Another Colette winner, the Rooibos dress

Another dress done, another favorite to add to my closet.  My only regret with this dress is that the weather isn't warmer so I could wear it all the time.  I think I'm just going to have to pair it up with some leggings and a sweater so I can wear it all winter long.

Colette's patterns continue to amaze me. They're so easy to follow along and I have loved the outcome of every one.

I love the fit and the design of this dress! As I mentioned before, I had some 'learning experiences' while making this, but they taught me a lot and I feel like I can better understand some sewing techniques I didn't have a grasp of before.

The pockets are great. Just the right size and I love the accent fabric that I ended up going with.

I can't wait to make this dress again. I think I'll make it in a heaver fabric and maybe add some sleeves so that I won't feel too silly wearing it in the winter.  But this one will be the perfect Spring/Summer dress.

Sweet Treats Saturday: Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies

I find that thumbprint cookies are always a safe bet, especially when you're going to be eating a heavy dinner (Thanksgiving) or just want to bring some treats in for the co-workers.  I made some strawberry thumbprint cookies inspired by Martha Stewart's cream cheese cookies.

Filling the cookies

The hubby helps while I take pictures

I don't really like to go through the trouble of rolling cookies and thought the concept sounded like it would translate well to thumbprints.  I made a few minor changes that I'm listing in the recipe below.

Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies

I adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart's Jam Filled Cream Cheese Cookies.

Ingredients:

8 ounces bar cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Topping:

1 egg yolk and water for the egg wash

1 1/2 cups jam, jelly, or preserves

sprinkling sugar

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, add flour and salt; beat until combined (do not overmix).

2.. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.s. Mix egg yolk with 1/2 teaspoon water. Spoon small balls of dough (I use a small cookie dough scoop) onto a lined baking sheet.  Space cookies about 1-2 inches apart.  They don't spread too much.  With the back of the scoop or with your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each ball of dough.  Spoon jam into the center of each and brush exposed dough with egg wash. Sprinkle sugar (I use a clear turbine sugar) on the exposed sides of the cookies.  The egg wash helps it to stick to the cookies.

3.. Bake until cookies are light golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks. (To store, cover and keep at room temperature, up to 4 days.)

Vintage dress pattern: check!

I have finally created my first official vintage dress straight from the pattern!  The sad part is, it was incredibly easy to follow and put together, that I don't know why I was so afraid.

I picked a deep purple color for this dress. I did pattern 3.

After having issues with my Peggy dress, I purchased a few patterns that were true to my size.  Simplicity 4650 seemed like a great starting point.  The fit looked nice, and I liked the square neckline.  I'm not quite ready to wear a collar like that but I may in a future version of this dress.

The pattern was already cut out so I just fit it to my fabric and made the proper transfer markings without messing with the integrity of the vintage pattern papers.  The instructions were a simple front and back sheet and were very easy to follow.

The fit came out great - I didn't have to make any adjustments.  I left the bottom of the dress pretty long... I may hem it a little higher but I don't have very many long skirts so I think it'd be nice to have some variety in the wardrobe.

New Sew Along: Trousers

While going through daily review of my favorite blogs, I found that The Cupcake Goddess is setting up a trouser sew along.  I have yet to make a pair of pants by-myself so I think this will be a great opportunity!  More details will be added to her site soon, but here's the link to the introductory post and icon:

Rooibos dress progress

I’m slowly working my way through the Colette pattern collection, and I’ve finally begun working on my favorite of the dresses: Rooibos.  

I picked out a basic red cotton for the dress, and a fun print that I reserved for another top... but had picked up a little excess just for this dress.  

Marking the darts on the bust.

I was a little concerned that the dress would be really difficult due to the number of pieces in the pattern.  Surprisingly I've only had a couple of moments where I've had to slow down to make sure I followed the directions exactly.  One of which was finishing the sleeve portion of the top.  I had never worked with a side zipper (only back) so this was the first time I'd encountered this method of sewing the lining to the outer fabric.

Fabric is rolled and the two right sides are matched.

Initially I rolled the fabric and pinned the sleeve edges in place... until I started thinking about how it would be attached to itself.  I read the directions a couple of times and realized that the directions were telling me to take the fabric around the rolled edges so that the right sides matched.  Once I did this, I stitched the pieces in place, inverted the top and... eureka!  It worked! Then I repeated and did the same to the other edge.  I still don't fully understand the logic of what I really did, but it worked and was very exciting.

Progress on the top.  I pinned down the front flap pieces just to see how it looked.

