New Look Dress Pattern 6968 Great Dress!

Bodice Front Darts and Fabric Pin

                                                               

This past weekend I finally finished a dress I started making about one month ago.  The dress was supposedly designed to replicate the dresses worn on Mad Men.

Although I absolutely love the dress and the way it fits, I dragged my feet making it simply because I had to insert an invisible zipper in a dress with a full lining.

The pattern calls for lining in just the bodice which struck me as odd.  Why not line the entire dress? Also the fabric I used is a lightweight woven which wrinkles easily.  A full lining would reduce the wrinkling and also eliminate the need for a slip (I know I sound like a dinosaur when I mention slips buy hey, I wear them.)

I read several rave reviews of New Look 6968 on patternreview.com.   Most posters also suggested lining the dress unless a knit fabric was used.

It had been awhile since I had inserted an invisible zipper in a lined dress.  So I looked for some info online and found a great blog where the blogger posted great directions for inserting an invisible zipper into a lining dress:  msjennyhomemaker.blogspot.com/2011   The directions were great and finally the zipper was in after dawdling for about 2 weeks.

I followed a Sandra Betzina suggestion to use pretty linings in clothing and so chose a multi-color stripe shantung for the lining.  Unfortunately the colors don't show up well in the photo.

I know I broke every rule in the 'book' for hemming the lining.   I trimmed the hem and then serged it.

The outer fabric hem ends slightly above my knee.   

A very good friend suggested making a fabric flower pin for the dress which I thought was a wonderful idea.  For the pin I combined the outer and lining fabrics.  The pin is shown in the photo at the top of this page.   I used sewritzy's fabric flower tutorial to make my pin:  sewritzytitzy.blogspot.com/2008/11/from-annas 

I wear the dress with a very narrow black belt and black sandals.  I shamelessly admit the dress looks and feels great. The lining was well worth the effort.

So I highly recommend New Look dress pattern 6968!!

Dress Front

Dress Lining

Dress Upper Front

 

Vogue Dress Pattern 8724

Last summer I fell in love with Vogue dress pattern 8724.  I just love dresses and Vogue 8724 is extra special because it simply pulls on over the head!
Here's a link to the 1st dress I made from Vogue 8724:  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2607898990438159645#editor/target=post;postID=4113511317872683591
I like the pattern so much that this week I made another dress from the same pattern.
I used a 2-way stretch, lightweight knit for my dress.   I bought the fabric about 3 years ago.   But this week when I looked at the horizontal stripes I did wonder what I was thinking when I bought the fabric.   Much to my surprise and delight (I love that word) the dress actually looks pretty good on me, horizontal stripes and all.
The lines in this knit dress are very clean and very lean!  The bodice has a fairly deep crossover v-neck attached to a skirt that is softly pleated at the top.  The sleeves are cap-style.

The dress has no zipper and simply pulls over the head.

I hemmed my dress so it falls just a tad above mid-knee.  I twin-needle topstitched the skirt hem as well as the sleeve hems.  I used Sandra Betzina's tip to use woolly nylon in the bobbin when hemming with a twin needle.

Vogue 8724 is an easy, easy pattern to sew and the end result is quite an elegant looking dress.   I think it would be a great dress for a beginner sewer.

More Ruffled Scarves!!!

Night Clouds-3 available

Birthday Cake-3 available

Starbella Sea Breeze

-3

Sashay Hip Hop
 2 left

Blueberry Twirl-Only 1!

Lately I haven't had a lot of time to sew which does drive me a tad crazy.  To stay relatively sane & because I just can't resist buying all the gorgeous ruffled scarf yarns I find, I have been knitting ruffled scarves like a wild woman.   

Today I added photos of several of the newest scarves I have knitted.

With spring right around the proverbial corner and because these scarves are made from an acrylic yarn, they will also look beautiful accessorizing a spring outfit or something as casual as a denim jacket.

The number of scarves available in each color is included in the caption.

The 2 'Sashay' scarves, HipHop and Ballet, have a very subtle silver metallic thread woven into the bottom edge of the yarn which gives the scarves just the slightest hint of bling.

