The Sound of Music dress

I call this the Sound of Music dress, because I love the Sound of Music. And it's made out of drapes. The bodice anyway. My sewing boss sent me home with some leftover drapery fabric one day and after letting it sit on my desk for a while, I decided to make a dress out of it. Because that's what Maria would do. And the stripes actually reminded me of a dress Maria wore! I found some soft woven cotton for the skirt on the cheap, so the whole thing cost me about $6. Seamstress on a budget, y'all.

I used Simplicity 1651, and I am in LOVE with the circle skirt. I guess it's a half circle really, but it's my first of any variety of circle skirt and I love love love it! So swingy! I changed the bodice quite a bit. Lowered the neckline because Simplicity patterns are ever SO modest, and added a couple darts to the neckline as well. The stripes were a lot of fun to work with, I love them! Also stripes make sewing in a straight line incredibly easy.

The only thing I'd change would be to fully line the bodice instead of using just facings. So over facings and the fact that they never stay put. But this is a fun dress! Makes me feel like I'm in Salzburg. Ha, I WISH. I definitely plan on making this dress again, circle skirt paaaarty!

Flower power dress

I was extra creative with the name of this post, no? This dress is Simplicity/Lisette1878. It's a simple shift dress with different sleeve options, I went with the three-quarter sleeve. It was a breeze to sew and offered zero complications. It's super straight forward and it fits great, straight from the pattern. This is my first dress, not costume, that has longer sleeves on it, and it will be a welcomed addition to my closet! I've got sundresses galore.

Excuse the terrible apartment lighting.

I made this dress in some extra soft cotton with a cute flowery print. I thought the dress had a little of a 60's vibe, so I rolled with it and went flower child. There's some actually pretty extensive top stitching on this dress that you totally can't see because of this pattern. The top of the dress is actually four panels, two large that form the skirt as well and two small yokes for the top of the bodice. It's quite fun and the top stitching would be neat in a contrast color, and if you weren't sewing onto a sea of flowers. It just looks like one big piece of fabric, but that's okay!

Props to the zipper for not giving me hell. I hate sewing zippers. HATE IT.

Aaaaand most of the pictures Brendon takes of me look like this:

I'm a fairly tall chica, but Brendon makes me look short! Big head little feet.

This dress is seriously comfortable and I'm sure it will get plenty of use this winter. I have some red tights that would love to meet this dress. And I find the sleeves to be completely perfect. Sleeves usually a little weird on my since I have stretcho arms, but these hit at a great length and fit so well. They have just the slightest flare at the end and I love it!

I already have ideas of making other versions of this dress because it was so easy and it's so comfy! I'd like to try it in a solid color so that you can see the top stitching. Because sewing in a relatively straight line should be celebrated!

Candy cane dress

This dress was seriously, like half a year in the making. It is the same pattern (Simplicity 1803) as my Purple Princess Dress, just a different version. I bought and prewashed the fabric back in April right after making the purple dress, and it has been sitting on my desk along with the pattern pieces since then, begging to be sewn. Brendon has been giving me crap about it for ages, so I finally knocked it out since Halloween got me back into my sewing game. And I'm so glad I did because this dress fits like a glove and I love it! It's rare that I don't have to make any sizing adjustments at the end, but this baby just came together and fit perfectly. Too bad it's fall now and I just made a sundress...

It's a candy cane dress, just in time for the holidays! Even though I bought the fabric in the spring... I had been eyeballing this fabric for months before I bought it, I just needed an excuse to use it. It's a super soft cotton blend with a little stretch to it. It's fairly sturdy and not see through at all, yay no lining! It was a dream to sew on and this baby came together so easily, I knocked it out in an afternoon.

Even though it's a sundress, I shall be sporting this all winter with sweaters. And I mean it is Texas, so maybe without a sweater too. Today ironically was one of the chillest days so far this fall. I was a little cold taking these photos, hence the clenched fists.

I miss sewing (dresses, as I sew drapes weekly!) and need to get back into it. Not only does it keep me entertained and challenged, but the finished product is a new outfit. Win-win situation here.

Purple princess dress

Why yes, the title of this post is PURPLE princess dress contrary to how blue this dress looks in these pictures. I promise it's purple. Like really purple. The evening lighting is no bueno for documenting actual colors I guess. Just take my word for it y'all. Or there's a picture on instagram.

