#bleudonutmakes

I feel like this is currently the best dress I've made thus far and I am so happy with it. this shade of pink is absolutely perfect and I wish that I had bought more of it when I found it. I think I could have made several other cute off the shoulder looks. hopefully I'll find it somewhere.

Pattern: Vogue V9345 view A

Edits: I did not have to make any fit changes to this pattern which was cool as heck. I did add a little cuff to the ends of the sleeves to create this bishop sleeve look and it worked out exactly like I pictured it in my head.

Fabric: I bought some cheap cotton broadcloth at Joanns to line this. I found the cotton eyelet at some shop in the Los Angeles garment district. I didn't line the sleeves because I wanted a nice little breeze on my arms sometimes.

Fit: I really enjoy the fit. I don't have a well fitting bra so I do wind up adjusting my boobs infrequently but I like how it hugs my midsection and flares out at the bottom. It's super cute with a fluffy petticoat underneath.

Thoughts: Love love love this dress. I've made two so far and I plan on making several more. I don't understand how this misalignment happened in the skirt portion but I cut it to be even before hemmed it.

Also I’m so happy about how this seam lined up🥹

And I got to use these buttons for my stash !!!!!!! I don’t even remember where I got got them but they’re beautiful!!!!!

Pattern: NewLook 6508 view D

Edits: I had to grade up one size. I was nervous about the darts working but it all turned out very well! I was sketical about if the pockets would fit right with my grading edits because I’m not very good at it and the skirt is pleated in the pattern. I wound up gathering the skirt for the watercolor print and it definitely botched the placement of the pockets on that dress. I pleated the skirt of the sweet treats fabric and it turned out perfectly but since I had already botched the watercolor print, I didn’t cut pockets for the treat dress. 😩 Gathering the skirt can work but you’d have to match the seams to the bodice and not just to the waistband like I did.

Fabric: The sweet treat fabric is from a shop in the LA garment district but I don’t remember the name. The watercolor painting-ish fabric was a gift I’ve been holding onto for years. So glad I could finally display it appropriately.

Fit: They both fit so nice !!!!! I am in love with the sweet treat ones and it’s absolutely perfect with a petticoat. The water color is a bit heavier so it was very nice in the winter. Both feel so flattering and I feel so cute with the little back cut out.

Thoughts: I love this pattern so much and I will be making more of them. The buttons I used were a birthday gift. They feel like wood and the brand appears to be Decopom. The sweet treat one is now my go to outfit when I wanna feel cute. I want to find some better shoes to go with it but for now I just wear something walkable. Also there’s a weird stain on the watercolor print. I’ve had it long enough to forget if they’re he stain has

How it started:

TL;DR I found a picture of Vogue 2444 on a blog and I have become obsessed with making this dress. This is going to be the most difficult thing I've ever attempted and I'm going to blog about it.

I stumbled across the liusends blog while just reading about vintage patterns in general and down at the bottom there’s a link out to the closetcorepatterns blog. This second blog includes a pictured list of some very cool patterns from the couture vogue patterns and once I saw vogue 2444 I was obsessed. I had to know as much as I could about that pattern and I needed to find that pattern. During my obsessive dive trying to find more information about Vogue 2444.

PatternVault was exactly what I was looking for!! This blog includes write up on multiple designers and I really feel like now I have a more well rounded understanding of these types of patterns I couldn't find Vogue 2444 specifically but I was able to reach out to person who runs the blog and she was able to find some more information about the dress and send it to me.

I tried to find more information about Guy Laroche specifically but I could only find a few little write ups about him. I can find other designers that worked for and with him but not much about Guy. If anyone knows of any books about him please let me know. I was only able to find some articles and like wikipedia entries.

I was able to find a copy of the pattern on ebay at this shop. The pattern envelope was mangled but the pattern itself was totally usable. The instruction section does have a large watermark printed over it but I reached out the the seller and they just emailed me a copy of the instructions without the watermark. So I don't have any complaints. 10/10 boops.

I've read through the pattern instructions and it turns out that I'm not completely out of my depth. There are techniques that I've never heard of but not a lot. So I'm less hesitant to attempt this. Still spooked though. I have decided that I'm going to to just make it without grading or editing the pattern first. It's not going to even come close to fitting my boobs but if the dress turns out well then I'm going to find a friend to give it too.

The Vogue Sewing Book has been the only book that I've used specifically for Vogue 2044. Reading this pattern was the fist time that I've seen the term 'French Whipped Seam' and I have been unable to find instructions on how to do it online. The seam comes up on some blogs talking about making christening clothes. I'm sure that I could have just used another seam finish but it's really cool to be able to look up specifically what the pattern is calling for.

