dress Archives • Jessica Smith Creates

April 21, 2020April 15, 2020

A Sunny Dress

Remember how I make something each year, and I call it my birthday (insert garment name here)? (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)

I fully realize this is arbitrary, that I don’t make party dresses (with the potential exception of 2016) and for the most part these are purely descriptive and meaningless to anyone except me.

With that said… Welcome to Birthday Dress 2020. And here is my novel.

Normally I make these garments prior to the day, and then parade around in them on the day.

We went into what I over-exaggerate to a lockdown maybe a week before my birthday, can’t quite remember. (It was voluntary but strongly suggested stay at home… You could have left the house for a walk, past Jess. It would’ve been fine). Wasn’t that three years ago?

So I was less motivated to make ahead, and instead made it on the day. And the next day. And the day after that. I was a little scattered, but also made so many noms. If I couldn’t celebrate my birthday out, I was going to over-celebrate in. Also, Marvel movies.

I can’t get into the first day until we talk about the fabric, though… I think I had a good dose of panic when the college I work out announced it’s decision to do online learning, and no, I did not buy large quantities of toilet paper. (I’m not an animal. Also it was all gone by that point. I’m not getting desperate). No, I decided to go craft supply shopping. I bought altogether too much fabric (I have plans, I promise), some foam for some props, a mystery yarn bag from my local yarn shop, pins for more intricate lace making (oh yeah, I’m making lace now. This is something I do now), and too much snack food.

When I got home from that massive shopping trip, I was still amped and antsy, so I ended up doing a ton of random crafty research, probably Pinterest fueled, and then decided to do some ice dyeing. I still had a lot of linen/rayon from a purchase last year, the same stuff I used for my green Flints, so I decided to use that. It’s been cut down into 2 about-2-yard lengths, and the first one I dyed was in the color scheme that I have called “Van Gogh” for awhile now. Think the sunflowers and the cafe terrace and the many of the famous self portraits. Light aquas and blues, soft greens, rich golds and light oranges. That’s what I aimed for here.

I followed the general directions from Dharma Trading Co, which is where I’ve gotten all my dyes, and I think it turned out pretty well. I love the flow of the shapes that come out of it. It doesn’t look quite like tie dye, nor painting. It’s unique, and I love it.

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Back in November, I bought two new sewing patterns, and this one is the Hannah Dress from Victory Patterns. After a muslin from a bed sheet, I was ready to go, knowing that I had to shorten it by a couple inches. For the main body fabric, I used a sunny linen/rayon blend from Joann’s, and for the side panels I used the ice dyed linen/rayon.

Sewing it up went well, and I tried to keep the process as calm and level as possible, which was mostly successful. And I know this because I filmed the whole thing. (Cue the nervous laughter). It’s hard to remember how much ironing there is in sewing until you edit a video about sewing a garment… Please enjoy!

This was a great first project in this crazy time, and it’s been a great thing to put on when I need a bit more pep in my stay at home step. In the future I’ll definitely lower the neckline. It hits right at or above the collarbone, and will hang awkwardly when seated, and I also get a little claustrophobic with a high neck. But otherwise I love it!

See you next time!

April 3, 2020April 2, 2020

Agent Carter

We’re in a crazy time right now, and while I’ve regained the time of my commute I’m making the most of it, trying to get my blog up to date, as well as make more stuff! According to my drafts folder, I’ve got 12 posts in the works, and that’s not counting anything I’ve made so far in 2020… Which is a fair bit.

So you’ll likely hear a lot from me in the next month or two, and maybe that’ll kickstart my old blogging energy!

And back to the regularly scheduled- Wait. This dress was made in 2017. That’s three years ago! That’s a whole blog changeover ago. While I go hang my head in shame, enjoy my post about this Peggy dress.

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A loooooooong time ago, I made a dress based off of Peggy Carter’s purple dress in Agent Carter’s episode, “A View in the Dark.”

I remember very little of making it, or the muslin that is shown here in green, but I do remember a few things.

The material that I chose for the green muslin was a relatively medium weight linen/poly blend that had some nice drape, but could hold it’s shape rather well. The purple was instead a very heavy polyester corduroy, and shed like crazy. It’s almost no wonder that the dresses didn’t fit the same.

I modified the dress from the Deer and Doe Belladone, which I had used for a binge of dresses earlier that year, by changing so much that it’s almost not the same garment. This is why I made the not-common for Jess move of making a muslin (I know, I know. Muslins are useful, but sometimes I just want to jump into the real thing and just try it!). And I love the muslin, and one day I will actually line the bodice of the muslin, so that I can wear it again.