This dress was a lot of fun to make, I used this Simplicity pattern. On the topic of color, originally it was supposed to be this badass salmon/coral fabric, but as the sales associate was rolling it out I noticed it had big ol' stripes of what looked like dirty water stains all over it. Homegirl tried to tell my that it was a pattern! I was like, girl. I know a stain when I see one. So I ended up with the same fabric in purple, sans stains. It's a poplin similar to the little blue dress I just made, just slightly lighter weight. More cotton than polyester. Sewing with poplin is so lovely!

I had a couple hiccups making this dress. Well one big hiccup. It ended up a couple sizes too big, which is ridiculous because I followed the measurements on the pattern and then went down a size. So there was hella post-construction construction on this bad boy to make it fit properly. But it ended up just fine (after a lot of seam ripping) and fits like a glove. I dubbed it the princess dress because, doesn't it look like something a princess would wear?? The neckline and sleeves are my favorite.

I mean, how cute is that sleeve?? I love it! Also, the back scoops relatively low, which is fun! Definitely unlike any thing else in my closet.

I swear to the Cullens I am not a vampire. The twilight (HA, yes, pun intended) just accentuates the fact that I have basically no pigment in my skin these days. Now that it is getting warmer (except for the past two days which have been stupid cold, what the heck Texas?) maybe I'll look towards the sun every now and then.

 
So welcome to my wardrobe little purple princess dress! You were super fun to make and I love you. I'm already planning on making another version. The variations of this pattern are pretty... variant? Little changes to the neckline and sleeves turn it into a completely different dress. Can't wait for round two!

And here's my cute and very sweet husband, who took a break from studying to snap of few pictures of my dress. Thanks boo, you're adorable.

Little blue dress

Hey! I made a dress! Remember when that happened all the time? I got some crafty gift cards for my birthday so I had an excellent excuse to jump back into sewing. However, get this, when I was checking out with my fabric and patterns, a super sweet lady in line behind me bought everything for me! She said she supported what I was doing she thinks more young people should sew. She was so kind and even though I tried to say no over and over she insisted on buying my things for me. We walked out to the parking lot together and she told me about her older daughter who was going to school for art and her younger daughter who she was trying to get into sewing, but didn't seem interested. Her younger daughter was in the car, she refused to go into the store with her mom. It made me a little sad, I know sewing isn't "cool" and all, but dang! One day she'll be grateful and thank her momma for teaching her how to sew. Just like I am extra grateful that my mom taught me. Although I was (am) a nerd and liked sewing.

So this dress means a little something extra to me, because it was paid for by someone who loves her daughters. Someone who went way out of their way to touch my little life. Someone who made my day and reminded me that there is so much loveliness in this sometimes not so lovely world. Thank you random stranger, you're the best. I'll pass it on I promise!

The pattern is SUPER simple. I plan on making other versions, it was sooo easy to make. And it came out nicely! I love the simple clean lines and of course, that collar. I used bright blue and white poplin that was pretty much a joy (and a breeze) to sew on. After taking a rather long break from sewing, this was the perfect dress to get me back into the swing of things. Oh and please excuse my man arms and awkward stance. It was actually real chilly out and apparently that's how I stand when I'm cold.

I AM SO PALE. I promise I am wearing white tights, the scary part is my arms are the same color. But I mean really, I cannot get enough of that scalloped collar. Collars on everything.

Also, cat sweater!!! Thanks Kristy, that sweater is the bomb. Also, an actual cat:

This is the second time we've run into this fellow behind South Congress! If it happens again we might have to take him home. He's super sweet and so handsome. He wouldn't show the camera his eyes, but they are the prettiest sea foam green. Gives Greg a run for his money.

And kudos to my main man for taking pictures of me and my dress. And kudos for sharing cupcakes with me too.

Wurstfest 2012 and finished Dirndl 2.0

Saturday after racing over obstacles and through mud, we headed down home to good old New Braunfels and went to Wurstfest with my sister and Brendon's family. It was cray cray. Last year (uhh, look how different/young we look!) it wasn't crowded it at all, but dang it was insane this year. I guess it was probably because we went on a Saturday night, but it got so crowded you literally couldn't walk. When we left it was basically one giant mob inside and there was still a loooong line to get in. Where were all those people going to fit??