I did decide against trying to slash and spread the pattern to fit me thanks to the book The Perfect Fit. I've realized that the difference in sizes is too great and that spreading it that far would likely change the fit too much. I wonder if maybe I can draft the pattern pieces in the right size? I don't know enough about drafting to know that for sure but I will be looking into it.

I also really appreciate having the Sewing Specialty Fabrics book. It has mostly demystified expensive fabrics that I've been afraid of. It also contains a really clear guide on needle sizes, thread, and sewing techniques for all kinds of fabrics. the Singer Sewing Reference Library is so good ohmygod. I really would love to own all the books I currently have 13 of them and I think there's 30.

This is easily the heaviest book I owned. I can't call it the most beautiful because I have a fantastic Thierry Mugler book with a bunch of full color photos of his work but the Fashion Designers book is an incredible resource. It contains small essays about the designers that are held within the Museum of Fashion Institute of Technology. There are also HUGE full color photos on glossy paper. Just a series of works of art tbh. I was able to look up some of the designers I came across during my search.

Overall I'm happy with how neatly this turned out but was not big tiddy friendly and honestly I could have guessed that. It was my first time sewing a swimsuit and I'm less afraid of working with stretch fabrics and swimsuits now.

Pattern: McCalls M7168 flounced bandeau top with high waisted bottoms

Edits: I shortened the straps bit because the fabric was too stretchy

Fabric: it's performance nylon spandex fabric in the color oil slick. bought it at Joann's

Fit: the fit is... alright. my boops are NOT secure enough. I went swimming in a pool and didn't have any slippage or nippage. I don't think I'm going to fall out of the top but I want to a more secure fit in a swim top. the bottoms fit perfectly though. no notes there.

Thoughts: Meh.. I'm glad I tried a swimsuit but I'm no excited to wear it. I will be trying another swimsuit in the future.

I just sewed a soft cover out of a scrap of my absolute favorite fabric and just used bits and bobs too attach the signatures together and to the cover. It’s very sloppy but it’s cute and smells good and i can use gel pins to write down my hot sauce and pickle recipes 💓

Pattern: Simplicity 7225

Edits: no changes made to this pattern before sewing.

Fabric: cotton Lycra blend from Joann’s that I bought last year during the fall/Halloween time.

Fit: hangs extremely loose on me and goes past my knees.

Thoughts: I love this as a house dress and I wish I had made it from non stretch fabric like I was supposed to. I would definitely edit the pattern for length. This dress is longer then I like for a boxy dress. I think this pattern could make a really cool scrap busting pattern if I could ever get around to cutting out uniform scrap pieces. I don’t know that I’ll ever wear this out of the house. Maybe with some layers like a long sleeve under shirt, a belt, and some tights? Dunno

Pattern: Either Mccalls 2128 or Mccalls 8155

Edits: I know that I haven’t edited either of these patterns yet so this cardigan was made from just the pattern as is.

Fabric: I think I got this from a mystery/ scrap box listed on Facebook in a fabric destash group.

Fit: I’m bummed I don’t know where this fabric came from or where to get more. It feels so lovely and lush on my skin. I would love to make a pullover top or some stretch pants from it. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Thoughts: I truly feel like these two patterns are like the same. I can SEE the differences in the pattern sleeve pictures but they just feel like parts one and two of the same pattern to me. I’ve read through both and they’re simple enough to understand. I do plan on making more cardigans / pullover tops from both. Overall happy with the results. I still need to finish up the hems and edges. I’ve also decided not to add buttons to this one but I love the buttoned looks.

Pattern: bought this pattern is the Bubble Shorts by DollieByHoang and I found them via Etsy suggestion.

Edits: I sized these up to my tummy size based on the waist size listed for the pattern. I don’t think I needed to size up. At this point I’ve made several other pairs of shorts with this pattern. I used stretch fabric for the other two and that fit is pretty good. I did not use a sized up pattern for the stretch shorts.

Fabric: I made the two pictured from non stretch / woven novelty Cotten found at Joann’s. The other two pairs of shorts were made from stretch fabric gifted to me by my (future) mother in law. One feels like a stretch velvety fabric and the other feels like a plain powder pink cotton/ Lycra blend (???)

Fit: all fits are very good. I sized up for the woven/ non stretch fabric but I have enough room to where I think I didn’t need to. I did not size up at all for the stretch shorts and they all fit quite well

Thoughts: I’ve made these shorts six times at this point so I’m fairly fond of the shape of them. The written instructions were a little hard to understand when it came to the zipper fly but there are plenty of videos for that and nothing else was that complicated. I don’t remember if the patter call for a button on the shorts but I added one for cuteness. The belt loops are out of control because I lost the pattern piece somewhere between printing and cutting 😩😩😩😩 so I’m feeling them out.