Kimono fabric = Purdy Maxi Dress

Hiiiii!...How's everybody this evening?...I keep going in and out of my sewing room but nothing is getting done so I decided I may as well write a blog post...As you all know I sometimes whip up things from my noggin...I just wing it; no pattern or anything...and you know what?..sometimes it comes out nice!...as in the case of my strapless maxi dress made from some of thee prettiest fabric...I like working with the more heavier fabrics because they almost control themselves...that makes for some very nice garments and bags....anyway, I actually made this dress a while ago but with no pattern sometimes comes the wrong shape or no shape...this was in the no shape category...it looked like a giant bag when I tried it on....that was a long time ago though (last year) and my skills have improved so much so I knew exactly what to do when I saw it hanging in my closet...I took up the bust of the dress to draw it in more; you know kinda slim it out...I left the bottom half as is....my little skills along with some tips from my Vogue book allowed me to look real snazzy yesterday while running errands...
Okay am I rambling?...well in case I am let me share these flicks so you at least can put a photo with the story....
~~MsKRS~~

After I fixed it up

 

I whipped up the sash too...a while ago; worked with my dress perfectly...

Heyyyyy! ;)

 

A bright, beautiful tangerine

Good afternoon all!...I had a couple errands to run today; a paper to fax, Home Depot for a clay pot (to replace the one I knocked over and broke the other day), and of course Hancock's Fabrics...I meant to get these little things done early but dealing with my huny makes everything just that much slower...He is very sloth-like when it comes to "moving something" and getting things done and over with (I love him dearly anyway)...
However, all of it got done with little irritation...I say little because there is ALWAYS something annoying and pointless happening when you deal with other people....Something always around trying to ruin your good mood and day....
Let me share one of the reasons why I say that.....
Initially, I was going to Kinko's to fax my paper (it needed to be faxed by 4 pm this afternoon) but I didn't feel like going way across town to do it...**I wonder why there aren't many Kinko's around here** So on the way I decided to pay extra attention to the little stores we passed because while we may not have hardly any Kinko's stores we have a bunch of little places that offer office services...I found one right down the street ran by the sweetest little ginger guy...I guess I looked kinda purty today because my fax ended up being free! (it was only $2 dollars)  Free is always good and he was a very nice person <~~~a rarity these days....Everyone else I encountered today was tolerable except for some sour customer I had the displeasure to run into in Hancock's....My huny noticed her looking at me in an unfriendly way but of course I didn't notice anything...I'm in Hancock's for crying out loud!!!  I am totally into the fabric...but apparently she wasn't....to make a long story short I HATE people like that...I know I know hate is a very strong word but its the only word I can use to accurately explain how I feel about those that try and make others feel uncomfortable solely because they so obviously do....Let's just say I'm glad I didn't see her doing all that or things may have become even more "uncomfortable" (shrugs shoulders)....Nonetheless I, of course found some very pretty fabric, made it home in one piece, and I looked like a bright, beautiful Tangerine!...I got that line from my favorite TV series "Martin"...His wife Gina had on a pretty Orange blazer and matching skirt one day and he said that to her in his hilarious way!
Anyway, I debuted one of my new dresses which was New Look Pattern #0167 View E...I was wearing all of my creations today (makes me feel like a million bucks I promise you) which was of course my new dress, my sash, and my bag!...I drafted the bag because I was going through the envelope clutch phase and designed a pattern for my own..I'm sure I have blogged about all three before....
Sewing keeps me sane...that is all...LOL now I will share my photos!
XOXOXOX
MsKRS

MsKRS in all her DIY goodies

:)

Gotta work on that fitting...

that Orange linen is killing em...;)

Yes Yes Yes!...and all from my sewing machine (Bag and sash designed by ME and dress is a New Look pattern)...Yeah baby! (in my Austin Powers voice)

 