But before it got ridiculous we had a grand time hanging with family, drinking beer, and eating German food. And of course we were able to sport our new German gear!

Forgive the obscene use of flash in these photos, it gets dark so quickly now! I also didn't take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked, mainly because there were 300 people all up in your grill at all times and busting out a giant camera didn't seem like a logical plan.

Waiting in the three hour line to get potato pancakes with this crazy dude? Worth it, as always. It was so crowded that we had to go sit by the river to eat our food. There was zero seating anywhere!

 Mysterious Brendon.

Because of the massive amount of people, we stopped by the gazebo in the circle to take a few quick pictures. Although I grew up in this town, I don't think I had ever stepped foot in that gazebo until then!

Brendon got a TON of compliments on his get up. I'm not sure if it's because he's super tall (and a cutie) or what but so many random people kept giving him props. He did look pretty dang good in that lederhosen.

Julie sported my dress from last year, and she made it look good! I was really happy with my new dress. Forgive my ridiculous face and the terrible angle (I need a shorter photographer), but this is seriously the best full shot of this thing. Sad, I know. I've become such a lazy blogger.

Sewing details (preview here)! I used this Simplicity pattern and I altered it a lot. Obviously that is not a dirndl pattern, it's like a hobbit costume or something. I had to get a little creative to make it more like a traditional dirndl. I nixed the original "sleeves" that were attached to the bodice and made it sleeveless. I wore a shirt I already had under it. I shortened the dress and lowered the neckline, scandalous as always, and the original pattern was EXTRA wide in the bodice so I took out about two inches from the middle by cutting it down the center and creating a closure with about 8 hook and eyes. Those hook and eyes sucked so bad sewing in, but they were worth it. I added little ribbon loops so I could lace the yellow ribbon through the bodice and actually use it to make the dress more fitted, the original pattern had the option of sewing on some faux-ribbon-crisscross-action across the bodice. No thank you! I made the apron smaller and shorter, originally I think it was supposed to go all the way around the dress, that thing would have been huge.

It was a lot of fun to sew and pretty easy, even with all the altering. It was refreshing to sew on good old cotton after the craziness of my Snow White costume. Although the cotton I used is really heavy. The skirt is extra extra gathered, turned out pretty bulky. Do overs (aka, the 2013 version): Use a lighter weight fabric for the skirt, taffeta for the bodice (ay, ay, fancy!), longer apron ties (maybe just a big ol' satin ribbon), make a short sleeved shirt to wear under it (we live in Texas after all) and cut the fabric amount for the skirt like in half. Way too much gathering.

And I leave you with this oddness:

A German boy creeping on a German girl with way too much messy hair. Look at all that ridiculous gathering in the back of that dress. Overkill.

Happy Halloween from Snow White

 

Surprise y'all, I was Snow White for Halloween! Didn't that blue velvet make a pretty addition to the dress? I think I made a fairly decent Snow. I am pale as heck, dark haired, and can fake red lips like a champ. It has been a good year for Snow White, homegirl had two movies come out this year and is a star in our favorite TV show.

I will probably take better photos of the costume later, since I am stranded in Dallas without my photographer/husband. But here's a quick run down of the sewing deets: I used this Simplicity pattern and only altered it slightly. It was a pretty perfect Snow White pattern as it was and I'm really happy with my version. I lowered the neckline a tad and ditched the suggestions of using cotton/broadcloth for everything. I used a stretch velvet for the bodice and satin for the sleeves. Had to make it fancy! Although that velvet was a bee-otch to sew. It slid and stretched everywhere and it was terrible. I also ditched the cape because, um, no. I'm not trying to wear a cape.

I worked up at the store in Dallas today and in true Coffee Bean style (almost) everyone dressed up! It was a blast! I had so much fun seeing what everyone was dressed up as (and getting text updates from my store in Austin!). Halloween is the best.

Recognize the girl in that big ol' photo on the wall above my head?

Tomorrow is my last day with the Dallas team and although I am very ready to get home to my husband, my home, and my store, I am sad to be leaving! This is a great group and they have been so welcoming. Coffee Bean seriously knows how to pick them, everyone was so nice! 

