hrs

Bright Paisley Dress DIY

Talbots Sandals (good eye, Gigi!)

F21 Necklace & J. Crew bracelet (not that you can really see them)

Box Pleat Detail

To those who sew out there, I saw this tweet from Tailor Made Blog and thought it would be great to share and drum up some sewing for those in need (focus is on girls in foster care): http://t.co/dYvZ92bvfv

I will be whipping up some skirts this weekend!

Scattered Flowers DIY Top Tutorial

I made this nude top a couple of weeks ago and pondered different embellishments options for a while.  I ultimately decided on a scattered floral motif.

Experimenting...

Difficulty:  Embellishing - easy, Top - average
Time:  1 hour to embellish, ~1.5 hours for the top

Materials:

• Existing DIY'ed Top (DIY instructions here)
• Silk flowers (I should probably note that I'm not sure how this will behave in the washer.  I'm guessing it will be fine in gentle wash with cold water, but I won't toss it in the dryer.)

What to do:

1.  Pluck the flowers off of the stem

2.  Lay out your general flower design and mark it (I use chalk) like the first photo.  Add a few stitches to the center of each flower and backstitch to secure.

3.  Follow Step 2 for all of your flowers and you'll wind up like #3 pictured above.  Snip off the extraneous threads from the front and back.

I wound up liking the semi-ruched look, so kept the back stitches intact on one shoulder :)

Scattered Flowers DIY Top

Polka Dot Skirt DIY (original post here)

Basketweave Crossbody from HK

Talbots Sandals

"Nautical Stepford" Dress DIY

Because Aubrey never ceases to amaze me, this post is dedicated to her :)  I've been shopping in the home decor section of the fabric store lately and have found some gorgeous prints there.  My theory is that people want more of a classic / modern print for their house than their garments (well, at least here) so those types of prints are more readily available.  I've run across chevrons, stripes, sailboat, and map prints that can't be found in apparel.  The caveat?  Most have a very open weave, are coarse to the touch, and cannot be machine washed.  Despite that, I found a few suitable fabrics and then some not-so-suitable ones I couldn't resist.

DIY Sail Away Dress

DIY Yellow Beaded Necklace

Talbots Sandals

Closer view of the print

I feel like this dress may be missing something and asked the gals of the "Anchor Brigade" (Aubrey, Cee, Elle & Ying) for suggestions.  I still need to figure out what to implement :)

What do you think?  Is there something missing?

Nautical (DIY) + Gingham + Bright Accessories

Remember this Pinterest image I repinned from Aubrey?  I tried it with the dotted skirt but the proportions didn't look right on me so I decided to try it with a slimmer skirt.  I tied the ends of the shirt to make it look more feminine (and outright copied Cee).

J. Crew Crewcuts Boys' Gingham Shirt

DIY Nautical Kasia Skirt

Amrita Singh Water Mill Necklace, Coral (buy here)

Timex Watch + J. Crew Strap

Orange Horsebit Bracelet & H&M Enamel Bangle

Talbots Suede Chunky Heel City Sandals

This skirt is a previous DIY using Burdastyle's Kasia:

 

I love that this pattern incorporates buttons and hip ruching to set it apart from other pencil skirts.

I don't have any orange heels so threw in some yellow ones - should I have gone with neutral colored shoe instead?

$5 DIY Bed Sheet Dress

While hunting for a paisley bed sheet (wasn't having luck finding it as a fabric), I found this multi-colored stripe sheet (flat twin sheet for $5) and decided to try it out in preparation for the day when / if I come across a paisley sheet.

There are several advantages to sewing with a bed sheet:

• large, continuous piece of fabric (roughly 70x100")
• machine-washable
• soft relative to the stiff cotton blends found in the fabric store 
• good value (only $2/yard in this case)

DIY Bed Sheet Dress

Amrita Singh Sag Harbor Necklace, Lapis 

Gap Belt

Talbots Chunky Heel City Sandals

Can you believe the summer-like weather we're having in March?!

Close-up view of the colors and stripes

 How would you feel about wearing a bed sheet?  :)

DIY Fuchsia + Gray Bow Neck Dress

Quickie post today: I'm still obsessed with color blocking though this one is much more mild - incorporating fuchsia with a medium gray.

Dress:  Fuchsia + Gray DIY Bow Neck Dress

Belt:  J. Crew Factory Metallic Webbing Belt

Shoes:  Talbots Flower Bouquet Ballet Flats, Gray Flint

Sunnies:  Michael Kors

Bag:  Balenciaga Twiggy, Anthracite

A closer view

I used this tutorial to make the dress (2 rectangles of 25 x 33") and then just added a gray border and sash.  What do you think?  I love the giant bow :)