Friday, July 06, 2007

Linen gift and dress

I've been trying to create a world where both of my crafting loves, knitting and sewing, can co-exist. However, it's been pretty obvious that sewing has taken a hold of my time and attention. The main reason is the close to instant gratification that sewing can give. For example, Sarita and I decided to celebrate Huay's half birthday, because she always gets shortchanged (her birthday is on December 30). So we had lunch, brought her flowers, and I made her a little present.


Or is it a big present?

I made her the pig from my new favorite craft book. Isn't he cute? I made him out of the same linen/cotton blend fabric that I made these pillows with. Whenever Huay comes over, she always hugs one of the pillows. He still doesn't have a name, but she promised he'd live on her bed with her bear Churchill.

One of my sewing goals has been to sew a solid-colored dress. I love my prints because they are so forgiving. A mistake here and there disappear among the flowers and I'm happy as a clam. But the clothes I find myself drawn to in catalogs are solid colored classics that fit just right. One of the pieces I've been wanting to make is a simple wrap dress. I finally found one I liked in this book.


Sewing Time by Machiko Kayaki, ISBN 978-4-579-11052-0

It's exactly what I've been looking for - a simple, sleeveless linen wrap dress.


However, as most things go at marirob, it was easier said than done. On my last post, Blossom commented that she wasn't sure that Japanese patterns were the best fitted patterns, but the books are so beautiful and so inspiring. I think she's absolutely right. My thoughts are that Japanese clothes tend to be a bit boxier and loose fitting than we're used to and, especially for this book, the instructions are minimal and assume a certain amount of sewing knowledge of the reader.

Making the dress was easier than I thought. Since I've made a couple of dresses, I used some of the techniques I already learned and followed the illustrations for the few details that were a little more difficult. I made the dress, tried it on, and thought, "hmmmm... something doesn't look quite right." So I increased the back darts, took in the side seams, and fiddled around with the camera...


...and here it is. But do you see how I'm posing? Three-quarters pose, legs just so, shoulders back? From the front, I look a little... figureless. Enough to where I can't post a photo. I think it's a little low waisted for my body, but I don't know how to fix that without taking the whole thing apart and shortening the waist.

The fabric is a beautiful brown linen I had in my stash. One hope I have is that once I've washed the dress a few times, the linen will soften and fit my body a bit better. My favorite part of the dress is the trim around the neckline.

It's lace that I got from Linnet.

I think the next time I decide to make a solid colored dress from a new pattern, I'll either make it with a print or muslin first.

13 comments:

Elena said...

The pig is the qutest stuffed one I ever seen, completely awesome! And the linen dress fits you so beautifully!

Anonymous said...

The pig is so cute. I bet Huay loves it. I too think the dress looks really good on you. You did a great job on it.

mermer said...

wow I love your projects! I just started sewing earlier this year, and I finished my first dress (did a few skirts before that) two weeks ago, but still have yet to post it on my blog. did you get those prints on the wall from sugarloop? I have some too! anyway, keep up the good work!

lsaspacey said...

Though it looks exactly like the picture to me, maybe washing and drying will help. To shorten the waist, you could get creative, and make a visible tuck going around the waistline of the dress?

Anonymous said...

Just had to delurk to say I love your dress! It looks exactly like the picture and fits you so well. And I really love the trim too!

Anonymous said...

I *love* the pig and the dress!!! They are both gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

i think the dress looks gorgeous. super modern, too. like the ones you'd see from "jigsaw" (british brand).

and i'm with you on the "figureless" look. that's what my husband said when i showed him the slip i made from japanese pattern.

if you want to do an order from linnet, i'm all for it, after i move in a few weeks!

Anonymous said...

Cute pig, and I love the dress! The trim is just perfect!

Sarah said...

Fabulous dress! I love the edging you put on, it really adds some excitement! I think that as you wash and wear it, the linen will soften and it will drape better.

Love the pig, too!

yaiAnn said...

Sewing is starting to take over my life too. Although you wouldn't know that from the blog. Anyways, piggie is soooo cute! And the dress, love it! Do you think you're being to critical of the way it looks on? The brown linen and the trim are both beautiful!

lupinbunny said...

that trim is soooo lovely! I'm still missing those tiny finishing touches that make home-sewn look super-professional and special.
This is good inspiration.

Anonymous said...

Your dress and the trim are stunning! Simple and gorgeous.

MinaG said...

The dress is stunning, and the pig is adorable!