Draped in a Dream Dress

This journey began with a bright eyed beauty, curious to know more about what I might be able to create for her and what the process of creating a custom dress looked like. Laura contacted me, looking for a custom dress to wear to her sister’s wedding event. She wanted a dress with a 1930’s feel, one that had fabric interest with unique design details.

She had seen a dress in a movie that she loved and wanted to get a similar look. She sent me photos of screen shots from the movie, plus some inspiration shared on Pinterest

She loved the rich tones of the fabric combination, and the soft ruffled neckline of this dress

I got to work and found a pattern that was designed in the 1930’s and had the basic shape of the dress style she liked including the sweetheart neckline, the low back and the long, softly shaped skirt

I found this pattern and ordered it from Etsy

We hit the fabric store shortly after I received the pattern, and I also made a mock up of the dress for her to try on

It was my first time making a ruffle like this at the neckline of a dress. Although we like it, we decided it was a bit too much for her.

The fit of the dress was great, but here we are playing with different strap placement and neckline shape

Back to the drawing board!

As the construction of the dress progressed, I kept Laura posted with details of what I was doing and got her input on any options she had.

She loves the combination of the drapey lavender chiffon with the deep plus satin. I also thought the colors were beautiful together, just the placement was not as compelling as it could be.

I brought up an idea of draping over the entire top of the dress, allowing both fabrics to have their moment. I presented her with this idea of draping and criss crossing the chiffon over the bodice.

She really like that idea, approved it, so I got going on making it happen!

I finished constructing the dress underneath by adding boning and bra cups to the lining of the dress.

The lining turned out beautifully and was a pleasure to look at as she slipped into the dress. That kind of detail makes me happy, and hopefully also the case for the wearer!

The bodice and skirt lining ready to be installed into the dress!

Plenty of pining and hand sewing happening on my trusty dressform

The bodice front, sides, and eventual side drape piece, all pleated and basted, ready to be sewn together, then sewn over the main dress bodice.

So after quite a bit of trial and error, as this was my first time creating such a dress with the draping detail, I finally finished the gown!

Here are some photos of the versions I sent over to her before finishing up on her final version:

She looks so pretty and elegant, even unfinished!

The drape happening in the back would also look so gorgeous! I might need to make this dress again just for fun!

And the finale!

Meanwhile, Portland was hit with a big snowstorm that essentially shut down the city and trapped many people at home. Well, that didn’t stop me! My sweet husband offered to drive me and the finished gown over to Laura’s house and deliver it in person in his SUV that is great in the snow. What a nice guy!

Laura was radiant in her dress as she tried it on in her bedroom! I brought along a small sewing kit and supplies to do any last minute fixes as needed.

Well, it turned out that the dress needed a little more than just a few stitches to make it perfect. So, unfortunately I had to take the dress back home and make some fitting changes to the bodice and straps to make it just right. No problem! OK, one major problem: the dress was meant for her to take along to wear at her sister’s wedding event in California the next day and it wasn’t ready. UGH!!! I was hoping to be able to make the changes that same day and drive the dress back over so she could pack it for her trip. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to make it happen. You have no idea how SO disappointing this was for me, not to mention for her as well. So she left early the next morning for California, all without the dress we worked so hard to make in time for the event. GRR, I was SO upset with myself!

Well, now the dress is complete and altered and ready to go for the next occasion she may have to wear it. All in all, Laura was such a wonderful client to work with and I hope that she’s willing to work with me again on another gorgeous creation, and possibly even teach her some sewing lessons so that she can learn to make her own beautiful and unique clothes!

Lesson learned: time management is KEY to making deadlines and leaving room for error.

The gown turned out so elegant and eye catching!

Thank you so much Laura for choosing me to create such a beautiful gown for you! I enjoyed every moment of the process, mishaps and all. Enjoy wearing your dress and may you glow and shine in it as you do so naturally! Love, Stephanie

Lace Ballgown for a Beauty

I’ve known Michel for a few years now. She has come to me on several occasions to alter and do minor repairs on her clothing. She loves fashion and is always intrigued with what projects I am working on, especially the custom dressmaking ones. She would say to me that someday, she’d love to have me make something custom for her. Well, that day came along when she was asked by her best friend to be the Maid of Honor in her wedding, and she had the choice of what to wear in the wedding as long as it was formal, elegant and black.

As soon as Michel was asked, she reached out to me to see if I was available to create a gown for her. Of course I was! Michel is such a wonderful person and a repeat client of mine, so I was honored to create something special for her.

We had our first meeting at my house on a warm sunny afternoon, over a light lunch and refreshments, sitting out on my back deck. We talked about what style she likes, what parts of her body she’d like to highlight and what she’d rather not. We talked about color (black), and fabric options, the timing of the wedding, and I showed her some images I put together on Pinterest.

A black lace gown I pinned on Pinterest

She loved the idea of a fit & flare dress, or a mermaid style that is fitted from the bodice to the upper leg, then flares out at below the knee. She wanted to highlight her slim waist and also wanted sleeves as the wedding was scheduled for the end of January, so she might get cold. It was great as we worked together to decide on a suitable style as she had an idea of what she wanted, but also put a lot of trust in me and my experience in the fashion industry, dabbling in image consulting.

I found a couple of sewing patterns to start with, and eventually decided on this one: McCalls 6838.

The pattern cover is really not all that elegant, but if you look past that and look at the illustrations and line drawings, the pattern becomes much more appealing. To me, at least!

