Floral Skirt- Metal Zipper

Sorry sorry sorry! That's an apology to myself too. I promised myself I wouldn't slack on my blog but I have. It's been a busy two weeks after vacation (doesn't that always happen?). I don't want to make excuses so I'm doing a quick blog tonight to keep myself happy.

This skirt was something I made from extra fabric I had left over from a shirt I made. The fabric was too shear to not add a lining under so I made it from an old dress I found in my grandma's basement. I liked the ruffle so I wanted to add it underneath for a cute feminine touch.

I've been wanting to make a garment with an exposed metal zipper so I used that technique on this skirt.

It's a unique touch but not too drastic because of the print. And to me it really doesn't matter if you wear it at the front or the back. Guess it depends on you mood :)

Hope you are satisfied with this fast blog- for now!

~JV

Suits Me Well

Hello Everyone!!! Sorry it's been so long. I had a great vacation and since coming back I have been working a lot. Thus my neglecting my little blog here. Well now that I've had a nice long nap I'm ready to start posting again.

I'm returning to blogging by posting an ensemble. This suit was made for a job interview I had. I didn't end up wearing the jacket, but I've been waiting for colder weather to pair the it up with a cute pair of jeans and some boots.

Both fabrics were purchased from Jo Ann's from the red tag fabric so I got a lot for a little (which I love). So I do have both left over and will be making more stuff from them. Eventually. One is a grey metallic suiting that isn't very heavy, and the other is a sheer floral print with strips of bias tape, made from the same material, sewn in swirls around the entire fabric.

Front                                         Back

The front of the jacket has a 3/4 length sleeve, two welt pockets on either side, a notched collar, princess seams, and I added two silver buttons to bring some pop to it.

The back has princess seams as well and two tabs with the same silver buttons on them.

Front                                           Back

The shirt is a basic design with a short kimono style sleeve and shoulder seams that come towards the front with a gathered detail to them. I added a solid teal bias tape to the sleeves for a fun pop of color.

The skirt is a pretty simple too. It has a thick waistband with four pleats in the front. The zipper is at the side seam. The skirt fits at the waist and hits a little above the knee.

This ensemble is a perfect business suit but can also be broken up to wear as individual pieces so I will most definitely be making more pieces to wear with them.

I hope this was an enjoyable post considering there haven't been some in a few weeks :)

~JV
P.S. Sorry about the wrinkles

Triple Threat

7am I will be on my way up north for a week long vacation. Because of this, I wanted to post a few outfits to keep you happy for a week (hopefully). Luckily I had a day off on Tuesday so I was able to crank out a few garments.

This first one is a skirt I made for my boyfriend's sister. She likes green and so I found a cute swirled green print fabric to use. It's a simple skirt with elastic at the waist. It can be worn either under the bust or at the waist.

This second one I also made for his sister. I had started to make a dress with the grey top a couple weeks ago. I decided to use it to make a dress for her. It was hard to choose what to use with it. Finally I chose this cute striped fabric (that I have enough of to make a million dresses) and used it horizontally. I think it turned out super cute and looks great on her :)

It's got elastic around the top and under the bust.

The back has the elastic shirring to keep it fitted to the body.

Does this fabric look familiar?

I had extra of the teal and grey striped knit and wanted to make a fun tube top dress out of it. I found the perfect teal fabric to use for the top to keep the stripes from being too powerful.  Again, I put elastic around the top and under the bust. Although the top is a little longer than I wanted, but I can always wear it at the waist. 

The back has the elastic shirring to fit to the body.

Back Close Up View

I wanted to add a little more fun to the dress by making the elastic shirred section out of the striped fabric but used it vertically. I wanted to make it a little surprise when I turn around.

I will definitely be wearing this dress during my vacation :)

I'm not one to toot my own horn, and even though these are more simple designs, I'm proud of myself for being able to make all three of these in one day. It makes me want to challenge myself even more.

See you in a week!!!

~JV

Dresses of Summer- Reception Dress

I made this dress after our trip to Hawaii but it still is relevant to the trip. Because a trip to Hawaii is a bit expensive, not all of our friends and family were able to attend. So in order for everyone to join the festivities, we had a Hawaiian themed reception back in Michigan the following July.

This is the dress I designed and made for the party. Again the floral print was perfect for a tropical themed party and it had great colors to play with. It is a fitted A-line dress hitting above the knee. The green straps pull out the green details in the dress and are halter style. I had also made a green belt to tie around the waist, but I couldn't find it for the pictures.

The open back was something I wanted for a flirty summer style. 

I actually made a skirt from the remaining fabric for a friends luau themed birthday party this past June.

The fabric was perfect for it.

 It's a simple skirt, fitting right under the bust. It was really easy to put together, basically two seams on the sides, attach to the elastic, and hem.

Enjoy!

~JV