Beginning to match up the pockets with the outer dress pieces.

The next part that gave me some difficulty was the matching of the pocket/outer dress pieces.  Attaching the pocket lining wasn't difficult, I just was a little confused by the different sizes of the lining.  I literally had to step away from the sewing machine for a little break.  Once I returned, I did the same as before and pieced the pattern pieces to the best of my ability.  It helped once I matched up the center panel of the dress and saw where the notches were supposed to be placed.  Once again, success!


I'll post the final dress details soon.  I'm really happy with how it's been turning out and I've been learning a lot in the process.

Featured Friend! Dressing Mrs. Exeter

As a new blogger, it's so great to have support from the many other sewing/crafting bloggers in the huge blogosphere.  One of my first followers was Dressing Mrs. Exeter.  She has an amazing sense of style and lives in one of my favorite places, jolly ol' England.  Like me, she is new to the world of garment sewing and constantly has wonderful posts about her gorgeous creations.  Read more about Mrs. Exeter below and make sure you swing by her blog!


What inspires you?

Inspiration is everywhere, and the problem is all the ideas chasing each other around in my mind.  

A little bedside reading...

I'm inspired by magazines, blogs, books, TV shows, Japanese craft books, films, exhibitions, vintage dress patterns and of course, people I see on the street.  London in particular is crazy - virtually every woman you see is put together in a unique way and I find myself just STARING at people!   I like classic English style, too, country clothes as spun by such style icons as the (current) Duchess of Devonshire. 

Duchess of Devonshire

I also love the vintage movement - it combines so many things I care about - fashion, glamour, making an effort, dressing as expression, re-using and recycling.  I'd love to join in, but I can't pick a decade - from 20s to 70s - I love it all!

What is your craft space like?

Oh dear, I don't have one.  Our house in the UK is very small and there isn't space to have a dedicated sewing room.  I cut out and sew at the kitchen table with the ironing board up and steamer switched on.  Actually it's quite a nice room as there are windows on two sides, so it gets lots of light.  I have to clear everything away each evening, though, which can be a bit of a bore.

Let us in on your stash... what’s coming, what’s in progress, what are you stumped with?

I don't keep TOO much of a stash (honestly!) - I usually buy something with a project in mind, and although it has to wait sometimes, it usually gets used up.  I'm accumulating too many scraps, though.  Pieces useful for a hat or bag or something .... seems wrong to throw them away, but it's getting a bit out of hand.  

Simplicity 6685

At the moment I'm making a black suit from a fun 1966 pattern, but before Christmas I'm keen to buy some faux fur  (I read somewhere that Karl Lagerfeld calls it 'fantasy fur' - isn't that great?).  

Fur inspiration from Burdastyle

I like the jacket on the front of this month's Burdastyle, and if there's any left I think I'll try to make a fur collar as Casey, of Casey's Elegant Musings demonstrated recently.


What's your favourite craft to work with?

I'm a newcomer to garment sewing (although I have been making curtains and cushions for years), and have a convert's zeal!  At the moment I'm zipping from project to project without much of a breath in between, so I've not much time for anything else.  I do knit, but I am incredibly slow, and only do a bit when I'm watching TV in the evenings (just try to imagine my rock-n-roll lifestyle!).  I bought the fantastic vintage knitting book A Stitch In Time by Jane Waller and Susan Crawford, and I'm dying to make something from it when I finish the sweater I'm making now.   I've never learned to crochet, and there are so many gorgeous patterns that I am going to make learning a New Year's Resolution.  I love the cute Amigurumi animals you can crochet, too.

 
What is your favourite thing you've created so far?

It would have to be the jacket I completed recently.  I was inspired by Gertie's Lady Grey sew-along and her tutorials and one-step-at-a-time approach were really helpful.  It was by far the most ambitious project I've embarked on, and I wouldn't have had the confidence even to attempt it without Gertie and all the other people who posted about their own coatmaking (including you, Christine!).

Where can I read more?

Dressing Mrs Exeter (a reference to my age and not-quite-supermodel proportions)
I'm also just getting to grips with Twitter, where I'm @MrsExeter.  

What's been keeping me busy?

I mentioned previously that on my birthday weekend and ramping up to it I was swamped with activities.  I have some pictures to share from my Scottish Highland dancing schools' annual 'Extravaganza' which help explain.

