wrap dress: Gertie Sews Vintage Casual

I'm so excited about my new dress.  First of all, pockets!  I love a good dress with pockets.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to sew them into all my handmade dresses from here on out.

I love this pattern too.  It's the wrap dress from Gertie Sews Vintage Casual.  I highly recommend this book if you like vintage styles and sewing.  Its got some really cute basic pieces.

That being said, I had to alter this dress quite a bit.  Apparently my sizing is not the same as the book's.  I made the whole dress with the book sizing (trying pieces on as I made them and they seemed fine), but when I finished the dress and tried it on...frump city.

I had to take in the top (front and back) because it was so puffy, I changed the sleeves from short sleeves to more flattering cap sleeves, I raised the waistline 2", and I raised the hem about 5".

Even with all the alterations though the dress only took about a weekend to make.  Not bad!

The whole point of making this dress was because I have all these cute sundresses in material completely unsuitable for heat.  Polyester and whatnot.  No thanks.  I HATE fabric that clings to you in the summer.  I need to breathe.  This dress is just simple cotton and breathes wonderfully.

Another great thing about this dress.  It's a full on wrap dress, but it crosses over plenty in the front so I don't have to worry about a little breeze making my flash anyone.  Always a plus!

Funny enough, I actually bought this fabric for this project to be a wearable muslin.  I found cute vintage-y looking fabric super cheap from the quilting cotton section of Joann (plus a 50% off coupon, woohoo!).  I figured if I messed up royally, or the dress turned out too frumpy I could just cut my losses.  Turns out I didn't need to.  Yay!

I really love this dress.  It's so cute and comfy!  Now I still have my original fabric I bought for this, so I can make myself a second one.

These pictures look so awkward.  I always feel weird having my picture taken.  Really, I only have so many up is so you can see the dress.

Yay pockets!  Yes, I really felt that needed to be said again.

Oh, and when I finally finished the dress, I tried it on and showed it to Jeff to get his opinion.  He took one look and said, "You look like a cute 50's housewife.  Do you have a string of pearls to wear with it?"

I'll take it.  :)

the washi dress

I'm branching out a little here.  I've created a new page called "away from the kitchen" just to share posts that aren't recipe related.  Every once in a while I've thought of non-kitchen things I want to share, but it felt weird placing them on a kitchen related blog.  Here's where you'll find all the random things I'll be adding.

The first non-kitchen post is all about the Washi dress.  I'd been eyeing the pattern for a while because it seemed so universally flattering, easy and quick to make, and basic enough to make several dresses with some minor changes look totally different.

I've always had issues with dresses.  I love them and could live in them, but I find it difficult to find the perfect dress.  By that I mean pockets, not too short, and decent boob coverage.  That doesn't seem like I'm asking for too much, but the perfect dress is just so hard to find!  The washi dress has perfect coverage (for me anyway), and built in pockets!  Eek!  What more could a girl ask for?

The pattern was easy enough for a sewing beginner, and the directions were easy to follow and even contained examples and helpful hints.  The dress from start to finish took me two days, but most of that was cutting out and taping the pattern from the downloaded and printed PDF file, and trying to sew with both kids around.  Here it is: the washi dress from Made By Rae.

Before this dress I NEVER would have thought of sewing clothes for myself out of quilters cotton, but it worked just fine.  I caved when I saw this cute navy and silver fabric!  The washi dress can be made with just about any fabric though depending on what drape you want.  It fits really well too because of the rows of shirring in the back.  I had never worked with elastic thread before, but it was simple, and had an entire page of instruction on shirring for anyone needing guidance.

I'm already planning on making a second washi dress with sleeves for this coming fall.  I highly recommend checking out pictures of other people's washi dresses online to get inspired.  That are so many options for the dress regarding sleeves, trim, necklines.  Some are amazingly cute.  If you need help with the sewing part, Rae's site has some help.

I will say though, even if you're lazy and don't normally, make a quick muslin for at least the dress top just to make sure you have a proper fit, and to make sure the darts are where you want them.  I'm a pear shape and my top measurements are one size smaller than bottom measurements.  Fit yourself to the top because there's extra room in the skirt.

Also, I did make a few small changes to the pattern.  I scooped out the neckline more, skipped the sleeves, and added 1.5" to the top.  If you have a small bust or aren't worried about the higher empire waist making you look pregnant (not my favorite look) than keep the length of the top alone.

THis is driving me crazy posting this because I really hate pictures of myself.  So awkward... Anyway, I had a thing silver belt that was way cuter with this dress but I hadn't worn it in a while and when I tried it on today it didn't fit at all.  Because it was way to big!  Whoo hoo!  Weight loss!

Please excuse my terrible posture that makes the top of the dress look ill fitting.  IT really does fit nicely when I stand up straight.  And did I mention the BUILT IN POCKETS!  They are wonderful.  The perfect placement, and plenty big enough for my big Nikon to fit in.

Liam decided to dress like Phineas today (from Phineas and Ferb) and when someone asked his name he gave an awkward look and responded, "Phineas?"

Family picture on the river!