The Math Dress

Even though just earlier today I had said I was going to make the super-easy dress, I decided not to because I was remarkably close to finishing the math dress. As you may recall, I had plans to make this dress way back around my birthday in May BUT Ikea didn't have the fabric; when I went a few weeks ago they had enough for me to make the dress so I bought it BUT it took a while to do it for several reasons. Two months ago I had made this sketch for the dress:

This was before I realized just how big the printed words were:

I then needed to figure out how to the skirt; I decided on a circle skirt (seen here being cut out on my bedroom floor next to Pebbles's cage)

and, as per usual, messed up my waist measurements and made the waist way too big. So then I had to backtrack a little. I made the bodice and then gathered the skirt to match up with the bodice

 the resulting stitches are grotesque:

So then I made a sash to (a) cover the stitches and (b) cinch the dress some more. I decided to go the way of making two tubes, stitching the ends into a point,

...using my pinking shears to cut away the excess (that's not blood on them, they're reflecting my horrible curtains)...

...and then, after turning them inside out, stitching the two together. this meant that all of the seams were INSIDE the sash, which is awesome in terms of fraying.

You might recognize this pink fabric as the very same I used for the Sencha muslin; as a result (because I went through so many of those) I wasn't sure I'd have enough to make binding tape for the bottom hem, so I just zigzagged stitched it (which always makes me think of my sister).

Then I used the same tube-philosophy as I did for the sash to make the binding for the top of the bodice. Then I did it AGAIN for the straps; I'm particularly pleased with the straps.

 I folded them in half and stitched them to the back of the bodice...

...then I made button holes on the front (two for each set of straps) which I threaded the straps through

and then tied into little bows. Adorable!

And here's the final product.

I'm very pleased with it, even though:

• the waist stitching is weird
• the skirt is off-centre
• there's no binding on the bottom
• the bodice is still not fitting perfectly

I think it's wearable and I like it so I guess, in the long run, that's all that matters. Also, it came out remarkably close to my initial sketch. Crazy!

Summery Tank Top and Lunch Tote

I was supposed to examine today but, after waiting 40 minutes for my partner to show up, she finally answered her phone and informed the organizer that she wouldn't be coming. Which sucked a little for my pocket book but was actually okay for my sewing. The place where I was supposed to examine is just down the road from Season, so I plodded over there (I was wearing my new H&M gladiator-esque sandals, which, while having excellent heel support, are causing blisters on the balls of my feet) and went a little nuts. But it was awesome and I ended up spending about 800 rubles (about 27 dollars), which is way less than I used to spend on "I have nothing else to do" shopping sprees. Here's my take:

I got some fabric for the lunch tote project in Sewing Green, which I had with me in my purse and made me feel like I was ordering things from a catalog (the swirly purple and yellow will be the outside of the tote, the yellow raincoat material [which I'm quite pleased with] will be the lining and I'll make sandwich wraps, another project from Sewing Green, out of the pink and the yellow). I also got some fusibile interfacing and fleece, to insulate the bag, some grossgrain ribbon for the handle, some rickrack for a pillow case dress I plan on making for my niece and some pink ribbon also for the dress. I finally purchased some pink thread because I realized it's mildly embarrassing that I don't have any and pink is my most-used colour. OH! And I bought a super-huge bias tape maker because I can't use the needle-and-ironing board trick for that thickness. Awesome.

First I worked on the summery tank top, which I made from the skirt I took the elastic out of for the Ikea Fox Skirt.

I cut the skirt along one of the seams (which it turns out I didn't need to do) and trimmed off the bottom two blocks of colour. Then I folded over the top strip to create the top of the bodice.

Then I used the same colour from the bottom of the skirt to make the straps, which I then attached using one of my new shades of pink thread.

Then I used the lighter pink to add some detail to the top bit:

...and made a bow out of the rest of the light pink bit. I fitted this while wearing my strapless bra and I must say it's quite cute.

Here I am in it:

I think it'll look really cute with a high-waisted skirt (probably my white one, which I have to fix the zipper on).  The bow looks a bit unfinished but I don't mind too much.

Then I started working on the lunch tote. I cut all the bits out and then fused the fleece to the outside of the bag. This was when I ruined one of my irons (thank god I had two). Apparently you can't directly iron on fleece because it's melt-y. Lesson learned.

So after that mild debacle, this is what I had:

I sewed them, right-side to right-side, then boxed the corners (like I had done with Vaskova's birthday bag).

Super cute, right? Then I did the same with the lining...

...which I stitched into the bag. I folded over the excess to bind the top of the bag's edges.

I trimmed the excess and then added two bits of the grosgrain ribbon so I can pull the tote open (they're uneven, I know)...

...and then I added the velcro and the strap for the handle. Ta-da!

I adore it, I think it's super cute. Now I just have to go grocery shopping so I can start bringing my lunch in this bag. Yay!

UPDATE on "The Refashioned Dress"

So I finally finished what I wanted to on that dress from a month ago: I added straps and hemmed the top and the bottom. I think it looks adorable now. I'd like for the waist to be more fitted but I'm afraid I'll ruin the whole thing if I try that, so I'm leaving it for now.