The Sunny Day Dress and Skirt Cover is...

Cover #1!!!

Oooh...I know a bunch of you thought it was #3. Ah...but it's not.  I too was torn between cover #1 and #3.  Cover #3 captured the feeling of a sunny day, plus Frances (the model) looked so happy and natural riding a bike with the dress on.  However, I felt cover #1 showed the dress the best.  Who knows, maybe I'll print #3 for the reprint.  Or, I may use it for the web.  It really was a difficult choice, which is a good predicament to be in.  I liked the 2nd cover, because if you noticed, it showed off the lining option for the dress.  For Cover #2 I used a nylon netting for the skirt lining which added fullness to the dress. I'll write more about the pattern in a bit, but first let's announce some winners.  If you chose correctly you were entered twice for the giveaway.

And the winners are...

Maddy Maze Stutdios (said... I'm going for #1. I really think that's it)

Belinda (said... Option 2 is my guess!)

Sapo Verde (said... I think you chose option #1 for the cover. It really features the dress nicely.)

Congratulations winners!  I will contact you for your shipping info.  

About the Dress

The dress is based off of my Pretty Ditty Apron pattern.  The top is a halter top with neck straps that tie behind the neck. However, you could sew a couple of buttons to the back of the waistband and criss cross the neck straps to the back and button them down.  That too would look good!  The skirt is gathered and the back of the waistband is gathered with elastic.  The dress is backless and the bodice covers beyond the side seams, which makes the dress comfortable to wear.  You can also wear it with a tank or form fitting t-shirt just as you would with an apron.  Very versatile!

 About the pattern

Something new that I constructed with this pattern print job is that the instructions and illustrations are in a booklet form. The booklet also includes a page for adding notes such as modifications and such.

Other highlights

~ There are plenty of detailed illustrations for the visual learners.

~ A Glossary

~ Options such as: 

adding waist ties

adding trim to the waistband

lining the entire dress

AND

a pretty darn cute skirt option.    

Of course after the pattern was made, I discovered that by cutting off most of the skirt I could make a top too out of the pattern.

I added the running stitches to the waistband before I added the waist ties.  Here's the back...

You can see what the pattern looks like with a tank under it.

  The sizing chart located on the back of the pattern helps direct you by simply finding your size on the chart and following that column down to locate the fabric requirements. 

The pattern is now available in my shops - Jamie Christina, Phat Fabric, and Pretty Ditty.  Also, be sure to check out my list of shops that carry my patterns (link).  

I will share more pics from the shoot and write about all who were involved with the shoot soon.  It was a lot of fun and I am so thankful to everyone that participated with this project.

Happy creating!

Jamie

Vintage dress madeover with trim

Last week, I got around to taking off the rick rack trim from my vintage dress and replacing it with the Italian trim.  I contemplated sewing trim to the waist line as well, but I decided that it might be a bit too much.  

After all, it is my barefoot dress.

Jamie

The vintage dresses

Here's how my vintage dress fits from the secret shop.  It fits perfectly (just as long as I don't increase my waistline by 1 centimeter).  I love wearing the dress.  I can see why women of the fifties wore dresses like these around the house.  It just feels so light, flowy, and pretty.  

It makes me feel like I could happily sweep my floors.
Sigh
Someday.

My other vintage dress has a drop waist fit and needs a little work...

As you can see, the sewer of this dress stitched black rick rack around the waist and partly outlining the neckline.  I'm not sure if I will complete the neckline rick rack, or take out the rick rack and add some trim.  I'm leaning towards the trim.

The best part about the dress is the fabric.

Such a sweet whimsical design.  This dress makes me want to go barefoot all day long and never so much as lift a finger for my floors.

Cheers,

Jamie

A vintage find O'mine

Alas! My new vintage dress (oxymoron... yes?) has arrived. Recently, I discovered, and subsequently stalked, an etsy store called Old Age. Mmmmm... such happiness there (love this mini). Now when it comes to vintage/antique shopping, I have concluded that I don't have the vintage eye. My brother on the other hand, has the vintage eye of an eagle. Approximately 75% of his shopping is done at the DAV and he looks like he shops at some chic LA men's boutique. He's always able to find amazing sailor hats, old jackets, and classic shoes. He looks great in them!
But not me. When I shop at vintage stores I get so overwhelmed with all of the other stuff that I often over look the good stuff. Plus, within 5 minutes of being surrounded by vintage inventory my allergies flare up like a Tasmanian devil! I begin sneezing, my throat starts to itch, and my EYES - oh do my eyes start to water. Maybe that's the real reason why I don't have the vintage eye... they're too watery to see the good stuff.
Anyways, I gave up antiquing on the weekends long ago. Which brings me to my extreme happiness with finding Old Age and my 1960's mini dress. I didn't have to weed through a bunch of inventory while sneezing and crying.

I must confess that when I had put the dress on, I kind of felt like saluting and saying...

"Welcome aboard and thank you for flying with us." It's got a little of that 60's flight attendant vibe going on =)

I like it.

As for the belt, I made it with brown velvet ribbon. Here's a better view of it...

The belt snaps together. I took pics of the process and when I get a chance I'll write up a tutorial on how to make a velvet belt along with all of the belt buckle options. In the mean time here's a list of my favorite etsy vintage shops...
Old Age
High Street Market
Vintage Jane
Penorus
Timeless Vixen

Enjoy your flight!

