Clothing Hacker

Gearing up for Portland DOR

I've been sewing up a storm for the last couple of weeks.  I'm headed down I-5 a bit to Portland, OR for the Arthur Murray Dance O Rama competition this weekend.

There are three evenings worth of outfits I had hoped to make, plus a rhythm dress for the actual competition.  I'm one dress short, partially because the fabric I thought was arriving on Saturday didn't show up until Monday, but mostly because I've been pretty sick the last couple of days and I just didn't have the energy to whip out the last dress.  But it's alright, I have a few RTW options in my closet that will work.

I'll go into more detail about each of these after I get some better photos.  In the mean time, here are some sneak peeks.


Wish me luck at my competition, because I sure need it!  And hopefully I'll have some good action shots of my new rhythm dress to share.

Fabric Mart Pinterest Contest!

I love a good challenge.  I don't always finish in time for "official" challenges.  But guess what?!  I squeaked in just under the deadline for this one.

Fabric Mart was running a contest to sew up a mystery bundle.  It sounded fun, so I bought one of the 6 yard fashion bundles.  Here's what I got:


2 3/4 yards of a nice, thick black and white double knit, 1 1/2 yards of a strange gray-brown crinkly poly (I'm guessing, I didn't do a burn test) fabric and 2 yards of a lovely blue chevron lace.

I immediately fell in love with the knit and knew I wanted to try making a Colette Wren out of it.  I had already printed and taped the pattern together, so I was ready.  The fabric was a dream to work with and it was 70 in wide, so I even have a nice sized chunk left over.


I made a size smaller than I normally would have because I've lost 18 lbs in the last 2 months and I'm planning on continuing to lose, so I wanted something I could wear come fall, since this fabric weight and color are suited more for cooler weather.  I can't really tell from that photo, but the dress is very tight right now, but it should be perfect come fall.


I also wanted pockets in my dress, but since I was making the slimmer skirt, I didn't think my go to in-seam pocket would work well.  So I cut the side front panel to put pockets in.


I don't know what you call these kind of pockets, but I drafted them similar to the pockets in my Ottobre dresses.


They are plenty deep enough to fit my phone and that makes me happy.  Although, I think they are a tad too high to put my hands into comfortably, so next time I'll lower them an inch or two.

Next, I decided to make a Seamwork Osaka from the gray/brown fabric and pair it with a blue, white and brown plaid cotton lawn I had in my stash.


The Osaka is a reverse wrap skirt and you can use 4 different fabrics, but I just used the two and swapped the placement on the reverse.


I like the skirt alright, but, again, I made it a size smaller than I actually am.  Also that fabric is strange and doesn't press well, but it also doesn't really look like it's meant to be crinkly.  I'll likely wear it with the blue plaid on the bottom and a shirt untucked.

And last I used the blue chevron lace to make a Patterns For Pirates Summer Kimono.


I love how this turned out.  I used the selvage edge as the hem and I just turned the edge and used a straight stitch along the front/neckline and the sleeve hem.


So, there you have it.  My random fabric makes.


So, what do you think, do you enjoy the challenge of making something out of a fabric you did not choose?