Week Three - Finished Pastille

I had the best day yesterday, I literally sat in front of my sewing machine or work table, puttering away all day. I also finished my Pastille and it turned out great!

There were some areas on this dress that I erred a bit, the waist seam and tie belt didn't exactly line up once the zipper was in, the facings had to be tacked down in more places because they kept popping out, and the fit of the sleeves still feels and eensy bit off, but I had fun and love the dress anyways. (It's not about being perfect! Says a recent blog post over on Coletterie.)

The only changes I made to the pattern, aside from fit adjustments, were adding an invisible zipper instead of a centered one and adding the cute bow detail as a belt tie around the waist instead of at the neckline.


*To do this, I cut 2 equal strips 25" by 1.5", folded right sides together and stitched a 1/4" seam lengthwise. I turned the ties right side out and pressed the seam to the center. I attached one of the ends of each to the waist seam BEFORE adding the zipper and continued on constructing the dress as instructed. When finishing my garment, I threaded a gold metal bead with a large hole on the other ends of both the ties and knotted the ends to keep the bead in place. Voila, bow tie!


All and all, I'm really happy with this dress, the fabric is really nice and soft, and the picture really doesn't do this dress justice. I think when I make this dress again however, I am going to fully line the bodice instead of using facings, this way it will feel a little more polished. I can't wait to wear this at Christmas!

I also wanted to show you a picture of the Meringue skirt on, which I never did but promised to. I don't know how I managed to get almost the exact same picture as Pastille, but here it is. This is definitely the favorite pattern so far over on the Flickr page.

So there's another project down, only 26 to go! Today I am working on my muslin for the Licorice dress , but I will post more about that tomorrow! Happy Tuesday everyone!

Week Two - Finished Meringue

I have completed my second project today by finishing up my Meringue. This was a breeze to make, I really enjoyed it and I think the finished skirt looks great. I think I got the scallops near perfect and the fit is great!

I made it from a really silky grey linen so there are some wrinkles in it that just won't come out, but I think it adds to it. I decided to add a small bow at the waist to give the skirt one more point of interest. All I did to create this was sew a tube about 12 inches long by 1.5 inches wide, turned it right side out and pressed the seam to the center. Then I tied a knot at both ends and attached it to the skirt with a straight stitch down the center of the tie. Tie it into a bow and I'm done!

This was the first time I had sewn a catchstitch by hand to complete a hem. I love it! I know it is a very simple thing to do but I love the results and found it to be nearly invisible and very relaxing.

Nobody was around to take a photo of me in my new skirt today, so this picture will have to do for now until later in the week, but you get the idea. This is my new favorite pattern and my new favorite skirt!

I also wanted to let you know that I have decided to sew Pastille this month instead of Taffy. I was at the thrift store this weekend and came across this beautiful, silky green cotton that would be just perfect and I really want to use it for the holidays. So my plan for next week has changed from Taffy and Licorice to Pastille and Licorice, I will do Taffy at a later date.

That's it for now, on to Truffle! See you soon!

A Thoughtful Plan

At first, my plan was to map out each pattern week-by-week for the entire six month sewing project. To save money (and be green) I want to use up as much fabric from my bow tie business days before buying new. It turns out I have a lot of great stuff, perfect for certain patterns, so I've decided to use these first, which throws a wrench in my original plan. Now I've decided to map out a week-by-week plan at the start of each month and work my way through the challenge that way, and it just so happens I've mapped out my plan for November already.

30 patterns in 6 months works out to be 5 a month ( a little over 1 a week) - totally doable! I have given myself 6 patterns for our first month, riding the excitement of starting the challenge.

November's Projects

week one - Violet

week two - Meringue and Truffle

week three - Taffy and Licorice

week four - Anise

My theme for November's garments - blue, black and lace.

The first week in November is a short one so I'm sticking to one pattern, Violet. I haven't finalized anything yet but I think I am going to go for a black silk with tucks and lace collar.

Week 2 is going to be a little tougher with both Meringue and Truffle. I found this great, white and blue floral, crepe-like fabric at the thrift store which is perfect for Truffle, and I have this beautiful grey linen that I think would make a lovely Meringue.

The third week will be the toughest, Licorice and Taffy. For Taffy, I have a ton of black chiffon to use for the blouse, and I hope to make black and white gingham bias tape for the seam finishes. For Licorice, I thought I'd change things up a bit and try out a different collar variation. I'd like to draft the existing collar into a peter pan collar with a lace overlay, and pair it with a navy or royal blue viscose, similar to the blue dress in the Getting Started post. Anyone who wants try it out on their own Licorice dress, I'll be posting a tutorial on how I did it when week 3 rolls around. This is the pattern I am most excited for.

For the last week in November, I am dedicating it to Anise. I have no idea what I am going to use yet, I thought maybe the leftover camel wool I have from making my Mod Trench (see Flickr), but I really want to try something different, maybe a denim or something. We'll see.

Any sewists who are following along can sew as many patterns as they'd like, in whatever order. Please feel free to send photos of your completed garments for me to share on the blog.

 Now, I am an extremely organized person in spirit but sadly not in practice, so I've created a board to organize my tasks and track my progress. I attached a master list of all the Colette patterns divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced with check boxes to mark when complete, the weekly breakdown of projects for the month I am working on, as well as fabric swatches and supply lists for each one. I also included some small notions like heart buttons and lace straps as something I may want to include in some of my garments. Oh and a photo of a really cute squirrel pin cushion to keep an eye on things for me. Hopefully the board will be able to keep me focused and organized so I can spend more time sewing and having fun.

I also, finally, got around to setting up my Flickr account. I used to use my business' blog to show some of the garments I've made, but that was the extent of it. Now you'll be able to visit the Flickr page and see even more photos of The Complete Colette finished garments. Also, I already uploaded a few pictures of some of my most recent projects to give you a sense of what I do. There's only a few but if you'd like a peak, head over.

Since we are only a week away from the start date, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my situation in case any of you are wondering how on earth I will find the time to do this. I left my full time job as a bow tie designer about a month ago, since then I have been working a serving job on the weekends and custom seamstressing, until I begin visual merchandising next fall. That, along with my volunteer work, leaves me with four full days a week for sewing and a few hours here and there. Plenty o' time! So if it seems like I have all the time in the world, it's because I do. For now.

So that about sums it up for today, but as promised, here is my sewing supply haul to complete my tool kit upgrade.

1. My handmade Tailors Ham and Sausage from the Tilly and the Buttons tutorial.  
2. Some new marking tools. Carbon paper, tailor's chalk and fabric marker.
3. I didn't need this but, new pin cushion and pins, mine have seen better days. 
4. Invisible zipper foot.
5. 1/2" Bias tape maker. Excited to use this!
6. New sharp point scissors for clipping notches on curves etc. I desperately need these
7. Fabric stiffener. I looked everywhere for Sullivan's brand spray but could only find this one so hopefully it works the same way.

So I am all set! I've got my tools and I have got my plan, only one week left and then I'm sewing!