Sunday, March 10, 2013

4 Dresses in 10 Days

For months I've been wanting to revamp Grace's Sunday dress collection.  She has dresses, but most of them are knit dresses that she wears to school.  She also has several skirts, but most skirts are school skirts too, and I just have been wanting dresses that are only for church.  Yes, I know I shouldn't care so much about what my kids wear, and probably I'm totally vain, but I like clothes.  John has also been told that I feel as though a girl can never have too many dresses.  I don't think Grace needs to wear something new every Sunday (but I wouldn't cry if she did).

Now I can move on having confessed my sins of vanity.

Like Annee said last week, we exchanged some texts and by the end I'd taken on the dare to see if I could sew 4 dresses in 10 days.  I'm not one to turn away from a dare, and in fact, I dare say, pun intended, I work better under a deadline and pressure.  I needed the motivation to get me behind my machine, and boy did this challenge do just that.

And, drum roll....I finished 4 complete dresses in 10 days.  I can't remember the last time I sewed 4 things in 10 days let alone a small collection of dresses.  I'm hoping that I can keep my sewing mojo going because I have visions of new pillows and pants for George and maybe even another dress and or skirt for Grace, etc.  But, before I get ahead of myself, here's the rundown 4 dresses I sewed and my review of each pattern.

Dress 1








Review:  I sewed this dress first because I thought it was going to be very challenging with the sleeves, bodice, pleats, etc. I'm usually totally frustrated with Simplicity patterns, but I've never sewn a Project Runway pattern.  Surprisingly, this dress was not hard.  I wouldn't say it's easy, but I felt like it was well written and easy to follow.  I will definitely look at more Project Runway patterns in the future.


Dress 2









Review: I love this dress, and I loved making it.  Annee and I actually had a long distance sew-along the night I made this which made it even more enjoyable to sew.  I will definitely make this again.  The dress was easily sewn in couple of hours. I also think this is Grace's favorite dress out of the four I made.



Dress 3









Review: This dress is out of print and is highly coveted.  I'm not sure why the girls of Sugar City stopped selling this pattern, but from what I've gathered in chat rooms, maybe it was just more than they wanted to take on?? This dress is not for the faint of heart, and you might make yourself crazy if you try to make this all in one day.  Also, I skipped all hand sewing except the buttons.  The pattern called for hand stitching all of the trims - sleeve trim, yoke trim, and button bias trim. My hands would be crippled if I dared to take on all that hand sewing.  While this was a total labor of love (and maybe a swear word or two), I'm in love with the results.  I want one for myself.  I think this look is to die for.  Using the shot cotton took it to a whole new comfy level.

Dress 4



Pattern: Simplicity 2825






Review: Annee kept telling me this was a 2 hour dress.  I saved it for last because I was banking on it being so easy.  Really I think I saved the best for last.  I love the look of this dress, and it fits so well, and the fabric is adorable. It's a simple pattern and start to finish really could be made in 2 hours.  I'm sure I'll be making this again.

And that's a long wrap.  Sorry this is so long! I'm off to bed early tonight.  I do have pillows cut out, so maybe you'll see a whole new look in my living room soon.  Stay tuned!

Happy Sewing!

5 comments:

Annee said...

Maybe she needs new shoes now to go with all of her new dresses! You did such a great job. I love each and every one of them. And obviously, I share the same feelings about new Sunday dresses! Never enough!!

Rachel said...

I love all these dresses! I think the Village Frock took me 10 days all on it's own. I'm off to buy the pattern for the first one. I've seen it, but the picture on the pattern envelope doesn't do it justice. Now that I see it in another print, I have a better vision for what it can look like.

You have challenged me. I'm going to try for 4 dresses in 10 days too. Although I can't start until this weekend.

Amanda said...

I love the all pink one. Well I love all of them, but the pink one is amazing.

Sarah said...

All these dresses are fabulous Liz. You are making me want to wear some of those fabric. Totally fun challenge you rock!

Unknown said...

THese are all so beautiful - great job!! Of the four, I've only experienced the Ice Cream dress pattern myself, but now am motivated to seek out the others (all but the Sugar Frock which is so hard to find!). So glad your daughter loves the results - makes it all worth it!

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