One Dress--Three Ways

This is the dress from McCalls 3539 that I'd been wanting to make way back since June. And, I finally made it--3 times. It was SOOOOO easy. It is simply 4 peices plus facing and interfacing, which were really nothing and it looks great on me! I love dresses like this. They are so easy to wear and pair with stuff. Problem is, I now have tons of dresses and I have to figure out where to wear them.

Since this dress was easy, it was easy to modify, which is why I did this one multiple times. I used some techniques I learned in my new sewing class, including french seams and piping to make them interesting. I learned in the class how to cut patterns on fabric in ways other than the pattern suggests and how to use an uneven plaid (e.g. chevrons), which is what I did with the plaid dress. Another bonus was I was able to use up some fabric I've had lying around forever. YAY! 

Here are more detailed pics:

I made some extra top-stitching here. Not the most even in the world, but it was an experiment and I'm getting better, which is good! You can't see the inside, but I did French seams on this guy, too. And, this fabric was slippery, so I'm gonna chalk that up to kudos on the learning experience for me, too. :-)

See the pretty piping? I made it myself! YAY! I added it myself. Hooray! I'm soooo proud of this, can you tell? I'm also really proud of the way the chevrons turned out, including how that blue comes to a V right smack dab in the middle of the dress. Exciting, huh? I didn't even do it on purpose. Now, what shoes to wear it with?

Here's another thing I made this weekend (I've been sick, so I've had a lot of time at home on my hands. I even finished all my sewing homework too!):

It's the vest from the same pattern. I didn't line it because I didn't want to take the time to do all that. Instead I used French seams on the seams and then a single bias binding on the armhole (yep, learned that in class). Then, for the outside edges, I simply overcast the edges to keep them from fraying then tucked them under about a 1/2 inch like a regular hem without a special stitch or anything. 

The inside: french seams and the outside hem.

Next projects on the list (in order of when I want to do them, but probably not when I will actually do them):

1. Finishing knitting an awesome sweater I started in May (only 1.5 sleeves and I'm done).

2. Handbags out of an old curtain.

3. Leggings

4. Dress for sewing class

5. Crocheted long vest

6. Knit brown cardigan

7. Knit grey long cardigan

8. Undies (haha)

9. Boxers (maybe)

10. T-shirts (looong time from now, I think)

I hope to accomplish all of this by November. Hahaha... Maybe the sewing projects... we'll see on the rest of that stuff.