Line drawings of McCalls 6838 sewing pattern

In my sewing experience so far, I like to take an existing pattern that is already graded and figured out, and make it extra by adding design details, using nice quality fabrics, linings, embellishments, and leveled-up sewing and dressmaking techniques to really make the design special and valuable.

As a side note, I have been working solely for myself since June of 2022, running my design, dressmaking and bridal alterations business Love, Stephanie. Since then, I have leveled up my sewing and strive to create high quality garments with special details including fit, better fabrics, quality construction and special personal touches. Doing so, I have also revised my price list and raised my prices, no longer giving friends and family discounts or doing free-bee trades just because I feel like I am charging too much or still in training. Now, I charge accordingly for my work, my experience, my dedication to my clients, and my attention to detail. Saying that, this gown took a lot of time and effort to create, and I priced it at $1,400 not including fabric. Just in case you were wondering!

Back to the dress!

We had our first fitting using the pattern tissue paper to just get an idea of fit for the main parts of the pattern. Michel has a great figure, virtually zero body fat, so the pattern essentially fit right out of the envelope with very little adjustments needed. Must be nice, huh!

From there, we went fabric shopping together and Michel chose and purchased a lovely black lace with a little floral motif all over, and a scalloped edge which I used later for the neck and sleeve edges of the shrug.

The pattern and the lace! Please excuse the cluttered background of my studio!

I then moved on to making a muslin mock-up of the dress to further ensure the fit and style are what she likes before I cut into her fashion fabric. I only had to make a few more fitting tweaks at the muslin stage, taking notes along the way to keep track of what I needed to do as I made progress.

In her mock-up, Michel just needs a few tweaks to the fit, and to decide what lining she preferred (nude lining won!)

For each of my custom sewing clients, I keep a dossier type folder with my notes, sketches, pattern pieces, inspiration images, fabric swatches, receipts, and have this handy as I’m working on the project to keep it all together and organized. I keep and store each client’s dossier after the project is complete for my own records as well, and as a reminder as to how far I’ve come along which is nice 🙂

Michel’s dossier cover image, with my sketching & scribbles, stored in a pocket folder, with all my notes kept together

With the muslin fitting stage completed, it was now time to start cutting into the fabric and constructing the dress.

I cut out all of the lace pieces of the dress, including the bodice, the skirt, and the lower skirt flounce. I also cut the exact same pattern pieces out of a light weight lining material in a flesh tone to underline the lace and give it structure and opacity. Here I have my pattern pieces all cut out, stacked and pinned with the lace and underlining, ready to be hand basted together and later treated as one layer to be sewn together.

The bodice pieces cut out in lace with underlining pinned and ready to be basted together by hand

The upper skirt pieces marked and ready to be basted together by hand

One half of the lower skirt portion ready for basting the layers together.

Once the layers were basted together, I could move on to sewing the pattern pieces together and start forming the dress.

The bodice and upper skirt sewn together. It looks great just like this!

To give the lower circle skirt more body, bounce and twirl appeal, I added a layer of tulle between the lace and the lining, gathering it as I sewed it to the upper seam edge before attaching it to the lower skirt. I thought this was a great idea as I’ve seen this kind of layer in big ball gown type skirts, knew it would be easy to do and create a great effect.

Lots of pins to keep this tulle in check!

It looks like a messy nest, so one pin at a time controls the tulle before and during machine stitching

This is the stage where I wanted to start adding the beading. I planned it at this stage of the construction process as I wanted the stitching and threads of the beading to be hidden between the outer layer (the lace and underlining) and the lining. I bought some lovely little black glass seed beads and black sequins and created a little stack of them and sewed 2-3 stacks to the large flower motif in the center. It wasn’t all that noticeable on the dress, especially in a photo, but in person, it gives the dress a tiny little shimmer and adds a slight texture to the lace.

Hand sewing the seed beads and sequins, one by one, to the lace

I created tiny little stacks of seed beads and sequins to the center of the large flower motifs all over the dress and flounce

As I sewed the beads and sequins to the dress, I kept track of my time using the timer on my iPhone and jotting it down as I went. Adding it all up, it took me about 9 hours to bead the dress. If I had the time, I would have beaded more of the dress, but this wasn’t feasible with just my two hands and lack of time!

As the dress progressed, I had a couple of more fittings with Michel, this time in the fabric, before I added the lining, just to check fit again and make sure everything was perfect before the lining installation

Michel pinned into her dress, the straps and belt also just pinned, and deciding on the finished hem length.

Pinned into the dress, with the unfinished shrug (again, please excuse the mess!)

She also wanted a sleeve option for the dress, so I made a little matching shrug for her using Butterick 4731 for the pattern.

Butterick 4731 for the shrug only (although I also like the gown in this pattern)

I used the sleeves of view A and the front and back of view B to make the shrug

I cut out the shrug in the same layers as the dress, also beading the outer lace layer before adding the lining

I used the pretty scalloped border of the lace material to create a trim to go around the edges of the shrug at the neckline, around the back, and the sleeve hem.

Hand stitching the lace edge trim to the finished shrug

I wanted to be sure to have a well made garment that would last a long time, and be extra special to slip on and wear comfortably. I added two hanging loops into the side seams of the lining using a narrow satin ribbon, so that when the gown was hanging, not all of the weight of the dress was on the straps and it was supported with the loops. These loops would then just fall down into the dress when worn and are not seen. I also added a little waist stay right at the waistline of the dress using a wider ribbon and a hook and bar. This feature helps to support the weight of the dress on the inside. I see both of these interior details in some of the wedding gowns that I have altered, so I like to adapt them into my dresses for a high end, secret quality detail!