Price per scarf: $25 + postage when applicable 

I will be updating this blog as I knit more scarves so please do check back regularly!

Sashay Ballet-1

Starbella Canyon Sunrise-1

Starbella Cinnamon Candy-1

Starbella Plum Preserves-3

Starbella Denim-3

Starbella Eventide-3

Starbella Wild Hydrangeas-Sold out!

                                                             

The Mickey Bag!

Exterior of Mickey Bag-Cadet Blue'Orleans'

                                                                

Some days I just don't want or need a big bag but don't want a small bag either.  Well, a few weeks ago I found a new pattern that I feel is the perfect compromise between big and small.  And thus the Mickey Bag was born.

The Mickey Bag is a shoulder bag that measures about 14 inches across at its widest point and measures about 7 inches high at the center.   It closes with a rounded flap that is secured with a magnetic snap.

With its adjustable shoulder strap the Mickey Bag is also easy to wear across the chest for those times when we might need to be hands-free.

The Mickey Bag is shown in my 2 newest prequilted fabrics.  Both fabrics are named Orleans; one is the black Orleans print and the second is the same design in a gorgeous cadet blue.

Price: $35.00 + postage when applicable

Yellow Coordinate to Cadet Blue as lining

Mickey Bag Exterior in Black 'Orleans'

Closeup of Mickey Bag

 Striped 'Orleans' Coordinate as Lining

Ruffled Scarves

Rizos Blue-SOLD!

Flounce Green-SOLD!

Ripple Neutrals-SOLD!

Ripple Jewels-1 available

Ronda Teal-SOLD!

Triana Purple & Violet
SOLD!

                                                                

For the last several weeks I haven't been able to sew.  So, to keep myself busy, I have been knitting some absolutely gorgeous ruffled scarves.  As can be seen in the photos, depending on the ruffled yarn used, a totally different ruffled look can be created.
Ruffled scarves easily take simple to stunning, dull to dazzling, ordinary to outstanding.   I could obviously go on & on!
Consider a ruffled scarf for a wonderful holiday gift that will not break the bank.
The scarves described as Starbella are $25 each and the other individually named scarves are $30 each.
The scarves should be hand-washed & line-dried.  Each scarf averages between 44 and 54 inches in length.
The scarves shown are what is currently available.  Please email me to reserve a scarf for you!
Starbella:

Starbella Primaries-1 available

Starbella Denim-SOLD!

Starbella Pinks & Greens-2 available

Starbella Reds-4 available

Arlene's Bags at the Carpenter Museum's Folk Art & Artisans Show in Rehoboth, MA

Leslie, Arlene & Anne on Saturday

                                                             
Thanks to everyone who stopped by Arlene's Bags this past weekend at the Carpenter Museum's Folk Art & Artisans Show in Rehoboth, MA. This was my first time at the show, both as a vendor and shopper. It was an absolutely terrific event. I know for certain I owe most of my success this weekend to my wonderfully patient husband John and my 2 nieces, Leslie & Anne who came up from Baltimore and Philadelphia to help out Auntie Arlene!

Arlene, John, & Leslie on Friday

John & Leslie on Friday

Getting Display Ready on Friday

Arlene & Anne on Saturday

Arlene & Leslie on Friday

Part of the Display

The Display Prior to Opening

The Newest Maggie Slouch Bag

Outside Front

Just tonight I finished another Maggie Slouch Bag.  What is different about the newest Maggie Slouch is it has a magnetic snap closure and a zippered inside pocket.

This new fully lined Maggie Slouch measures 13 inches high without the strap and about 27 inches high with the strap.  It is 14.5 inches across at the top and 11 inches X 4.5 inches across at the base.

Like my other Maggie Slouch bags, this newest one is very roomy and has very clean, simple lines.

Price: $30.00

This bag will definitely be available this coming Friday and Saturday at the Carpenter Museum's Folk & Artisans Show which will be held at the Francis Farm in Rehoboth, MA.   www.carpentermuseum.org  Just head for the Miller Building where you'll find Arlene's Bags!

Inside Zippered Pocket