The belt was made out of some gorgeous lace that I inherited from one of my mom’s friends. I painstakingly cut flowers from the lace, handstitched them to a silver painted sew in interfacing in black, then attached the interfaced flowers to a fleece backing and stitched on ribbons and hooks and eyes for the closures. It’s still my go to belt for dressing up relatively plain things that need waist definition, like my Future Dress.

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I wore the costume to DragonCon in 2017, but only on Monday, when only super obvious costumes get recognized (because nearly everyone is hungover from excitement and non-stop parties and new friends), and it was too hot for Atlanta on Labor Day. Remember heavy polyester corduroy?

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Later that year, I tried to wear it to a swing dance, and it… Well, I kind of hulked out of it. It was near the end of my Master’s degree, or perhaps right after, and I had gained a bit more… numerically… in the tummy region. I managed to slither into the dress, and then when I got into the car and drove down the block (picture reversing and the automatic twists of the torso to make sure you’re not hitting the neighbor’s car when coming out of the driveway) before the side seam split, and the waist seam gave way. Not my proudest moment. But the material lives on in my ottoman-pouf, and the green dress lives on, and is definitely more my normal style anyway… Polyester corduroy is decidedly not.

October 10, 2018August 23, 2022

Defense Dress

As I mentioned in my 2017 wrap up post, I defended my master’s and now I’m a free woman! Otherwise known as a member of the semi-normal work force.

But because I can’t help myself, even in the stress of preparing for my defense, I made a special dress to wear for the defense. It ended up being a small amount of stress relief and a chance to slow my brain down between turning in my manuscript and giving the oral defense.

To make my degree a bit full circle, I used the same pattern as when I had my very first grad school presentation… This is the Dandelion Dress pattern from Seamster Patterns, which is unfortunately no longer available. It’s essentially a very uniquely seamed shift dress/shirt, and I’ve made it a couple times now. I still wear my first version a lot, and I was hoping to recreate that magic.

Because I can’t stop myself, I had to make it more complicated… The fabric I bought from Fabric.com was not what I was expecting. I bought this printed boucle which I thought would be printed so that the boucle direction matched what looked like the print direction… That wasn’t true. The print was also much bigger than I expected and it was blaringly large in the original colors of navy and white. So I dyed it with some emerald procion green dye, and it turned out to be in my perfect color scheme! My accent fabric is a brushed navy twill that is sooooooo soft. A bit lighter weight than expected, but I’m not used to figuring out what 6oz feels like. I know for now though!

I used the twill on the front and back center and the sleeves, and the boucle for the large side pieces. The fit is okay. I don’t know whether it shrunk after the first wearing, or whether my first feels larger due to the slight stretch in the fabric. Neither of the fabrics for this version have any more than mechanical stretch, and I can feel it. About a year later now, and I’ve lost some of the “bad choices preceding defense” weight, it feels less tight, but now that I see how the back looks at least in pictures it’ll be relegated to job interviews and sweater days, since it doesn’t (easily) fit into my daily life until it gets cooler outside (it’s fall, but the weather isn’t complying).

For the pattern choices, I went with the rounded neckline, and I omitted the zipper again. This one is harder to wiggle into, but I still can… I do have to wear it over a slip or tights and slip shorts, because the boucle is just wiggly enough that you can tell whether there’s anything under it, and I really didn’t want to line it.

I love this dress, and it made me feel great wearing it on the day. I passed (with some flying colors if I do say so myself)! And I’ve worn it a few times since. The sleeves are a little tight when I bring my arms forward, but not cut off circulation, just uncomfortable and unflattering… So with sweater, yes! Without sweater, maybe. Also there aren’t pockets, so a sweater with pockets is ideal.

When editing the pictures I saw how crummy the back looks, but I can say that at least 25% of the wrinkles are from wearing it all day, and I’d guess that 50% is that the swayback doesn’t match my body curve (but without a zipper I can’t do better) and that the final 25% is that I tend to underestimate the amount of backfat/bulk that my back carries. I’m no football lineman, but I definitely have to make back adjustments on tight patterns, and I never did on this one.

I’m no longer working in an office environment, so this will end up relegated to the job interview/special event part of my wardrobe, but the memories that I have with this dress are something I’ll never stop believing in…

Too cheesy?