The hanging loops do their job to help support the dress while hanging

The waist stay added as her exact waist measurement inside the dress for support

Jumping ahead, as the wedding date was rapidly approaching, the dress and shrug were turning out so well, and I couldn’t wait to get Michel in it and delivered before the big day.

Before delivering it though, I wanted to add a little special and personal touch to the garment bag that I usually include with the dresses that I make for my clients. This time, I used my embroidery machine and made a monogram for her on the outside of the garment bag.

The purchased garment bag with the personal monogram

Finishing up the dress and delivering the finished product always feels great! She’s excited, I’m excited and everyone can’t wait to see her dazzling in her new custom made gown!

Checking and double checking the hem is even and balanced

The time finally came that I was 100% finished with the dress and I was ready to deliver it to Michel. It kind of feels like I am handing off a little part of me whenever it’s time to deliver the dress, so I try to take the time to get some good photos of the finished product before she’s gone off to her rightful owner!

All dolled up and in her gown, Michel is absolutely STUNNING! She’s a natural beauty and does not need makeup of any kind, but boy, when she dresses up and gets all dolled up, WOW! Breathtakingly beautiful!

Michel and her best friend, the lovely bride Megan!

Another dream dress come true!! Onwards and Upwards!

A Lady in Lace

Back in April of this year, a lovely lady named Ardith sent me a request through my website asking if I would be able to create a custom dress for her. She was looking for a special little dress to wear for her wedding, but not anything traditional as she is in her 70’s and was long past the fuss of anything traditional in that sense. She wanted an elegant and sophisticated little dress that she could wear again, something that would be flattering, feminine and comfortable for the ceremony.

She sent me some photos of the idea she was looking for: a knee length sheath dress with elbow length sleeves made in lace.

Inspiration Dress 1-the length and shape

Of course, I was delighted that she requested my services and got started right away planning out her vision. We set up a consultation meeting, I pulled some pattern ideas and began to look for fabrics that would be suitable for the great little lace dress.

Being physically active with doing many outdoor activities like hiking and paddling (she is on a Dragon Boat racing team here in Portland, OR!), Ardith is in great shape and was very easy to find a pattern and fit it with very few adjustments.

As a usual part of my dressmaking process, we had our first fitting using the tissue paper of the pattern that I thought would be best for this garment. This tissue fitting I used a different pattern than what I ended up using, afterwards realizing that a dress without a waist seam would be best to no break up the lace design.

I searched around and found this New Look sewing pattern that I thought would be a good starting point for her dress. I did a tissue fitting as shown above, as well as a muslin toile to double check for fit which was a super quick session with Ardith and hence, I forgot to get photos of.

The pattern line drawings for New Look 6261 pattern

I felt this dress was a good match as it has fish eye darts and no waist seam so to have as little interruption to the lace design as possible, the front of the dress would be cut in one piece and the back in two for the zipper opening. The pattern came with elbow length sleeves which was perfect for what she was looking for.

Even better, I had used this same pattern previously to make a dress for myself so I was familiar with the steps to create a lovely little lace sheath dress!

I love how this dress turned out in lace for myself using the same pattern.

Wearing it for a holiday party out with my (then) fiancé!

It happened to be that I was planning a trip to Los Angeles, CA with my husband soon after I met Ardith. We were going to visit his son who lived there, plus the fashion district in LA has plenty of fabric stores to find whatever fabric you could ever dream of.

When it was time to go fabric shopping, I took along my notebook where I had jotted down ideas on what Ardith wanted in her dress, plus a swatch of fabric in a color she liked. She wanted a lace that was not floral (which most laces have some sort of floral pattern), an open design (as opposed to a dense design), a decorative edge, and in a shade of jade green that her fiancé really liked on her.

I shopped and shopped, walking up and down the main street in the fashion district, looking for the perfect fabric for my client. Of course, since she wasn’t there with me, I had to keep in mind all of her wishes and try not to get distracted by all the rest of the wonderful fabric there.

I stopped into Michel Levine fabrics where they have so many beautiful fabrics of all kinds. Cotton, linen, silks, leather, you name it. Most fabrics are displayed on bolts or rolls by category throughout the large store, but they had some lace options displayed in a glass cabinet which caught my eye.

This was the closest to the green I could find. I know it is blue, but it was a similar jewel tone and a lovely color in itself!

I purchased a 1/8 of a yard large swatch of this color, as well as the coral pink lace that I thought would look really nice on Ardith. I made note of the end of the bolt so that I could call back with an order once I got home if she chose this fabric.

As soon as I got back from my trip to California, I arranged a meeting with Ardith to show her what I found. We agreed that although the blue was a nice color, and the other colors available were all pretty, the coral really looked great on her and that was the one for her.

So, I got to work ordering the lace from Michael Levine, and it came pretty promptly which was nice.

Next, we needed to continue shopping for materials for this dress as the lace with the very open pattern needed to have a backing sewn to it for structure in the dress and make it easier to sew the pieces together, and then also a lining as the lace and backing fabric were still quite sheer. We headed to Mill End Store in Milwaukie, OR where they stock an abundance of fabrics suitable for this project. Ardith chose a nice sheer mesh for the backing and another shade of peach for the lining. I had some additional lining at home that would finish off the inside of the dress, so we were all set to go and I could get started cutting out the dress.

She wanted to keep the beautiful edge of the lace as the hem of the dress and bottom of the sleeve, so I had to carefully plan out and cut the lace to make sure to do this. It’s not too difficult to do with a simple design like her pattern, plus it saves me from making a hem, so cutting out wasn’t too bad.