Me and the extremely awesome Darrius, who is just slightly taller than me. He gave me the best compliment on my costume, he said, "if anyone could have just popped out of that cartoon, it would be you. You are Snow White." So sweet! The second best compliment came from a toddler who screamed from the back seat of a car in drive thru, "THAT'S MY FAVORITE PRINCESS!".

So a huuuuge thanks to the wonderful Dallas team for being so awesome, fun, and making me feel so at home. You guys are going to rock the DFW coffee world. And thanks for making one of my favorite days of the year so much fun y'all! Come visit me in Austin!!

Dirndl 2.0

The Halloween costume is finished! Can't wait to share it with everyone! Next up on the sewing agenda is a new dirndl. Wurstfest is quickly approaching!

One of the best parts about starting a new sewing project is picking out your materials. It always takes me forever because there are a gazillion color/texture/fabric options and I can never chose. For instance, I had in mind navy blue fabric for the dirndl and red for the apron as I went into the fabric store today. Obviously I changed my mind.

I found this leafy grey cotton and dropped the navy I had in my arms at once. I immediately thought of yellow for the apron, and found this really great sheer flower embroidered yellow fabric on clearance. There isn't quite enough (always the challenge with clearance fabric), but I'm going to try to make it work. And then as I was walking to the door I found some adorable salmon rickrack and decided to throw it into the mix as a trim. These colors are much more springy than fall, but oh well. Navy blue is my favorite color to wear and I think I sport it a little too often. It's good to mix it up.

The dress pattern I'm using is different from the traditional pattern I used last year. In fact it's not even a dirndl pattern. But it's close enough and I plan on altering it quite a bit to suit my Bavarian needs. And I remember struggling quite a bit through that last dirndl pattern, and it's half German instructions, and I'm not looking to relive all that. Happy sewing!

Itching to create

I have been wishing and hoping and wanting to make things. I have a half finished painting in my living room (so sad), endless recipes in my kitchen, and a head (and drawer) full of patterns I want to make into pretty clothes. But alas! I cannot seem to find the time to sit down long enough to make anything. So until this free time falls into my lap, I will just daydream of putting my hands to work. And blog about it. Starting with pretty things to wear.

Like I said, I literally have a drawer full of patterns begging to be sewn. I even have fabric ready to go. And I have had a few patterns stuck in my head that I can't wait to put into action.

Look at this dress. Look at that BOW. I need this dress in my life, asap. I'm not nuts about those color choices in particular, but I do love the color blocking. Maybe blue and orange?

Also, this please. Is this not the prettiest thing? I want to make one just like this. That white fabric is perfect. It looks soft and breezy and it's feminine in the best way. It also looks fairly challenging, which is always fun.

The bad news is that these two patterns (and the one below) only seem to be available online via printing it yourself. And that was a fiasco the last time I tried it, so I'm not too keen on doing it again. But we'll see.

And, since fall and German festivities are just around the corner, I'd love to make a new dirndl. The one I made last year is a tad too big now and this pattern is more modern. Although I'd shorten that skirt quite a bit and obviously not make it all black. And check out those kiddos. Too damn cute!

I also bought a pattern for lederhosen (!!!) for Mr. Hogan. He felt a little left out last year, so this time around he'll have some German garb. Since he is the only German of the two of us, I guess he deserves it.

Now if I could only find the time to put all my plans into action. I'm sure when Brendon starts school I will have significantly more time on my hands. Silver lining to pharmacy school stealing him away.

Anniversary Celebration!

Yesterday was a very good day filled with love and cuddles and calling everything "the anniversary (whatever)". For instance, I sat in "the anniversary traffic", took "the anniversary nap", and we found "the anniversary awesome parking spot downtown". Just kidding about that last part, not sure if we actually said that, but we did find LEGIT parking downtown. Like steps from the restaurant, while fools were paying $8 to valet park their Mercedes. RICH PEOPLE.

For real though, yesterday was wonderful and once again Brendon spoiled me rotten with his awesome-husband skills. Even though we agreed NO PRESENTS, Brendon was bad (wonderful) and got me beautiful aquamarine (my birthstone y'all!) earrings and a necklace to match a ring he got me a few years back. I love them! He is too good to me! So for my gift, since Mr. H has been hankering for another tattoo, I agreed to fund it for him whenever we finalize his idea and find a good tattoo artist (know of any in Austin? holla atcha girl!). He wins in the gift giving department obviously. Slacker wife!

