A plus-size fashionista journeying through the sewing world trying to make "magic" with each garment she creates. See more from Diary of a Sewing Fanatic »
Silk Crepe-Back Satin for the Prom
I’ve made a few prom dresses over the years. Generally I shy away from this type of sewing because of the high expectations for the dress. I don’t want to dash someone’s dreams. However, every once in awhile someone special to me asks if I will make a dress for them…usually I end up agreeing. This year it was my niece. This dress process started with a scouting trip to Mood Fabrics’ NYC store. Her color was mint green. So with the help of the staff at Mood, I came up with four swatches that I sent to my [...]
A Wool Crepe Dress for Spring
I know it’s spring out. The calendar tells me so…the weather not so much! You know it’s doing that hot/cold/hot/cold thing that April likes to do. But I sooooo want it to be spring. I want warm breezes and long sunny days with the promise of fun and a wardrobe of dresses that I can wear every day. Because it’s spring although it doesn’t feel like spring, I decided to use a brightly colored lightweight wool crepe to bring a little spring loveliness to my life. This lime green wool crepe was my starting point. Somewhere I read/saw that [...]
Guipure Lace + Wool Tweed = Designer Interpretation
Let’s face it ~ this month it’s all about the fabric! Upon accepting the Mood Sewing Network lace challenge, I decided to use a lace that I’ve never sewn with before. I’ve made a few lace garments in the past, even using an embellished lace in an evening gown but never a piece of lace as beautiful and awesome as this guipure. I chose the guipure because I wanted to interpret a designer dress and it featured the prettiest lace on the bodice of the dress. So after choosing my guipure, I headed upstairs to the third floor of Mood [...]
March is Lace Challenge Month at Mood Sewing Network
In the early days of the Mood Sewing Network, Meg and Eric of Mood asked us to consider a challenge where we each sewed something from the same fabric. They even let us agree on the fabric we wanted to sew. After much discussion between the initial nine bloggers, we chose lace. Why lace? Here are a few explanations from my fellow bloggers… Lori from Girls in the Garden says… “Lace is an unknown fabric for me. I have only made one garment previously from lace. I am intrigued and challenged by this fabric, it is beautiful and delicate with [...]
Emerald Faux Leather Skirt
Faux leather is off the beaten path in Mood. It’s on the third floor, way in the back, behind all of the scrumptious designer boucles. The Saturday that I was in Mood NYC, I was back there all alone! But the treasures, people, the treasures that are in that section are mind-blowing ~ well at least to a fabric junkie like me! As I was pulling out bolt after bolt, I stumbled upon this goodness… …and I knew right away what it should be! It was love at first sight, really it was! So Todd helped me get it to [...]
Brown Wool Crepe Jacket
This jacket is part of my City in Winter Collection. I’ve been working on and sewing this wardrobe since last October. The purpose of this exercise was to create a versatile wardrobe that I could use for any part of my busy life —work, dates out with friends and church. I’ve finished quite a few pieces (I’ve already shared the bottoms here) but I was dragging my feet making the jacket. The jacket is from Vogue 8208 which is an out-of-print pattern that has been reviewed several times on Pattern Review…and now I know why there are only four reviews for it! This [...]
Ponte Knit and Stud Trim Dress
Every time I visit the Mood NYC, I stroll by the ponte aisle and lately I haven’t been disappointed. I always find something new and unusual there. When I found this fabric, which I’m calling a laminated ponte, I knew immediately that I wanted to make a dress with it using Butterick 5821. Now the pattern envelope isn’t that inviting but the line drawings highlight a dress with so much potential. I knew the laminated ponte and a stud trim that I picked up from Mood’s trim department would yield an amazing dress. As usual there were quite a few [...]
A Border-Print Skirt
I don’t usually sew skirts during the winter months. When I first purchased this fabric from Mood’s NYC store, I was actually thinking of making a blouse with it…especially since it’s a beautiful, lightweight silk charmeuse with the border print going down the center of the fabric. Then I saw this skirt from White House/Black Market… …and after seeing it, a light went off in my brain and I decided that I should use my new border print fabric to make my own version of this skirt. Of course since the silk is lightweight and a little flimsy, I underlined the [...]
Shades of Gray
This cardigan is made from a wool knit purchased from the Mood NYC store during my trip with Barbara. The minute I touched the wool I knew it would be used for my tried and true Burda pattern 8869. Monday mornings are cold in my office. I’m sure that’s because I sit in front of a big window and the building has no heat all weekend…and don’t let it be a three day weekend because then it takes half the morning for my area to warm up. So I always dress a little warmer on Mondays and this cardigan will [...]