The lace is so pretty! The mesh backing material is practically invisible under the lace.

The most difficult parts of making a dress like this is to make accurate markings in the fabric where seams match and the darts are to be sewn. I used a chalk transfer paper to do this so that the markings would brush off later and not be seen in the final dress. Also, sewing the seams and making them just blend in and not be obvious was another challenge. But with the help of some of my sewing books, I was able to to a little reading up on some of the best ways to sew with lace and achieve nice results.

The mesh backing material is used to create support behind the delicate lace and needed to be sewn to the wrong side of the lace, then the two layers treated as one.

We had a couple of fittings in the final fabric, one which I realized that I needed to have a longer zipper in order for her to easily be able to step into the dress.

Unpicking the stitches to remove the zipper from this lace proved to be quite the challenge, but with patience and good lighting, I was finally able to get the job done.

The final dress turned out better than I imagined!

The perfect little lace dress!

Once this had a good press, the zipper was nearly invisible!

The inside looks great too, although if I were to do it again, I would add a binding edge to the zipper to finish it off nicely and prevent fraying. Next time!

For the final pick up, Ardith brought along her Fiancé Ralph which was really nice. He was just delighted to see her in the dress and grew that much more excited to wed his lovely bride! She looked beautiful and elegant in the dress, the color and the style perfectly suited her and the upcoming occasion. I was SO happy with how it turned out and that I had not only one happy bride, but a pleased fiancé as well!

Congratulations to Ardith and Ralph! May you have a long and loving marriage! I can’t thank you enough for coming to me to make your dream dress come true!

A Twinkle in His Eye 1955

This lovely creation all stemmed from a challenge. I belong to a professional sewing association, ASDP, that hosts an annual sewing challenge in conjunction with Threads Magazine.

For the 2022 Threads Challenge, we were to use a vintage pattern from the pattern archive at the University of Rhode Island as an inspiration.

I thought that this was quite fitting as both my father and I graduated from URI! My father graduated in 1954 and I was in the class of 1992. My parents met while my mother was in college at the University of Connecticut which was also in the 1950’s, so I thought I would choose a design that was popular during that era

I also had this sewing pattern, the recently released version from McCalls, as well as the original pattern released in in 1955 from McCalls which I bought on eBay.

I could imagine that my mother would have worn a gown like this in her day as she was quite the stylish and elegant lady, so I kept her in mind and close to my heart as I planned out and sewed up this dress.

The original 1955 pattern release. I love the fashion illustration!

McCalls re-release of the style from their Archive Collection

I ordered 9 yards of the silk dupioni from Mood.com to ensure I had enough for the sheath dress and the overskirt. Once the gorgeous material arrived, I went to my local favorite fabric store and purchased enough material to line the dress in silk habotai, and also line the overskirt, which is not part of the patter, but something I wanted to add to catch the eye when wearing this already eye-catching dress.

I got to work making a mock-up in muslin of the dress and asked for help with the fitting from my go-to expert Marla Kazell.

Once I was confident with the fit of the dress, I got to work cutting out the fabrics and the new version of the pattern, McCalls 7897

I sewed the dress up without much issue, using the pattern instructions to follow, and making it fully lined. The pattern has you create a facing for the inside edges which I thought wasn’t good enough, and fully lining the dress would make for a nicer finish in my opinion.

For the overskirt, I just made the printed silk organza lining out of the same pattern pieces and hemmed it to meet the outer red material before attaching it to the waistband strip.

The pattern also has a cummerbund as part of the look, but I left that off as I wanted to have the overskirt easily removable for the showcase of the garment. I have enough leftover silk to make the cummerbund, so perhaps one day I will make that as well.

I submitted my garment into the challenge, along with photos of the finished garment, a description of the dress, and the story behind why I chose this style and pattern, to the ASDP Challenge committee. Here are some photos that I submitted to the committee:

Back of dress with overskirt, and the lining peeping out

The dress and overskirt from the side-I love the volume!

Front of the dress, with the overskirt reversed, showing off the lovely floral print!

The sheath dress on it’s own, so sleek and elegant!

After several weeks, I got a notice that my submission had been chosen as a finalist in the challenge, and I was to send in or bring the dress along with me to the ASDP conference where all of the challenge finalists would be in the fashion show and the judges and audience would choose the winner. I was overjoyed to hear this news, and excited to share my make with fellow sewing enthusiasts that would be attending the conference in Baltimore, MD in October.

I packed the dress and overskirt in my suitcase, along with hand sewing needles, thread and a little sewing kit, and made it to the conference almost ready to submit my dress. I knew that I had to make some final sewing touches to the dress, and of course, left these to the very last minute! I still had to sew the lining down to the inside edges, at the shoulder and to the zipper, and hem the skirt lining. I did this all by hand, rushing through it in my hotel room at the very last minute, just in time to submit it to the contest committee for the final review. That, I believe, really hurt my chances of winning the challenge, as the judges of the challenge are expert seamstresses and would surely be examining my rushed and messy sewing up close.

The time came for the fashion show at the conference where dresses from past challenge winners, students and finalists from the 2022 challenge showcased their work to the audience of other conference attendees as well as anyone who wanted to attend the show. I modeled my dress, as I made it to fit myself, and got many ooh’s and ahhh’s on my completed look! I was next to last in the runway line up, standing proudly amongst some other amazing creations and works of art. I felt so honored to have been a finalist in the challenge, yet a little disappointed I didn’t win any of the challenge prizes for the work that I did.

