My first real "garment"

Am I ready for Project Runway or what?

Well, not so much. : ) But I am proud of myself for making a complete dress all by myself. I did do a dress for myself last summer--and for my baby girl....click here to check out the post.

Those were made using a sort of pre-made ruched fabric that I had bought at the fabric store. Which was great for starting out.

So, I decided I would try a dress from just a plain old piece of fabric. I used a tutorial from Sew, Cook, Laugh and Live. I love Jos's sewing patterns and tutorials. They are perfect for an intermediate like me! Click here to go to the tutorial.

I started with this fabric. It was on the red tag shelf, so it was a good buy. I bought 2.5 yards of it.

Basically, the dress is two rectangles sewn together at the sides.

You then hem the bottom and make a casing for elastic at the top.

I decided to add some straps in a halter style. I could have left it strapless or added straps that go across (but I would have had to measure and sew them precisely). I like the halter look. I would look nice for a night on the town or when I wore it to school, I wore a black cardi over my shoulders.

Here is the dress finished on me...

Jos does point out that with this style, a belt is key for providing some shape. Like so...

It was a big hit the one day I wore it to work. I didn't get a chance to snap a pic of myself all styled up, so I'll do that the next time I wear it. 


Between this and the dress form I inherited from my sister, my husband claims I am ready for Project Runway....my jersey sewing skills are not nearly up to par for that.


And I don't have nearly enough drama about myself for that, either. But I do have a cool new dress!

Party Time......

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