I'm a bad blogger...

I find sometimes its so hard to make the time to blog!! So, I am stealing some time from work, and using this lull in the chaos to update my loyal readers on some of the projects I've finished/been working on.

But first a Bella picture!!

This was from our old house, but I thought it was funny :)

First off, I finished my b&w dress with red trim! I haven't worn it yet, but plan on it! I need the right pair of red maryjanes to go with it... yet another excuse to go shopping.

Did I mention it has pockets? I love pockets.

The sleeve has elastic inside the red trim. Its a fairly easy technique, and I've used it in a few shirts that I've made with cap sleeves. What I did here was press and fold over the red fabric to create a casing, sew it closed, but leave an opening so that you can thread through the elastic. I usually attach a safety pin to either side of my elastic, lest it get lost in the fabric. Then you thread it through, attach both ends of elastic together, and either hand stitch or zig zag the opening!

Next up, a creation that is actually not my creation. My sewing class buddy Kate made this lovely cherry dress for herself, but realized after it was nearly done, that it wasn't going to fit in the, ah, chest area. Since I don't really have that problem, she gave it to me to finish and wear. I had to take it up in the shoulders, since like I said, I don't have a bosom problem, and I just need to finish the hem with some hem tape. Since this fabric is silky, hem tape is the best thing to use to finish off the ends. Its an iron-on applique, that you iron and fold the fabric over to secure.

Not that I have used it before, but I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out. Hah.

Finally, I have started my wedding outfit!!! Thanks Rose for finding this fabric, its super purty!! The picture does it absolutely no justice. Despite the beauty of the fabric, the texture is incredibly hard to work with. It frays and runs very easily, so I had to cut out the entire patter using pinking shears. I'm using a gold rayon thread, and a very thin machine needle to sew this baby together.

Le sigh... I still have so much more work to do on it before it will be finished. This is just the top, I also have pants to work on. And the top is missing its three quarter length sleeves.

I did do something a little fun on the top here. The pattern called for some sort of cord to line the seams, which I didn't like. So, I cut the top part of the tunic on the end of the fabric so that I could pick up some of the details and darker color. Hard to explain, but it will make more sense once its finished and I can show it off.