I love my dress and am OK with not being the winner. I just wish I had snapped a photo of me wearing it or asked for a photo from the fashion show! There was a photographer there throughout the show, so I am sure I’ll get some photos of me in it eventually.

I put time and effort into my creation, and know that it wasn’t perfect, certainly not up to the standards of expert seamstresses or for the editors of a nationally published magazine such as Threads. Am I disappointed in myself? Yes, certainly, as I had the time to do a much better job with the finishings of the garment. However, I am very proud that I was chosen as a finalist, and have learned a great deal about the level of workmanship that needs to go into a project that would be chosen by a contest judge.

After the Threads challenge winner was chosen for her wonderful workmanship and design, they announced the theme of the 2023 Threads challenge for next year. This time, the challenge consists of designing a piece of outerwear that is inspired by a 2-dimensional piece of art. What an amazing challenge! Since I didn’t win this year’s challenge, I am eligible to enter the next one, so with that, I think I’ll go for it! Now, to find some inspiration and start planning what I can make…and DO IT! That’s the new challenge!

Cocoon Coat for A Goddess

One of my very favorite people on this planet is my beautiful friend Julie. She is a Goddess in my eyes. She has the biggest heart, is always cheerful and gives all of herself all of the time. Julie is a 2-time breast cancer survivor and is the strongest woman I know.

Julie had the opportunity to travel to California for a ritual retreat with a group of good witches. She would share stores, rituals and positive vibes with her sisters, and she wanted to dress the part and feel fabulous. She asked me if I could make her a special garment for her retreat, on short notice, and showed me her inspiration photo

Inspiration Robe in moss green velvet. So pretty!

GASP!!!! Yes!!!

I had to find a way (and the time) to make this amazing dressing robe for my dear friend, no question.

You see, this robe design goes way back to the early part of the 20th century by means of the artist and fashion designer Paul Poiret in 1910. And you know, I LOVE me some fashion history!

Quoting from the pattern envelope that I used to re-create this coat, appropriately named the Cocoon Coat, here is a little snippet about the designer and the history of the popular coat style:

“Paul Poiret (1876-1944) is generally recognized as the first “modern” fashion designer, and his influence on 20th-century fashion was profound. It is Poiret who is most remembered for freeing women from 19th-century corsets, although he then hobbled them with extremely narrow skirt hems, and for modernizing the Victorian silhouette. As the Parisian designer explained, “I like a plain gown, cut from light and supple fabric, which falls from
the shoulders to the feet in long, straight folds, like thick liquid, just touching the outline of the figure and throwing shadow and light over the moving form”
The fully lined Cocoon Coat offered here was designed around 1913-1919. It features batwing sleeves, one-piece front/back body, neckband, and a hobble skirt.”
Folkwear Pattern #503, http://www.folkwear.com

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection

Julie found this perfect pattern on of Poiret’s design from Folkwear patterns on Etsy, purchased a copy, and had it sent by express mail to me as soon as we agreed on the project and came up with the project plan, timeline and signed my contract agreement. We met up a few days later at the fabric store, and she purchased some gorgeous velvet and satin and we got started making the coat!

Because Julie is such a bright, happy and colorful person, she chose a bright, happy pink to have her cocoon coat made in! Deep pink velvet with a hot pink satin lining was the perfect choice for Julie as it went with the outfit she was planning to wear under the coat (pink French lingerie, of course!), her pink-streaked hair, all for the temptress alluring witch vibe she was going for!

Once I received the pattern Julie ordered, we set up a session to start making the robe together. We only had a couple of week’s time to get it done in time for her to pack it for her trip, so I took all the help and time she had to offer.

Although this pattern seems to be complicated to make with the batwing sleeves and the long, draped back, it is really just two very large pattern pieces, one left and one right side of the coat, with a seam down the center back and a seam pulling the sleeve together while simultaneously creating the draped shape. You cut 2 of the outer pieces and 2 for the lining, and the neck band.

We got to cutting out the enormous pattern pieces on the floor of my sewing room, trying to make sure everything was flat and not shifting as we cut, which was no easy task. We did the best we could with the space and tools that we had, and didn’t worry too much about perfection.

Sewing this baby was not easy either. Velvet is notorious for being difficult to sew as it shifts and slips and doesn’t like to be pressed or un-stitched if you make a mistake. Satin isn’t much better. Throw in the fact that the pieces to be sewn together are HUGE, and I was running out of time, so I didn’t have time to fuss and fiddle with it.

I kept Julie informed with my progress with photos of what I had done and when I expected to be finished. The coat did come together fairly quickly even with all of the setbacks and really started to look quite special and amazing!

Making progress with the coat, and imagining it with this awesome pink strappy bootie!

As the coat was taking shape and I was nearing the finished project, I took the time to try to capture photos of it. The photos certainly don’t do it justice on a dress form as the color is all wrong for one thing, and you really see the drape and shape of the coat on a person, but it still looked pretty dang awesome!

The front of the coat and the reflection of the back

As I finished the coat just in time to deliver it to Julie on her way out of town for her event, I made sure to sew a label in it to remind her of me and my presence on her back whenever she wore it.

Here’s Julie’s take on our Cocoon Coat adventure:

Cocoon Coat!

“The Cocoon coat was made from a Poiret pattern, and a style popular in the ‘20’s.

I was creating an outfit for a branding photo shoot, and what came to me was the Goddess. I googled Goddess robe and came across a modified cocoon coat, and another with an amazing headpiece and so this vision was born. I immediately called Stephanie and told her I was so damn excited and all of the deets!!! This coat would bring to life my vision of the Goddess, a facet of me, of my magic and beauty.