A Patternless Purdy + Design ruler

Hey all!...Y'all know by now that I don't sleep; well I do but not much because of this sewing addiction....it really is an addiction but I could be addicted to worse things...at least that's what the ladies and I always say when we're in the fabric store for hours...
Quite a while ago (maybe even a year and a half or more) I made a dress but I didn't care for it...I had a clear idea in my head but I didn't know how to sew up what I had in my head...with the result of my novice sewing skills at the time I ended up with a shapeless dress in some of thee prettiest fabric...to avoid ripping and tearing at the fabric I hung it up until my skills improved...
Well this evening I was going to start on a new dress but I remembered about my dress I had such high hopes for...I grabbed it up and applied my ever so advancing sewing skills to it and I am so happy now with it...I took the bodice area a couple inches and it worked like a charm...I was thinking I would have to add darts but I didn't need to....I paired it with my DIY Obi-style belt it is very pretty if I do say so myself...Well let me show you then huh?!
**MsKRS**
P.S. My last trip to Hancock's was less than desirable as they didn't have my designer ruler and the sales lady was not very helpful in my quest to own one...I ended up going to JoAnn's and they not only had the ruler I need but also a Thread's Fitting magazine!....I'm learning so much stuff with my Vogue book...I found out how much I needed my new French curve by reading it....A new 4-gore skirt coming up soon!

MsKRS' patternless halter dress and DIY Obi-style belt...Super cute, fast, DIY style MY WAY..

the goods I grabbed from JoAnn's....very cool, very cool indeed...

Keep those home fires burnin'!

Howdy folks!...I'm calling myself a designer now, a real designer...not that I wasn't before, I have created quite a few simple bag patterns and even drafted a dress from one I already own...but I am now a real designer because of the garment I'm going to show you at the end of this post...but first I feel I should just share the cool story surrounding this fabric what it became...
I shared before that I visited Britex Fabrics a while back...that is my HOME, I love that place...it has 4 floors of the prettiest fabric and notions I have ever seen...now with such sewing goodness, anything from there comes at a hefty price...My huny's Mom knows how much I love to sew so she went there and got me a yard of thee coolest comic book fabric in the world...I accepted it graciously and tearfully because I loved it that much and appreciated that someone would get me something I actually want instead of something they want me to have...
I couldn't make a quick project out of it, its just too cool...so it ended up being a real "project"....I worked on it for almost a month, adding "designer" touches as I thought of them....I added jump rings to the arm of it and searched for the perfect Black fabric for the other touches I wanted to add...After I added the jump rings to my top, a designer on Project Runway added jump rings to one of her garments!!!!!...I beat her to it!!!!..I'm going to be ready for Project Runway or Fashion Star in a few minutes...I promise you I am....(preferably Fashion Star; Project Runway's clothes are for lack of better words "not my cuppa tea")
I was supposed to be making a Chambray dress but for some reason I couldn't keep my mind off my top...I decided to work on it and ended up finishing it this afternoon...I am VERY proud of it and I love how it turned out...I cant wait to wear it because the snazziness of it will show deliciously...Sewing keeps the home fires burning; at least that's what they say......Okay enough rambling, photos now...
~~MsKRS~~

this is the side with the snazziness but you can hardly see it...*bummer

McCall's Patterns + New Look Patterns = Purty Dresses!

How's the good folks that follow my blog this here evening?...I'm well; I've been sewing so that means I feel really good!...of course I still have life issues but while in my sewing room they are NOT allowed!...I have made a couple new dresses this week...One from my usual (New Look Patterns) but the strapless little number I created from a McCall's pattern...now I love, love, love New Look Patterns but I have to admit that their instructions are more often than not hard to follow...So not true about the McCall's pattern I used today...the instructions were extremely easy to follow making the dress a breeze to whip up...I may have just sold myself on McCall's patterns...I created the first dress out of a cool Orange linen I snatched up at Hancock's Fabrics and the second one from one of the very first fabrics I ever purchased when I first started sewing...the McCall's pattern was the very first pattern I bought too...I am just now getting around to understanding it...I also learned a new technique: boning!...it is a structural technique to add the fitted look to my new halter dress....it worked like a charm as well...I am sooo pleased with the McCall's dress and I will definitely be buying more of them...Well I guess I will share now....Brace yourself, these dresses are the bee's knees! LOL
~~MsKRS~~
P.S. the Orange dress is View E of New Look Pattern # 0167...I made View C earlier and posted about it before!....