Also, I found this picture and now I’m super curious what caused this expression…

May 4, 2018October 13, 2018

Nettie Tee Dress

This post is going to be short! In late October I went on a cutting spree where I cut out a tooooon of garments, some of which have still not been sewn up…

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This was one of them. I took my altered Nettie tshirt pattern (standard versions of which don’t even get a mention on the blog because its my go to for daily t-shirts), and just extended the hem as far as I could. I gave it a flat hem, so the sides do hang down a little lower than the front, but I kinda like that.

This fabric is one of my last pieces from a Hancock Fabrics going out of business shopping spree.

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When I was getting it cut, the lady blanched and said, “I don’t know who would ever find this an attractive piece of fabric.”

And I replied, “Well it kinda matches my hair.” I think she realized that she had said that thought out loud and didn’t say anything after that… For four more cuts.

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It’s a polyester textured lace pattern in a rust brown. Which does mean that it has holes in it, so I have to use a slip. This one is made from a cotton broadcloth, and is cut on the bias. It peeks through just a little, and I love it!

Simple sweet dress, easy to sew, easy to wear, I wish it had pockets, but I still haven’t figured out how to make that happen for this design…

July 20, 2017August 22, 2022

Belladone Opposites

Remember the contest I talked about early this year?

I also picked up the Deer and Doe pattern Belladone, which I am in love with!

(Granted, I fall in love with a lot of patterns…)

But seriously, I’ve made 2.5 of these in the first quarter of the year…

The ice blue one is version 2, and the green skirt is version 1, but I am combining them for this post, along with the bonus of the skirt I made from the same pattern (Version 2.5). Because they’re all done, with almost no changes between the versions, so why not? And though I know I should make some more adjustments, I didn’t pause in between making these.

The Belladone is one of those patterns that I’ve seen around for so many years, and yet I haven’t gotten my hands on it mostly due to the shipping from France thing. And I don’t have many paper patterns from indie companies (read: none), so I couldn’t really see buying the paper patterns. But so many people have made fantastic versions, and I wanted to join the legion!

I made the cutaway back version for both dress options, and I had to make one (rather large) adjustment, which I assume has to do with my broad rounded back. I had to sew a huge dart from just underneath the overlay to the armscye. And now the back lies smoothly against mine! The hem was also “very long” on me, meaning at knee length, but I prefer my skirts to be a bit higher, so I went back and hemmed each version a couple inches.

Version 2 (which was finished first) is made from an ice blue cotton with neon slubs woven in (that aren’t visible from more than one foot away), and is fully lined. Granted, that means its mostly interlined for the bodice, and then actually lined for the skirt. Version 1 has a chambray bodice (woot for scraps!), and what I think is a cotton/poly lawn (woot for scraps part 2!). And then I made a skirt version out of the same wax print cotton that I made my Uganda dress out of a few years ago. I had just barely enough to make it happen, but it’s infinitely more wearable than the dress is, which is a great thing!

I made up Versions 2 and 3 for my this big conference in Seattle, since I don’t have much of what you might call “business casual” and then decided to alter them. The skirt only got hemmed a bit higher, but the ice blue dress got a stencil treatment. I laser cut a stencil with a vaguely floral geometric design, and I used silver Jacquard Lumiere paint to put it on the waistband. The design is not terribly visible, even though I used a Micron pen to outline it a bit, but I like the small amount of definition it gives to the dress.

Because Version 2 was fully lined, I didn’t need to bias bind the neck or armscyes, but when I finally finished Version 1, I had to bias bind them, which I did in a lovely green, and I’m considering stenciling the waistband with a gold fabric paint. We’ll see what happens in a couple weeks.

These are wonderful dresses/skirts though. They worked well for the transition from winter to summer, and so far are doing well for actual summer too! Wait until I show you my hack of this! It’s going to be awesome (judging by the wearable muslin, at least)!

June 19, 2016August 22, 2022

Plum Drop

If this was made out of a yellow fabric, I’d call it Lemon Drop, because it’s sweet in the front, and slightly sassy in back.

I modeled it after this dress I found on “The Stylish Geek” when I was searching for inspiration for the Monthly Stitch’s RTW Challenge that’s on next week.

And I decided to hack Nettie to do it!

So here’s what I did:

1. Cut the front bodice pattern at the lengthen/shorten line. I think I cut it at the top one, since I’ve got a very short torso.