We selected the fabric, an amazing dark garnet pink color, crushed velour, with a brilliant pink satin for lining. The trim is a black almost rhinestone.

The coat is luxurious and alluring, timeless and makes me feel glamorous. As the Goddess, i wore the coat with my wedding lingerie underneath, bra, panties, garter and pink backseam stockings –

The coat is also something that could be worn as a coat for a glamorous evening out, or an intimate evening in, its so soft, and just envelops me in glowing pink, warmth and I feel like a movie star, the custom creation brought my vision to life and is a timeless statement piece that will remain in my wardrobe forever”
Julie Papke, September 2, 2022

Thank you so much for your thoughts on our process Julie! I loved working with you and creating this special coat just for you. I hope you love it forever!

Julie absolutely is magical in her Cocoon Coat and special sexy outfit, perfectly accessorized with cool boots and a crown.

Julie performs her magic!

The Forest Bride

A dream dress that I never knew about came to life through a lovely lady who trusted me to create her bridal vision.

Alex contacted me through my website inquiring if I would be able to create a bespoke dress she loved for her wedding ceremony taking place in the woods by a waterfall. She wanted a gown with a renaissance feel, nothing wedding traditional, and with a romantic, unique, artistic appeal to it. When she showed me her inspiration gown, I gasped with excitement over the beautiful velvet gown with embroidered decorations on the front and back. Stunning!

She wanted to use velvet for the main fabric, with satin accents. And of course, the appliqués all over the bodice front and back, and extending into the skirt. So not to copy the inspiration dress exactly, she chose a royal blue velvet and a coordinating blue satin for the bands, accents and lining.

We got started right away on the project, having a consultation meeting to discuss her inspirations, her wants and desires out of the dress, fabric sources and pattern ideas. We also came up with a timeline for me to work back from, and I drew up her contract, cost of the dress, and a payment schedule.

I proposed using this dress pattern McCalls 7624 because of the front band neckline was similar to her inspiration dress:

Looking at the line drawings you can see how the front and waist bands are close to one of the main features she wanted out of the dress:

I planned to make the following changes to the pattern to better match her vision:

1. Modify the skirt to not have any waist gathers, be a longer length, and have a slight train. I actually drafted an entirely new skirt pattern from scratch to achieve this.

2: Modify the waist bands to also wrap around to the back of the dress

3: Modify the sleeves to not have the opening, and also be a different shape and add a cuff.

I made the changes to the pattern and made a mock up in muslin.

The original sleeve pattern used to make a different sleeve shape

A fashion illustration is always helpful, and fun!

At the fitting, I took in here and there, but the general shape she was going for was spot on

Getting fitted in muslin, trying out sleeve options and lengths

She already loves it, even in plain muslin

Once she received the fabric and embroidered appliqués she ordered, she brought them over and I made up the shell of the dress and basted it together for her to see it, and to have her place the appliqués where she wanted them on the dress.

The shell of the dress cut out, basted and pinned together

She came by, and using her artistic visions and talents, placed and pinned the appliqués on the dress as she had in mind.

We decided that the cuff in satin with 5 of the vintage buttons would look best

Planning out the button placement of the cuffs

And one button for the the back neck closure (I actually used two of the buttons and made loops here).

The placement of the flying crane appliqués has symbolic meaning

Once all the placement was confirmed, I carefully pinned the appliqués securely to the dress pieces and removed it from the dress form.

All of the appliqués pinned on already looks amazing

The dress pieces removed, separated and ready to be appliquéd

This is where the real work began. I spent literally hours, entire days, early mornings and late nights, sewing on each of the appliqués by hand. The vines took the most time as I sewed each leaf down to the velvet, then carefully trimming away the mesh backing from the appliqué.

Needle and thread, and trimming away the mesh from the appliqué

The cranes needed to be basted down first, then sewn down with tiny stitches, changing thread colors to match the areas, to the shifty velvet

With every step I completed, I kept the bride up to date with my progress how it was going (and also why it was taking so long!)

The appliqués were 90% completely sewn down

And on to the rest of the dress and the lining!

The dress is fully lined in lovely smooth satin.

The sleeves were a big deal as we wanted a slight puff at the shoulder, a drapey lower sleeve with a dramatic cuff with buttons and loops.

I created little “poufs” out of tulle to put into the sleeve head between the velvet and the lining. I made each pouf by cutting an oval shape out of the tulle, folded it and sewed it together to look kind of like a scrunchie or shower pouf, then sewing this to the shoulder seam on the inside of the sleeve. This trick turned out great to create the subtle lift to the shoulder

The light at the end of the tunnel was near (so was the wedding date!). The final touches included inserting the zipper, hand sewing the lining to the inside along the band, and the hem

And sewing in my label of course

After the hem was made for both the dress and the lining, and little tacks sewn in to keep the lining in place, the dress was finally complete!

I was naturally nervous as heck when she was on her way over to pick up her finished dress. She slipped it on and it was PERFECT! Yay!

I felt such a sense of relief that she was so happy with her dress! She looks and feels beautiful in it and that was my goal all along, that is success to me!

My Custom Dressmaking Process: From Start to Finish

Meet the Maker: Stephanie of Love, Stephanie

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a custom dress or outfit made just for you? Have you thought that just buying something off the rack or from a website is good enough and will do for the occasion, but deep down (or not even that deep) you wish you could wear something that fit you perfectly, was made well, is a flattering color on you, and was something you would be comfortable, confident and proud to wear to your event and beyond? Do you want a great dress, top, suit or outfit hanging in your wardrobe that you can reach for again and again and just know it works? If you said “yes!” to all of the above, I would love to be the one to make this dream come true for you!