Our school decided to do a theme for the first time... which ended up requiring a lot of extra work.  We did 'Extravaganza in Wonderland,' where Alice falls into Wonderland that is being ruled by an Irish queen who only wants all things Irish.  However the people of Wonderland love Scottish music and dance and are fighting for the right to do it.  We have a few dancers at our school who do Irish and Scottish dancing (like myself) so we thought this storyline would be a fun way to incorporate both types of dance.

Of course, I shouldn't pick sides, but a majority of the dancing I did for the show was Irish as I played the character of the Irish queen.  As my Irish dancer classmates hadn't participated in a show like this before, I had to help put together a few costumes.  In preparation for the show, I made:

Jig dress with the new orange jackets. Circle skirts and their sashes.

2 green circle skirts (for our Irish/Scottish jig battle dance off)
Assisted in orange sashes to coordinate with the skirts
Made a vest for my husband, also an Irish dancer
Made an orange jacket to wear with my jig dress as my 'queenly' type costume
Helped put together the 'trees' used as the backdrop for Wonderland

The back of my husbands' vest

This was all pretty time consuming but looking back, it was all worth it.  I loved the way my jacket came out, and I'm happy that I was finally able to make a vest for my husband.  He's been competing in Irish for a while and has always had to don the black pants, black button-up shirt combo.  The vest I made him is black in front but with a nice green satin back.  I can't wait for him to wear it at a competition.

And now, some pictures from the show:

The Irish dancers in their solo dresses

The beginning of the show. Outside of Wonderland.

Alice is about to enter Wonderland

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum. A sailor's hornpipe choreography

The flowers dancing a Flora

Dancers in their Aboyne costumes

Mad Hatter's tea party/cake walk

Final character dance

Sweet Treats Saturday: Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I've been on a chocolate and toffee kick recently and decided to mix it up a little with some pound cake.  I needed something to donate to my dance school's bake sale and thought this would be a nice treat that wouldn't be too sweet or messy.

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen where they paired it with a strawberry coulis.  I omitted that step and stuck with the cake itself.

The cream cheese was a nice addition to this pound cake and gave it a flavor that differentiated it from the store bought kind.  I also loved the use of almond extract.

I baked this in a bundt pan where the top came out so delicious and almost caramelized from the sugar.  It was a great contrast to eat a slice with the soft top but crispy, sugar base.  I made sure to wrap this up tightly so dryness was never an issue.  I think this would be terrific with some fresh strawberries and whipped cream or made into a trifle.  Mmmmm...

Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Go to Smitten Kitchen for more details and their recommendations on variations.

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 package (8 ounces) Philadelphia brand cream cheese*, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract plus 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter a 10-inch tube pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Alternately, you can use a 12-cup bundt pan, and simply butter and flour it.

2. Place the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and airy, at least five minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the vanilla, almond, then the flour and salt all at once. Beat just until incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and shake lightly to even out the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, 1 1/4 hours.

4. Place the pan on a cake rack and cool for 20 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Aren’t you plaid to see me?

Do you ever find those patterns that just call out to you the second you see them? Not only, ‘I must make that!’ but ‘I must make EXACTLY that?!’  Vogue V8701 was that dress for me.  I was looking for some retro inspired designs at my local craft store to see what my options were outside of Etsy and Ebay.  When I flipped the page to V8701, I instantly jumped up to grab the pattern.

I love a good plaid dress, especially in green, so when I saw dress ‘B’, I wanted it, as is, on the spot.  Alas, I’ve never been successful at finding the exact fabric used (I think they do that on purpose).  After visiting a few stores, I stumbled upon a similar green plaid that I thought would do the trick.

I was intimidated to work with plaid due to the pattern matching, but once I got it in my head that this would be my Thanksgiving dress, I jumped to work.  It really only took me two nights to make.  One to lay out the fabric and painstakingly cut to match the plaids, and next to put everything together.  It was a really easy sew and I only had a couple of concerns along the way.  One of which was the fit of the front.  

The front and back panels of the dress only connected at the sides, not at the shoulders.  It’s a pretty extreme boat neck so the connecting factor becomes the sleeves.  This was the first time I had sewn a dress like this so the front panel darts seem to have a funny placement to them when I first started.  In the end, it came together perfectly with the sleeves in place.  I just need to add two small darts to the top back.  I’ve worn it without them but I think it’ll fit a little higher up if I add them in.  The deep ‘V’ in the back is pretty sassy though and a nice touch to the shape of the dress.