2. Trace out the full back, then draw new cut lines for the crossed back.

3. Cut out one front and two backs, and then the two sleeves. Also, I cut out a full circle skirt and two pockets.

4. Attach the bodice to the backs at the shoulder, attach bindings, sew in the sleeves, overlap and sew up side seams. Assemble the skirt and pockets.

5. Attach the skirt to the front bodice. Cut and sew elastic to the waist.

6. Decide not to hem the skirt because you’re already late for your weekend trip with your best friends.

The fabric is a lovely four way stretch jersey, which I believe is a rayon spandex blend, but there wasn’t a listed fabric content when I bought it, so I can’t be positive. I put it on immediately after finishing it, and refused to take it off, even though I’d be spending the next seven plus hours in a car. That’s how much I adore this fabric and dress.

This plum version is actually the second try, since the first one was out of a two way stretch in a peachy color. Actually, I consider that my Hamilton Angelica tunic, since the color matches her dress. And I’m minorly obsessed. The two way stretch created more folds and wrinkles at the underarm to bust, so I made itty bitty darts, which look weird but it’s still wearable.

And the obligatory pockets.

June 7, 2016August 22, 2022

The Shirtdress that I’ve Dreamed About

This post might also have an accurate subtitle of “Spot the Mosquito Bites!”

I love early summer, because it still gets cool at night, but I do not enjoy the mosquitoes that come with it. Especially since we’ve had a really rainy spring so far, which spells a very mosquito ridden summer.

I’m going to be miserable, i can just feel it.

This is my new shirtdress, and I love it and want five to ten more. Both the fabric and the pattern conspire to make this some amazing level of secret pajamas.

The fabric is Robert Kaufmann chambray, which I believe is rayon cotton blend. It’s lightweight, but has a large amount of body to it. I got it on sale last year for about 3 or 4 dollars a yard, and I’ll definitely buy the bolt if I find it for that price again.

The buttons and bias tape are from my vintage stash, and the buttons are probably from my grandmother, which makes them a little more special..

The pattern is s Sew Over It’s Vintage Shirtdress. It’s so so lovely. As in, the design fits me perfectly (in my eyes) right out of the package. I thought I’d have to use a size 12 at the bust and a 10 at the waist, but I decided to just stick with the 1o all around.

I used some goldenrod quilting cotton for the pockets, to match the buttons, and I kinda french seamed them, at least to the skirt seams. I also used bias tape to finish almost all off the seams. I missed the lower part of the skirt seams though.

This is my new favorite garment. As in, wear it every week favorite garment.

And I can’t wait to make more!

May 5, 2016August 19, 2018

Birthday Dress

It’s been over a month since I made this dress, and yet I’ve only worn it once or twice. But it’s special, cause it’s my birthday dress.

The week before my birthday I was finishing up the TARDIS sewing, so I didn’t get a chance to make the dress. The day before my birthday I got back from a ballroom engagement and didn’t have the energy or willpower to start. I think I got as far as retrieving the fabric before I gave up and collapsed on my couch.

This green lace printed polyester jersey had been in my stash for a couple months, after I picked it up because the print was so cool despite the polyester-ness. I knew I wanted something sleeveless (so my armpit sweat wouldn’t be cooped up {is that too much info? Sorry}), and I’ve been wanting a handkerchief hem dress for a while now.

So on my birthday morning I pulled myself out of bed and cut out a square for the skirt, and then used the Nettie shirt pattern I’ve manipulated to make a front and back. I remembered to cut out the arm and neckbands at this point, instead of having to go back and get them later.

I managed to get it sewn up, eat both breakfast and lunch, and get to campus for my class with caffeine in hand. And with time to make more caffeine for class, which is always a plus.

Wearing it that day, though, showed me that I had miscalculated the length I’d need in the bodice, and it just got longer as the day went on. It was too short to be dropwaist, and too long to wear without some sort of waist definition, so I have been wearing it with my life belt.

About a week ago, I added some elastic to the waist seam, which helps with the droop, but it’s still loose at the waist. Maybe I should take it in some more.

Anyway, the armbands instead of sleeves are definitely comfortable, and it looks nice sleeveless. I’m probably going to be making more this summer! And I have a nice amount of fabric left, so I’m thinking a short sleeve Nettie hack. I’m going to cut that out now, I think!

June 8, 2015August 19, 2018

Overdue T-shirts

It’s high time I show you these t-shirts. It’s been two months. And I love three out of four to death. So these are definitely long overdue.

Now I’m thinking about the fine on my library card…

First up is a plain Nettie t-shirt.

