I've made a handful of garments since receiving my sewing machine last year (thanks, Mom!), most of those being novelty xmas gifts, so I'm aware that this is a little ambitious. My hope is that by writing this down for the whole world (5 people) to see I'll be more likely to follow through.

1)McCalls 6696 Sleeveless Silk Dress

Planned Modifications: Swap out the shirt collar for a mini Mandarin.

The inspiration:

dress by Madewell



2) McCalls Fashion Star 6653 in black ponte

Planned Modifications: Nada

I bought the fabric from Mood yesterday and man, it's heavy! That means it'll drape well, riiiight (seriously, I have no clue)?

It comes with and optional self-tie belt which I will use to reel this puppy in at the waist so it's not so all-over-the-place Olsen twinny.


3) By Hand London Elisalex dress in forest green silk.

Planned Modifications: Nix the tulip skirt for an A-line. A medium-weight silk with a bit of gathering around the waist should work. I might swap the scoop neck for a crew neck because I'm modest (lies) and dig necklace-on-top styling. Maybe I'll throw in a couple of in-seam pockets if I don't feel like killing myself by the end.


4) Victory Patterns Roxanne Shirt/Dress Version 2

Planned Modifications: Might lengthen to the knee.


Dream fabric: "Bleach Regazzi" stretch by Tesutti which at $45/yd means I'll be dreaming for a looong time:

5) Salme Kimono Blouse

Planned Modifications: Regular hem on the sleeves. I made this before in one day which means it should actually only take a couple of hours.

In this crazy silk floral from ebay:

6) Silk shirtdress. I haven't found the right pattern yet but this is the look I'm going for:

dress by Rag and Bone

And last but not least...

7) Leather shorts!

No pattern yet. Any ideas? The ones I've seen on Burda are matronly at best, which is quite a feat for GD leather shorts.

I've never worked with leather, made shorts, or sewn a fly zipper so this should be a real "learning experience" (i.e., total nightmare but hopefully worth it in the end).

Check back for the craptastic results or bask in shadenfreude when I never post again!