This dress was so much fun to wear and I received so many compliments; my favorite being ‘where’d you buy that?!’  That was great to hear as I always worry that when I make things they will look too home made.  And guess what? matching the plaids wasn’t too hard?  The difference in the top from the skirt just wasn’t possible, but I think it looks good.  I think I’ll usually wear it with a brown belt just because I love the look.  The skirt front and back are pretty impressive (if I do say so myself).  All in all, a fun dress and another easy sewing project.

Birthday Wishes

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! I had a wonderful weekend celebrating and received some great crafty gifts to add to my space. 

I'm so looking forward to this holiday week so that I can work on the many patterns that are now stacking up.  I may have to take advantage of some of the sales of fabric and yarn going on as well...

Lots of updates coming, including:
- peak at the dance performance from this weekend. Just thought I'd share some pictures and maybe video of the beautiful costumes and work that went into the show
- finishing up a vintage dress. Actually, my first official vintage dress. Putting it together has been a piece of cake and the fit is fantastic! Can't wait to post the details
- Starting on another Colette pattern... working on the Roobios dress. It's my favorite pattern to look at and hopefully to make too
- Some other fun crafts inspired by the many crafting bloggers out there who have posted fantastic tips and tutorials

Sweet Treats Saturday: Salted Fudge Brownies

I'm a sucker for sea salt.  One of my favorite baking blogs: Bake of Break posted a recipe for Salted Fudge Brownies which sounded like my idea of a good time.  Even better, everything in the recipe could easily be found in my pantry.

Cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate.

Melted chocolate-y goodness...

This whipped up together fast and came out sooooo fudgy.  It was amazing.  I literally had to pry the plate away from my husband.  He's never been a fan of sea salt on sweets (crazy, I know) but he agreed that the flavor and texture was the perfect compliment to the rich chocolate in the brownies.

Ready to go into the oven.

I prefer brownies to be fudgy rather than cake like, and this met that to a 'T!'  Melt in your mouth deliciousness.

Yum!

Blind Hem Stitch Help!

So I've been interested in learning the blind hem stitch with no success thus far.  I'm hoping some of you fellow sewing enthusiasts can help with some of my questions:

1. I have the stitch options on my machine but not the foot. Do you have to have the foot in order to do it?
2. Do you have any sites or tutorials that you recommend to aid with this? I've tried following my machine's manual and some random 'About' sewing articles with no success.
3. When do you use the blind them stitch? I was thinking for items like hemming my dresses and skirts. Do I have it wrong?

Thanks for your help! Looking forward to your advise. Oh, and stay tuned for a delicious Sweet Treat tomorrow, and many more blog posts next week.  I've been ramping up for my birthday with tons of crafting but just haven't had time this week to post.  I should be caught up after this crazy weekend is over.

Mad Men Peggy Dress

The Peggy dress is complete!  This is my favorite creation so far though it probably involved the most time, blood, sweat and tears. Well, not quite, but it did have a few hiccups along the way.

The top looks baggy but I think it's just the lighting. It fits perfect!

My inspiration: the original dress.

The dress started as a vintage pattern, Simplicity 5086, but as I had upsized it on my own, I wasn't really happy with the fit.  I decided to merge the concept with another pattern I had: Vogue 8667.

Vogue 8667

Simplicity 5086

Neither pattern had contrasting pleat colors, so I had to do some research on my own.  Luckily, the wonderful world of sewing blogs came to the rescue!  I used several in putting together various aspects of this dress.

Pleats

Sew, Mama, Sew's blog post on how to make a pleat was amazing! This walked me through the process step by step.  The patterns I had could explain the pleat, but they didn't provide details to add a different fabric to it.  Sew, Mama, Sew broke it down for me.  These are the steps I took:

Marked out and pressed my pleat. Took a strip of the fabric to go inside and cut to fit.  (The red strip is shown before cutting to size)

Insert the fabric into the pleat, careful to keep the pleats' original shape.

Pinned the pleat in place and stitched the back sides in place.

The red fabric is now secure in the pleat!

Accessories
After completing the dress, my hubby and a few friends agreed that it needed something, but they weren't crazy about the buttons above the pleats in the original dress.  I personally loved the buttons but agreed that I don't have the svelt curves that Peggy has at her waist.

I remembered seeing Tilly's tutorial on a bow belt and played around with a few variations.  In the end, we agreed it needed the bow belt as is.  Her tutorial was also great and very easy to follow along with.  Brilliant!

Let me know what you think! I think I'm going to have to save the first wearing of this dress for something special like my actual birthday or maybe turkey day.  I've already started on another vintage pattern that is already my size.  I think it will be much easier to work with and will hopefully give me confidence to one day revisit this Simplicity pattern to do the upsizing again.