Remember the brown one I made last year?

It’s almost the same pattern but with a bit more room around the midsection. It really means I spend less time picking it out of my lovely belly rolls when I sit down.

Come on, I know I’m not alone in that.

But this time… it’s turquoise.

Or aqua. Some people like to tell me that my sense of color is wrong. I’m going with turquoise.

P.S. Whoever owns the eBay shop that I bought this fabric from: I need more of this. Lots more in every color. It feels like butter. Or nothing. Whichever is your ideal texture. I’m going with butter. I don’t even know what its made of. But its that awesome!

Okay, second:

The Nettie top for a dress. Using the ultimate fabric from above

Basically I took my Nettie top pattern, chopped it an inch from the “waist” measurement, added wide elastic, and then this skirt bottom.

Actually this was an ultimate refashion of me mades. The waistband elastic came from a skirt that I made before I understood that a rectangle elastic skirt looks painfully awful on me if the “lining” and the outer fabric are both puffy and not at all drapey. And the skirt came from a Big 4 dress that just didn’t look right. Mostly because the top looked a bit, how should I put it… mumsy. Now I’m 23. That’s a perfectly okay time for a person to be a mum, but I feel like many don’t want to look like theirs. Cause that’s what this dress did for me. It made it look like I had saggy breasts and no waist. So I unpicked the skirt, and used it here!

Isn’t that better?

Super comfy and has become my long car ride dress. Because it’s awesome.

Third one:

Plantain

So a few years ago I made leggings out of this odd fabric from Walmart. And I had a lot left. And I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. So I made a Plantain. Not my favorite, but it is summer now. And that shirt is hot. Perhaps when it gets a bit cooler? My last one fell apart, so I couldn’t compare, but the last one was arguably destined to fall apart. My serger needs some more tinkering.

It’s still kinda a meh look for me. I think that my opinion on Plantains is that the sleeve is awesome, and it’s a great pattern to hack, but on me I much prefer a Nettie to a straight up Plantain.

And lastly:

A grey Bronte.

I got this spongy grey wonderfulness a few months ago, and I knew it was destined to be a Bronte. In all fairness, it should have been a sweater. That’s the kind of sponge I’m talking about. But I looked past that and made it up to be my most favoritest top ever. Or at least this month.

Note: favorite fabric is the turquoise, and this is the favorite shirt. Just to be clear.

I think I might have added some extra room to the bust, since it was creating deep lines in the first one, and I winged out the below-bust to give me some belly room, like with the Nettie.

It’s super comfy, and great when the air-conditioning makes you want to wear winter clothes in the middle of summer. Because if you do, then you die when you go back outside, so… I like this option better.

Well, there’s my t-shirts! I’ll do my MMM15 round up soon.

But first I should find that library card…

March 19, 2015August 19, 2018

Green and Grey

This may be my most comfy “work appropriate” dress.

I say that in quotes because, as a graduate student, my work attire is pretty much jeans and shirts. But as a tutor, especially one so close to the age of my students, sometimes I dress a little dressy to stand out.

But I don’t care, because this Dandelion is fantastic for both worlds.

I made this up last November, I think. I was giving a presentation, and I needed to get my mind off of it, so I made this!

The grey fabric is the same as my swingy circle skirt, and I think I’ve still got a bit left… some kind of slightly stretchy lightweight suiting. The lace was given to me by my mom, ego had gotten it from a friend who previously taught home ec for a school that then got rid of the sewing side.

As much as I find it unfortunate that the kids are missing out on the wonders of sewing, I’m pleased that I got some awesome French lace! There was also some lace in black and a burnt orange, so I’m looking forward to some nice lace makes!

So I made up the sweetheart neckline version… I ended up not needing to put in a zipper, which was perfect, due to the stretch of the fabric. When I don’t have to fiddle to put a zipper in, everyone’s life is happier!

Plus being able to just pull this over my head feels fantastic!

I did have a problem with the facings that was pretty much all my fault. Even though I have some interfacing, all I’ve got is the sew in kind, so after making a muslin for this dress, I just used the muslin facings as interfacing… which added tons of bulk in the neckline.

For a while I got away with just folding the facings under, but they started to roll out. So I stitched them, and the excess started to roll out. So finally a few days ago, I tacked down the ends of the facing to the seamlines in order to keep everything in its place.

Have I mentioned comfy? It does ride up a bunch when I wear it with leggings, but soon it’ll be too warm for leggings, and then I’ll be sailing smooth!