So, what does this process look like, how does it all happen and how long would it take? It’s this going to cost me an arm and a leg?

For those questions, the answer is: it all depends.

First off, I am a one woman operation (at least for now I am) and only have so much time in a day. My goals for my Love, Stephanie custom sewing business include creating quality, timeless apparel for special clients who recognize the value in a well made custom garment. I use fine quality materials and construction methods, I don’t take on rush jobs, and I don’t take shortcuts. That being said, that is what takes the time to perfect the fit, using smart construction techniques, and all of the education and sewing skills that I have learned over the years that rolls into the lead time and cost of a custom made garment.

Sound intriguing so far? Great! Read on and I’ll walk you through what my typical process looks like from the perspective that includes the client experience and what to expect.

We begin with an initial meeting where I get to know you better, what your ideas and visions are for your custom garment, what your lifestyle is like, and what mood or purpose you’d like to portray through the garment you’ll be wearing.

From there, I build a plan and a timeline to achieve the finished garment before your deadline and get started sourcing fabrics and pattern options that go into making your garment.

I like to create sketches, a mood board, and gather any other ideas and components that go into the creative process of making a successful garment, and share these with you along the way.

After our initial consultation meeting, I gather up all the information and write up a contract that includes all of your contact information, the deadlines, our design concept agreement, project components, costs and payment schedule for you to read over and sign. This is an important step as I want to ensure both of us are in agreement over all of the details in case any questions or concerns should arise.

Then the fun begins! I’ll take all of the body measurements I need from you and get started making the garment.

Using your measurements and a pattern, I cut out and sew up a simplified mock-up garment in muslin fabric to check fit, style preferences and to make sure you are happy with the basic silhouette before cutting into any fashion fabric. At times, an additional muslin, or part if it, needs to made and fitted again if there are a lot of changes that need a review before proceeding.

I check for any fit issues that need to be corrected, and make sure you are happy with the style lines and length

Meanwhile, the fashion fabric that you want, including any lining material, trim and notions needed, is confirmed and purchased. I aim to use the best quality fabric that is within your budget (not included in the cost of my labor) as I truly feel that the fabric makes all the difference in the look and wear of a garment. I prefer to work with natural fibers such as cotton, wool, silk and linen, but will consider good quality man made fabrics to sew with such as rayon and synthetic blends.

Fabric choices are important in the outcome of a beautiful garment

Once the muslin is approved and the fabric is all here, I transfer any changes to the pattern, and start cutting!

The beautiful silk georgette is laid out and ready to cut

And sewn (silk is notoriously difficult to sew)

Most times, I have one last fitting of the garment in the fashion fabric to double check the fit, pin the hem, and work out any last details before delivering the finished creation.

And that’s it! Easy, right?

In a nutshell, that’s the process in creating a unique custom garment, made especially just for you! No matter what size or shape you are, it’s an exciting and rewarding experience like no other.

Want to give it a go? Reach out to me and come on by my place with your dream garment vision and we’ll make it happen!

A Tall Drink of Style

Suzanne demonstrates her Tall Drink of Style in her new Love, Stephanie coat!

Suzanne and I go way back, 37 odd years in fact. All the way back to freshman year in high school where we carpooled to school with our moms and a few other students living in Concord and Bedford who also attended our school Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. It is a small, private college prep school on a beautiful campus where the classes were small and everybody knew each other.

Fast forward to modern times where we keep in touch with old friends and family through social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. That is precisely how I’ve reconnected with Suzanne and many other friends from childhood, high school and college days.

Ever since I’ve been connected with Suzanne (she used to go by Suzy), she’s been a wonderful fan and always excited to see and comment on what I’m currently sewing. A few times she’s even commented like “I just love what you’re creating!” and “someday I love for you to make something for me!” which is such a wonderful and flattering comment to hear, and more and more, something I’d like to achieve full time. Custom clothes making for clients and even more, a fashion line of my own.

Well, one garment and one client at a time, I’m starting to see this dream come to life. So far in 2022 alone, I already have 8 clients that i have already, or am currently working on creating custom garments for, plus have several bridal and special occasion alteration projects, a re-fashioning project in the works, other special makes on the list. Unfortunately I have had to turn away several potential clients as I am simply too busy to take on more.

I’m also am working with an amazing business coach who is helping , me get organized, set goals, focus on my brand and core client profile, continuing education and skill development, plus I’m building a new website and branding refresh. I expect this is going to be a great year for my business and continuing growth on the horizon. So yay!

Back to her! Suzanne saw the lovely leopard coat I made for myself and that was the one for her! She reached out to me and asked if she could commission me to make one just like it for her. Of course I was delighted that she asked and jumped on the offer.

I got to work right away to plan out the process and set up a meeting to discuss all of the options and details that go into making a coat for someone other than myself. We started with a zoom meeting to talk and actually speak to each other after all these years. I made a PowerPoint presentation as I like to do for any new client, to help explain her pattern and fabric options, talk and demonstrate more about the details she would like, and my pricing levels that depend on the components, the time, and the level of difficulty. I also include my work process and a timeline with milestones and deadlines.

A screen shot of some of my PowerPoint slides

Suzanne loved the presentation and chose the style and fabrics right away, knowing she wanted a coat just like mine with just a few customizations.

I sent her some fabric swatches in the mail so she could touch and feel the lovely and soft hand of the high quality materials I’d be using to make her coat. The only differences she wanted from my version was black silk lining and a slight different collar shape.

