A Little Bit Biased: Skirt Inspired by The Party Dress Book.

About a two weeks ago, my thrift guardian angel directed me to a local store for a pop in. While there, I found spools and spools of flat bias tape. As a rule, try not to buy an item unless I have a clear plan for its use. I had a gnawing feeling that this tape was for me, but no clear plan. I broke my rule and bought them hoping the plan would become clear.

Sure enough, I got home and hit my sewing book collection to find The Party Dress Book by Mary Adams.

I have loved the Bias Strips dress from the first time I saw it on the cover and the others in the book.  I hesitated in making it for three reasons: 

1.  I am miserable at making continuous bias strips without much waste,
2.  I haven't had an occasion to wear a dress like that.
3.  It looked complicated. 

Lucky for me I now have these spools that are already cut, I have been invited to a dance and I can do hard things (I am still recovering from knee surgery and am in no condition to dance this month or next. This fact will not stop me from holding up the wall in a new dress.) I knew I needed to use these strips to make a party dress. Before tackling such a project, I decided to test the technique on skirt for Little Miss. 

Bias tape circle skirt.

I used Simplicity 2356 to make a skirt perfect for twirling. The construction came together easily and relatively quickly. I cut the skirt pieces and starting at the top, applied the bias strips with an imprecise 1/4 inch seam. I cut the bias strips in half lengthwise because they were too wide and inflexible off the spool. I applied them randomly, overlapping the ends to join a new strip. 

I  used fabric from a sheet as the base and sewed the strips in a contrasting thread. After applying the reds, I decided it needed more contrast. I had regular grey bias tape on hand, cut it down to size and added it. The bias from the spools is firmer than what you find in the stores. It adds texture and weight in the best way. 

I just want to mount these and hang them on the wall.

I decided to sew french seams in the sides. I thought this would look nicer and encase all of the cut bias ends.

I applied the waistband and hemmed it with a single color of bias tape.

Hemmed in bias

What a fun skirt! I love how happy she is in this. The skirt has texture, personality, movement and is fun. I am excited to see what the raw edges do in the wash; I hope they get ragged in time. 

It even looks good sitting still.

After making this, I will definitely be using this technique for my dance party outfit. I am still uncertain if I want a dress or two-piece ensemble that I can separate and dress down like Little Miss. I am toying with the idea of playing with the colors of the bias strips with fabric paint or dyes on the blue and green strips for mine. 

This fun skirt doubles as a grown up cape for me. I took a photo and wanted to share it, but after taking her pictures, I decided against it. I don't want to compete with this dizzying cuteness. 

Happy Sewing,
Bianca

Resale Store Connections and a New Dress Form

I love to treasure hunt at resale stores. My favorites are the small, personal, charity or church run stores. They usually have small personable staff, with management that  turns over little.  It is a great place to find vintage fabric, patterns and sewing notions.  I am always excited when I stumble upon a deal. Much of my adventures are hit or miss with a lot of hits. To minimize my misses, I have begun to established relationships with the managers. I ask them to give me a call if they get sewing items in their store.

Yesterday, I got a call from one of my contacts. This was the first time she called and I was so excited! She told me that she had an adjustable styrofoam dress-form to sell. I do not need one as B.I.R.A, my custom dress form, is still working great for me. I knew that to keep this connection, I had to check it out. Unless she was selling trash, I was pretty much going to buy whatever it was she had (I can turn down future items, but I wanted to be sure there would be a second call).

Lucky for me, the form was in great shape and a great price.

 This is the first time I have seen one like this.

 It is made of styrofoam with dials that adjust along the side.

It is segmented and because it is foam, pinnable. 

The tripod stand is awesome! It is so substantial. It will surely hold the weight of whatever she wears and the height is adjustable great for long dresses and skirts. I have been doing prom and bridesmaid dress alterations lately. Coincidentally, my clients' clothes have been the size of B.I.R.A or my plus size form. This one will come in handy for those garments that are not.
 

There are no identifying markings on it short of this sticker on the back. Do you readers know anything this form? I would love any information you can share.

Happy Sewing and Thrifting,
Bianca

Thrift Store Treasures!

The thing about Craigslist ads is, you sometimes have to weigh getting a killer deal with the possibility of getting killed by some psycho. This week, I responded to an ad for 1000's of vintage patterns for sale in nearby Baytown. After corresponding with the seller, Beau, via email, I determined that he and the ad were legitimate. I headed  down to Something Old, Something New resale store to get my retro pattern fix.

Beau did not exaggerate, he had thousands of patterns from the '50's -the '90's! Fortunately, they were sorted by decade and I was able to make quick work of choosing the ones I loved. Here are they are:

Holy Cow! Spats!

Dresses for the lady I strive to be (burp, excuse me!).

Possible candidates for Alabama Chanin stitching! Especially the yellow pinafore and racer back dress.

 

 

Wrap around pants! I have been searching for this pattern all year!

This is a new pattern company for me; I am excited to stitch one up!

Bags, can you ever have too many?

More fun dresses and a reversible wrap skirt.

 

Mommy and Me pattern and two kinda quirky pieces.

Accessories

Just for fun.

I have not made underwear before...

Doll clothes for Abby, my daughter's American Girl doll.

 

Aunt Martha's Embroidery Transfers

Ruffler and walking foot attachments.

In addition to these sewing gems, I purchased two washers full of fabric which are drying or I would show them here. Beau was very patient with me as I searched and he even brought me patterns and fabrics that suited my tastes. I am happy to say I showed restraint in my purchases; I only bought what I absolutely loved! I did leave stock for others :)  

Beau cut me a great deal on everything I bought. He even gave me a bag of incomplete crochet items and yarns for free! I do not crochet, but I liked what the previous owner had begun and I knew I could figure something to do with them (and of course free IS free!). A few of the items are hats, a toddler caplet, beginnings of a few bags and squares and rectangles that I can turn to scarves and such. I am excited to see what I do with those, so stay tuned!

Free crochet items!

Free crochet items!

Free crochet yarns!

I had time constraints and did not go through everything he had in stock. I will try to find more time in the coming weeks and will visit again. In the meantime, comeback here to see what I make with my new treasures!

Happy Sewing,
Bianca

(The views expressed here are my own and I have not been compensated or frankly asked to promote this store in any way. I do it because I had a good time and got great deals!)