After relaxing and chillin' (and napping on my part) all afternoon yesterday we headed downtown to grub! We ate at Eddy V's and it was amazing. It's a fancy sea food and steak place. Pricey, but everything was so good. And I love, love, love seafood. The service was great, the food was phenomenal, and we had fun pretending we were fancy pants people. We got a giant crab cake as an appetizer, then Brendon got the sword fish, and I got ahi tuna. Oh and we had parmesan french fries and truffled macaroni and cheese on the side. It was all delicious. I consider myself a connoisseur of ahi tuna (HA) and that's seriously the best I have ever had, not to mention the biggest ahi tuna steak I've ever seen. And the dessert menu! Oh my goodness. I want to go there and just feast on desserts. They had so many good choices. We settled on the chocolate mousse because it is literally, my favorite food. It was divine. Seriously eat there if you ever get a chance (they are in Dallas and Ft. Worth too, northern friends!). I told Brendon last night he should have never taken me there because now it's my favorite place to eat ever. I am drooling now after typing all that. End food rave.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE! How sweet is that? Our server was so nice! We even got a card that a bunch of the staff signed. I want to go back. Right now.

After dinner we wandered a block over to 6th street. We wanted to go to this bar called Darwin's that we had seen last time we wandering around there. We are big geeks and fans of Charles Darwin, so of course we wanted to check it out.

Turns out that place has absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Darwin and was just a grungy bar like all the others on 6th. We were really let down, we were expecting pictures of finches! Too nerdy for you? Props if you understood that. So we had one beer and watched some extremely drunk older people act a fool. And then peaced out.

Jim Beam dude as decor? Not Darwin-esque at all. Also, my cute husband.

Awkward there-are-wasted-old-ladies-dancing-behind-me face.

After leaving the un-naturalist inspired bar, we wandered around and people watched for a while. I think that is the only value 6th street holds for us. People watching. There are just sooo many weirdos (some of them a tad on the scary side). There was this lady walking around with grocery bags on her feet and around her neck while she was carrying her shoes. Whaaa?

Handsome husband! Oh how I love you! At the "Darwin" bar he untucked his shirt, rolled up his sleeves, and said "it just got casual". Endless love for this ever entertaining man.

And I'd like to take this moment to take a short break from our anniversary recap to introduce you to my latest sewing creation, the purple anniversary dress:

It's made of a super comfy and pretty purple linen. I'd say by far this is the most "well made" dress I've made so far. It's super tailored and I tried it on a gazillion times while making it to make sure it fit perfectly. I can't tell you how many times I restitched the waistline and back stitches to make sure it was perfect and everything was lined up. And there are pockets!

I used the same pattern as my holiday dress, just went with a different skirt and sleeve style. I added the collar just for fun. I made up my own pattern for it and everything! Can you tell I'm proud? Even Brendon said it was the best thing I've made! Yay!

And here's my handsome husband again:

Thanks for letting me take pictures of you, even if you make the fake smile.

When we got home we had some of our wedding cake! We (my dad and Lynne, as we were skipping off merrily (not soberly) into our limo post-wedding) saved the top tier so we could eat it on our one year anniversary because I guess that's what you do?

Mostly it tasted like freezer. It was delicious a year ago, but last night it was pretty gross. We ate enough so we have good luck, or whatever it's supposed to mean, and then chunked it. I think it probably would have tasted better if it was in some sort of air tight container, but it was just in the cake box freezin' all year. Word to the wise if you're getting hitched soon, invest in a big tupperware for your cake!

So that was our evening! We ended it by watching a movie and cuddling. We even stayed up until midnight! Not quite the wild night we had a year ago, but it was perfect. Brendon spoils me so badly! He wonders why I have a princess complex. I am so in love with my husband! One year of goodness down, bring on another!

Side note: after walking all night in heels (and eating 800lbs of food) my run this morning was brutal. My ankles said no, no, no! I guess maybe I should walk in heels more, because apparently my legs are out of practice.