The leopard print wool blend coating material

I also asked her to take body measurements according to a handy chart that I also sent over. We scheduled another Zoom meeting once she had the fabric swatches and measurements ready to confirm everything before I got started making a mock up in muslin for the fit and style review.

As soon as I was done sewing up the muslin of the coat, I mailed it to her and asked her to contact me as soon as she received it. She sent over some photos of her in the muslin which was great and a perfect prelude to our Zoom meeting which followed shortly after

Even just in muslin it looks great on her!

With just a few changes to make to the pattern after our Zoom meeting, I immediately got to work cutting out her coat in the fashion fabric. This honestly took the most time and careful organizing with precise cutting, carefully transferring the pattern markings such as the darts, notches and matching points, and also doing the same to the flannel underlining layer (which was going in between the fashion fabric and lining) for warmth and added “body” to the outer material, and also the silk lining. Time consuming to say the least, but this step is a really important part of making a successful garment.

The coat fabric, laid out right sides together, pattern pieces anchored down on grain and prepped to cut out

So, I sewed and I sewed (and I sewed some more!), all the while keeping her posted with my progress, trying hard to meet my deadline to get it to her in time to wear it this winter.

Installing lace hem tape as part of the finishing

Hand sewing the hem to the flannel underlining

Of course, my Love, Stephanie label had to be beautiful and stand out!

After many long sewing hours and late nights hunkered down in front of my sewing machine and pressing table, I was so excited to finally finish the coat, pack it up, and ship ‘er out!

All packed up and ready to ship across the USA!

The coat arrived in perfect time for Suzanne to model for her new business launch of a fashion stylist in the Boston area appropriately named A Tall Drink of Style

Check out her new business endeavor and give her a follow here on Instagram https://instagram.com/atalldrinkofstyle?utm_medium=copy_link and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/atalldrinkofstyle/photos/a.102674092375020/102673925708370/?type=3p

I so happy for Suzanne and her new chapter in life, and I am incredibly flattered that she asked me to represent her style in a custom garment creation for her new business!

Stay tuned for more great style and trend ideas from Suzanne, plus in collaboration with me, even more fashion and wardrobe ideas!

Ciao for now!

A Birthday Gift to Myself

It’s my birthday and I wanted to take the time out of my busy sewing schedule to make something special for myself. This year, I chose underwear!

I have several bra and panty sewing patterns and kits that I have collected in hopes to sew up pretty underpinnings for myself or others. I just love the pretty laces and fabrics that go into making lingerie sand find that making them up brings me great satisfaction and joy.

For this project, I chose to make the Watson bra and bikini set from https://clothhabit.com/ that I downloaded and printed out in PDF format.

I had some nude colored stretch gallon lace, some mesh and lining also in nude, and the specialty elastics and findings needed to make this set already on hand, so I just got to cutting and sewing this asap to have done in one day for my birthday.

I cut the bra cups strategically so that the pretty scalloped lace edges would be featured on the front and bottom edge of the bra, as well as the bikini.

I cut the same pieces out of lining to give the bra some structure and modesty, and sewed them all together as instructed.

I used my serger for some of the seams, using my handy Wonder Clips so not to sew over any pins.

More serging, using Wonder Clips of course

I got about 1/2 way done, but then had to stop for the night and rest my eyes. Things were going quite well with both parts and I was quite happy to see it coming together, so I pinned what I had done so far to one of my dress forms and called it a night.

After only one broken needle and a little trouble sewing the shifty mesh and lace, I finally got it all finished in time to snap a few phots, shower and wear it out (under my clothes, of course) for my birthday dinner with my dear husband and a few close friends and family members.

It’s a little large for my tiny mannequin, but you get the idea…

Another great birthday make! Cheers!

Fringe Benefits

I’ve been thinking about making a kimono like this for a long time. I’ve made a couple of them for myself in the past, had some lovely material on hand that was perfect for this style, and have a current client that I am making a manly version for as well, so the time was right to just go for it.

Many of my ideas stem from images I find down some rabbit hole also known as Pinterest. I have a few pins to share, but these are just a few to spare you the boredom (and to save you some of your own Pinterest time suck):

So, with this amazing silk burnout velvet that I had purchased from Mood Fabrics on hand all I needed was some fringe for the hem and binding for the edges.

I really like Simplicity patterns for straightforward and uncomplicated patterns like this one Simplicity 1108, one of their Easy-to-Sew patterns. https://www.simplicity.com/simplicity-storefront-catalog/patterns/brands/simplicity/simplicity-pattern-1108-misses-kimonos-in-different-styles/

Using a simple pattern like this one it didn’t take long and was truly easy to sew. I used view D and added trim and wide binding to the sleeves:

The most difficult bit for this little number was the fabric. The velvet wants to shift and dodge around while sewing, and the fact that it was silk also made it tricky and delicate to manage. Sewing on the binding was the pits as the two slippy materials did not want to behave and it just shifted all over the place.

Then there came applying the fringe and many inappropriate swear words were used. Ugh. I had to sew it on carefully by hand as my sewing machine refused to cooperate or participate in that nonsense.

Now I can appreciate why these kinds of little tops are so expensive. Yes they are simple garments, but MAN, all of the above factors really take a toll on one’s patience! Plus that fringe was not cheap, much less that fabric.

Well, as usual, the time and effort paid off and I now have a lovely and special top I can just slip on over a nice tee and jeans, or my leggings and I’m ready!

odetosew

Fashion Designer in Training

Author Archives: Slmendes