Leaping Leopard! - Vogue 1395

It's finally summer! My FAVORITE season of the year!!

Endless cookouts, warm mornings AND evenings, and MY BIRTHDAY!

I have this theory that I draw my energy from the sun so summer makes me super happy :-D

The one thing I don't like about summer is that it rains so randomly.

Hence why I am wearing boots in 80 degree weather lol

This is Vogue 1395

I cut a 12 in the bodice and a 10 in the skirt.

I cut a 12 at the top of the overlay and graded down to a 10 near the bottom.

Apparently everyone pulled their versions out this month because they're everywhere lol

here, here, and here are some of the most recent I've seen.

I got this fabric on clearance at Hancock's. It's polyester.

Before I washed it, it was kinda stiff but softened quite a bit after drying.

Note to everyone: When silly o'clock in the morning hits, STOP SEWING.

When I first started, I serged the skirt pieces together.

Then when I went to serge the sides of the bodice front and back together, I attached wrong side to right side -____-

How annoying to sit there and rip out those serged seams.

Then, a couple of days later when I was rushing finish so I could make it on time to breakfast with my friend, Setarra, when attaching the overlay, bodice back, and front at the shoulders I had the bodice front twisted somehow.

You want to know how?!

#idonthavetheanswers

I had to rip those stitches out and redo them. And I swear I did the same thing I did the first time but all of a sudden it worked lol

I know I talk about how much I hate gathering but I found

THE EASIEST GATHERING TUTORIAL ON THE PLANET

and now I can say gathering is a joy!

Well... it's not all THAT lol but it is definitely not an area that I will complain about again.

That method works perfectly.

For the facings on the neck and the sleeves,

I wasn't really comprehending the pattern instructions on how to attach them (i just didn't see how they would work)

So I referred back to the "Sewing on the Edge" craftsy class I bought a couple of months ago and used the method that she demonstrates there.

sn: I'm not a craftsy affiliate so I'm not making any money if you ever click on any of the classes I mention. If I mention them, they really are the bomb and will help if you're a beginner like myself lol.

I hemmed the overlay and skirt by using the serge and fold twice narrow hem I've been doing with practically everything nowadays.

I also left out the elastic at the waist. I was able to do that because I cut a 10 in the skirt. I miss out on some of the skirt gathering action but that's fine with me because Im not that big of a fan of skirt gathers on me.
I was also rushing and threw it on after I pulled it off the sewing machine lol

Tying the overlay cinches the waste perfectly fine.

I also wanted to shoutout the 3 feet that were in constant rotation during the construction of this dress.

My standard foot, 1/4" foot, and edgestitching foot.

I used the quarter inch foot for all of the facings and and the edgestitching foot for the understitching and the hems.

They make everything so much easier. Investments I'm happy to have made.

ETA: I did not line the skirt. I wanted to keep the dress light.


Tell me what you think in the comments!

And just because, here is my best Rosie face

#mybestrosieface

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading!
And here is a gift from me to you lol thank me later looool

Oh! and this is my first piece for #SummerStashBust14

I'm chilling on fabric for the next 3 months.

Need to practice some self control anyway lol

I have plenty of summery fabric to sew :-)


See you in the next post!

xoxo, Tasha

sn: shoutout to Setarra for taking all of the pics of me in the dress! Isn't she amazing?!
Head over to her blog to and catch all of her awesome shots!