Weekly Loves

I'm still working on the Moschino Cheap and Chic dress - the petals are taking such a long time! I'm not sure if I'm going to sew the petal trim the whole way round the dress, I might just do it on the front. It depends on how much longer it takes me.

Anyway, these are some of my favourite fashion images that I've collected this week :)

Gucci Resort 2012

Badgley Mischka Fall 2011

Moschino Fall 2011

3.1 Phillip Lim Resort 2012

Moschino Cheap and Chic Fall 2011

Juan Carlos Obando Resort 2012

Derek Lam Spring 2011

a Rag & Bone skirt

I just finished this Feather Skirt from Rag & Bone. It's a bold red maxi skirt with bias seams and was worn by Blake Lively on the set of Gossip Girl. The original cost $517 (NZ); I spent $31.20 on materials, and it took me 29 hours and 5 minutes to make.

                   

To imitate the bias seams I first marked out where the seams were, using close up photos from the Rag & Bone online shop as a guide. Then I straight stitched along the markings, and zig-zag stitched over top. I wasn't quite sure how the bias seams were made on the original, so I just tried to imitate it as best as I could.

I didn't want to hem the outer layer of fabric, as I didn't want it too heavy. The original edge had been left raw, but I was concerned about fraying so I singed the edge (just as I did for the Moschino dress). Singeing the edge of the skirt meant that up-close it's not perfectly straight or anything, but from a distance it looks nice and tidy :) 

This is one of my first attempts at inserting an invisible zip. I was hopeless at trying to sew it neatly by machine, so I just did it by hand. 

I also should have added a little eye and hook to the waistband so it closed more tidily, but I forgot about it.

And this is my little label! I'm very proud - I ordered printer fabric online, so I can make labels for each of my garments. 

And to finish off, this is me modeling the skirt.

                                 

 

A very time-consuming dress from Moschino

I'm working on this dress from the Moschino Cheap and Chic collection at the moment. I think it's really pretty! It has a heart-shaped petal trim, which is taking me FOREVER to sew. The dress itself only took me a few hours to make, but the petals are so time-consuming!

 

from net-a-porter.com

from style.com

These two images are the exact same dress, just from different websites. And it's confusing, because the colour looks completely different!! On the runway it's more of a hot pink, and from net-a-porter it's more of a soft baby pink. So when I was buying fabric I just went with the closest I could find to any of them, which turned out to be a sort of in-between colour.

These are my progress shots. I'm only working on the front of the dress at the moment (In the original, the petal trim goes the whole way round the dress) because I have a feeling that I'm only going to sew the trim on the front. 

 

The whole process of doing this trim is quite easy, it's just very time consuming. I've made 3 heart templates, a big heart, a medium size heart, and a small heart. I cut the hearts out one by one (at first I was layering the fabric and cutting multiple hearts out at once, but because the fabric is very slippery a lot of the hearts were getting cut crooked, so one at a time it is!). 

Then I hold the heart up to a lit candle, and very carefully singe the edges to make sure it doesn't fray. In the original the hearts haven't been singed - I think they used a fabric that didn't fray. This was the best fabric I could get a hold of - in terms of weight and colour - and unfortunately it does fray. Singeing the edges of the fabric also meant that the hearts aren't a perfect shape anymore, and they don't have that light look that the original does. Oh well, it was a bit of a trade-off.

Once I've singed the edges, I pin the heart to the dress (just like in the photo above) and I hand stitch straight down the middle. I pin it to make sure that the hearts are all nicely lined up and in a row.

I've spent about 30 hours on the dress so far, and I've still got so much more to do!

Weekly Loves

I'm constantly scouring the net for clothes and accessories that I love, and as ideas for future copycat items. These are my favourites from this week!

3.1 Phillip Lim Resort 2012

Alice + Olivia Resort 2012

Marco de Vincenzo Fall 2011

Versace Fall 2011

Givenchy Resort 2012

Hervé Van der Straeten Fall 2011

Rachel Roy Spring 2011

An Update...

It's been a while since I've written here. I've been a bit slow getting back into things after holidays but I do have a few pieces to share.

I copied this long grey top from Steven Alan's Resort 2012 collection. It was easy to make, although I did stuff up the neckline. I think I cut the neckline too low, and so when I hemmed the neckline it made it really wide. I thought I followed the pattern really closely, but I guess not! It falls off my shoulders when I wear it, and I actually wear it to bed now because it's so comfortable. 

I used 1.6m of jersey fabric which cost me $17.92 (including my 20% student discount) and it took me 6 hours and 35 mins to make. I definitely could have made it a lot quicker, I just spent so long fiddling around with that neckline.         

Copycat

Steven Alan Resort 2012

This is the other piece that I made - a cream knit cardigan from Tracy Reese Resort 2012.

Tracy Reese Resort 2012

Copycat

I couldn't get the right type of fabric - I'd hope to find something with a bit more texture (the fabric I chose has just plain ribbing) and the colour is darker than the Tracy Reese original - but this was as close as I could get. I bought 2.2m of fabric for $21.12 (incl. discount) and it took me 5 hours and 10 mins to make.

So that's what I've made since I last wrote here. Not a lot, but I have been doing a lot of research. The Resort 2012 collections have just come out so I've been scouring those - but you know what I've realised? The clothes I'm choosing to copy are very... safe. Safe in terms of style and colour, but also in terms of the sewing. I've definitely been drawn to pieces that are more simple, because I know what I can do with my mediocre sewing abilities.

I've grown a little bit bored of it now though. There's so many exciting and bold new garments on the runways and I'm ready to experiment a bit and see what I can do. Plus, it'll be interesting choosing bolder fashion pieces and wearing them with my hijab - balancing out-there fashion whilst trying to be modest and not show much skin... I think it's possible, but I guess I'll find out!