Jamie

A blue dress.

I finished sewing up this lovely dress over the weekend. It's similar to the previous dress I made titled Sunny Day, however this dittie is in blue. I also made the neck straps a little thicker and longer, which I like better than the previous design. The length in the neck straps allows them to be crisscrossed in the back - my favorite way to wear the dress. I did not make the dress for myself, nor did I make it for the shop. It is a custom order, so it is sold.

Have you noticed I have two "modeling" poses? One is the classic hands on hip (above), and the other pose is the one arm behind the back. I'm not a fan of the arms by my side look. That look makes me look a little frumpy-ish. I'm going to have to come up with some new poses. I'm starting to become predictable.

Back to work I go. There are a couple of unfinished projects that need my attention. I hope to have a cute little skirt all sewed up and ready to post about by Wednesday. We shall see =)

Jamie

Note: There are paragraphs and spacing in this post, however when I publish it, it publishes as one big paragraph. Frustrating! If anyone knows how to fix this, let me know. I would really appreciate it.

A Pretty Ditty Dress

If you haven't already guessed by the title of this post, this is not another Dragonfly apron, it's a dress. I really, really, really like it. I tried to make it too big for me. This way I wouldn't keep it for myself, like the other 3 dresses that I have kept. However, somehow I managed to make the dress my size. Go figure!

*sigh*

I used the last of my Scene fabric to make this pretty little ditty. I have already re-ordered more, however it takes about 2 months to get it in stock. Oh the pain of waiting! In the future, when I make more dresses, I will give the option to make it in other sizes, but that will not be the case with this dress =( As much as I want to keep this dress, I couldn't be more happy with the Dragonfly dress as my first dress for sale in the shop. With that said, it will be up in the shop today. Hooray!

A happy yellow sun dress.

and...

I couldn't decide which pic I liked best, so I thought I would just put both up. I was caught in a mental tug-o-war, because the first pic looks a little shy, which clearly I'm not, and the second pic looks a little attitude-y, which I adamantly deny =)

So, here is the yellow dress I've been working on. I used Anna Maria Horners Social Climber fabric from my fabric store. I'm thrilled with the final cut. However, when I make another dress, I will add about a 1/2" of elastic to the top. It needs a little more give right where the top meets the shoulder straps. Like my previous sun dress, the shoulder straps can be buttoned to the back or tied behind the neck for a halter top look.

My favorite features about this dress would be the running stitch in the waist line and the ruffle at the bottom of the dress. I used a rolled hem over-lock stitch to finish the edges of the ruffle. I enjoyed the way the teal was popping in the dress, so I used teal colored thread in my serger for the ruffle. It worked out just fine. I was surprised with how much the ruffle changed the look of the dress. It gave the design a babydoll-dress look, which is kind of fun.

Slowly but surely, I will be adding dresses to the shop. The prices will vary according to the fabric I use, and whether or not I embellish the dress. I want the freedom to design each dress according to what I feel the dress wants me to do to it. Does that make sense? In other words, each dress will be especially unique.

To those of you who were gracious enough to lend me your feedback with this project, I am sincerely grateful.

Jamie

My Sunny Sun Dress

I hope you all had a great 4th of July. Our 4th of July week was coming along quite nicely until a fire started near the foothills of where we were staying (Santa Barbara). Within 24 hours of when the fire began, we had ash falling on us. Eventually, the power was out and we went home sooner than planned, but I bet you can't guess what I did when I got home?

Yep, I made my revised sun dress. I am very stoked on this design, because it captures the look of my Lola apron. Plus, the design has options. I can wear it as a halter top (tied behind my neck), or I can button the neck straps to the back and wear it as a strappy sun dress. Here, I'll show you....

The back has elastic. Which, like my last dress, makes it forgiving in size fluctuations.

I am diggin the green polka dotted fabric. Who can go wrong with Anna Maria Horner's fabric?

Before I add sun dresses to the shop, I still want to make a few more modifications to the way the dress is sewn up. In the mean time, I have new fabric in my fabric store that I was able to make 4 new aprons with. They should be up tomorrow. Here's a sneak peak at some of the fabric I used.

Jamie

My Dress

Drum roll...I finally finished my first Pretty Ditty dress design. Over the past few months, people have asked if I could turn my apron design into a dress design. I knew that if I was going to make dresses for my shop, I would want the dress to be adjustable and not need a zipper, yet fit as though it did have a zipper. I always find it frustrating that a size 6 in one store can be a size 2 in another, and when you buy something online you don't have the pleasure of trying it on.

Here is the back...

The back of the dress has 3 rows of elastic at the waist band, which is what makes the dress forgiving in size fluctuations.

I do want to make some changes to the dress before I finalize the design. One big change will be the shoulder straps. These straps were... a word that rhymes with stitch, to work with. Another change may be the top. I think I need to add a 1/2 an inch or so to the length. All in all, I enjoyed the process and enjoy my new dress.

I especially like the dress with...

RED shoes =)

As soon as I get my design perfected, I hope to put a couple of dresses up in the shop. However, I will not be able to work on the design this next week because I will be away for a week =(. Mixed emotions, because I want to see this process through. However, who can resist a vacation. I'll be back after the 4th, so Happy 4th of July!

Jamie