View E is the one in the yellow-orange dress in the middle...kinda small; sorry 'bout that! :)  three more looks to make!

View E without sash

View E with my DIY infinity scarf...

Model is wearing View B...I may or may not make the others...

It came together sooo nicely!  so love the A-line look!

A side shot of my new dress! I love it! 

Spring in the form of a dress

Howdy folks!...I was going to vent but I decided that trash and trashy folks had no place on my blog so I will just go right on into my new dress...a couple days ago my huny took me to one of my favorite places (Hancock's Fabrics) and I copped some new fabric and a new pattern...I believe I have mentioned before that I love, love, love New Look Patterns; so I grabbed another one on the way out...
I got New Look Patterns #6799 and I of course made View C...I don't know why its always View C but it is....I always think that the patterns I choose are going to be easy but they hardly ever are easy as I believe they should be...(that's why I like patternless stuff)....this one was kind of a doozy and the fabric was even crazier...the fabric I like is mostly always slinky, which makes it a mutha to work with...but alas, I discovered my hemming foot and it made my job much easier...I have a lot of feet to go with my machine but I hardly ever switch them out unless I am doing a zipper....My zipper foot sucks by the way...I wonder if I can get another one......hmmmm...well anyway the hemming foot is cool for slinky fabric; I did my dress' armholes and hem...it worked like a charm...I'm going to explore more of them and let y'all know how they work out...Well, I only have two photos this evening...the others ones didn't come out well and I didn't feel like taking more....(I have been working on this dress for two days)
XOXOXOXO
**MsKRS**

I added belt loops to my dress at the midriff....I like the midriff panel of this dress too...I may add this to another dress....

with my DIY obi-style belt....Looks cool with or without a belt huh?..(wink-wink)

 

Spring refashions + my Vogue Sewing book

Good morning!...its 1 am on the dot right now and of course I decided I should write a blog post instead of getting some sleep...its either write this post or go and sew something...I opted to write this post because I of course I have been sewing for most of the day already....I cant seem to throw anything away nowadays; I always seem to have an idea about what I can do with it...This thinking lead me to start on some refashioning projects I have been aiming to get started on....I also had a super cool mail day earlier this week with my new Vogue Sewing revised and updated sewing book arriving at my door...While reading it I came across a garment called a "4-gore" skirt...I used the book's instructions to crate a super cool skirt....I love the skirt so much I already have my numbers ready for another one!...I originally wanted a 4-gore skirt (gores are panels) but my fabric choice earlier only allowed for three...luckily the sewing world has a rule of 3's concept; so not having enough fabric made no difference in this project.....I guess starting to make the gored skirts makes sense to start out with the smallest amount of gores...the number can only go up from here ;).....I am very happy with my latest refashions and my new skirt...I'm kinda really proud of my skirt...my sewing is advancing and my new book was money well spent...okay photos now....ttys...

You may remember this from a previous post...this was my first patternless sheath dress...I wasn't going to wear it as a dress anymore so I decided to shorten it and make it a cool top....(I shared this before but it was too cute to not share again; forgive me hehehe)

the back; can you see the split I added for extra snazziness?...

this was a romper; I believe my age may have prompted me to refashion this into a faux peplum top...the shorts were just a bit too short for my taste nowadays...but its very cute as a top if I do say so myself!...

 \

the back of my faux peplum top..pretty cool!

my throwback jersey dress...it was just too expensive and I couldnt see myself parting with it; even after all this time....

Refashion to the rescue...now its a cool jersey shirt I can pair with some cool shorts or jeans!...Sewing saves the day again!

My new 3-gore skirt!...now this I am proud of....the photos do no justice...it is a cool skirt I tell you what! (in my Hank Hill voice)

added a cool fashion zipper; I may switch it out though for a plain Black one or a camo one...going to the fabric store tomorrow for supplies..If I do change it I will share...;)

My new sewing book :)