Bookish and Belle

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Sewing dresses!

Okay, I posted earlier how excited I was about buying The Party Dress Book by Mary Adams. Well, I've just bought two more sewing books, and I'm super excited about them too. The first is Twinkle Sews by Wenlan Chia

I thought I'd like it since I love all the Twinkle knitting books. Wenlan Chia always designs fun quirky chunky knits that are super fast to make and look great. I've made a lot of them, including this hat.

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The second book I bought is Built by Wendy Dresses by Wendy Mullin. It's incredible. It has three basic patterns with a ton of variations (and variations upon those variations) as well as some great sewing tips. I've bought the stuff to make three dresses from it and I can't wait to get started on them

I'm going to make the Lumberjack Dress and it's variation the Empress Dress.

I'm also going to make the Tea Dress. Isn't it gorgeous?

She suggest making the Empress Dress in Chinese red jacquard, but I want it to be a bit more subtle and more me, so I'm using this pale yellow instead.

For the other dresses, I'm using the fabric recommended (red and black buffalo plaid flannel for the Lumberjack dress and peach and black silk for the Tea Dress) because I think they look so cute that way. But I have plans to make other versions later with different fabric. I'm thinking of some bright yellow plaid for the Lumberjack Dress and perhaps blue velvet with a white collar for the Tea Dress.

I went to Hancock Fabrics today to buy supplies (that's where I got the jacquard), but they didn't have everything I needed, so I ordered some stuff from Mood. Here's what I'm waiting for...

Marc Jacobs "mango" charmeuse

buffalo plaid flannel

horn toggles for the Lumberjack dress

frogs for the Empress dress

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Since I can't start on those dresses until my order comes from Mood, I've got another project to hold me over.

I bought this awesome Cynthia Rowley pattern a while ago and I finally picked out fabric for it while at Hancock Fabrics today.

I'm making variation C (the one on the model). Aren't the exposed shoulders lovely. I saw something similar in Fendi's spring 2011 collection, but this is actually more my style.

Here's the fabric I'm going to make the dress out of.

The rosebud cotton is for the main part and the burgundy velvet is for the accent at the waist.

I'll keep you posted on all these projects. I hope you enjoy following along!

DIY Valentines

Why not shake it up a little this year and show your S.O. you care with a DIY Valentine? Or, perhaps you'd rather decorate for the holiday a little with some cheap and unique DIY crafts. Either way, I've searched through craft blogs and found four incredible Valentine's Day DIY ideas. Some take a bit more time while others are super simple. Make sure to click the links to be transported to the blogs that originated the ideas for more photos and full instructions.

First up, there's the adorable rose ring that would go great with any Valentine's Day outfit.

Would you believe it's made from paperclips?!

No Joke!

For instructions for this awesome and obviously thrifty project, check out it's creator at Cute Little Disaster.

Next up is a fun twist on a traditional paper Valentine. Color Me Kate created a flipbook from photos of herself embellished with heart stamps. Click here for a link to the instructions and a video of the completed flipbook in action.

Here's another great variation from the traditional paper Valentine. One of my favorites, Design*Sponge, used iron-on transfers the write a message on a spool of ribbon and then packaged it in a gorgeous antique typewriter-tape tin.

Make sure to check out the blog for more gorgeous photos and full instructions.

Now for some decoration ideas. Here's a gorgeous heart-shaped wreath made from completely free and 100%-biodegradable yard waste!

Isn't it lovely? It was created by Sweet Paul. Click here to visit the blog and see how they did it.

This final project might be my favorite, just because it's so simple, yet so gorgeous. And I love projects that involved magazines.

Isn't it lovely how the garland catches the light? The idea comes from the blog Oh So Crafty. Make sure to check it out for full instructions.

What to wear for Valentine's Day

The question of what to wear for Valentine's Day can very much depend on both the weather and the formality of your plans, i.e. bare legs are not a good idea if you live in a place where February is quite cold and a cocktail dress isn't the best choice for a cozy dinner at home with your sweetheart. However, I can give you a general rule of thumb, which is to keep things feminine and romantic with a hint of sexiness. This holiday is all about romantic love after all, so if there was ever a time to wear a red dress with white lace trim and pearls, this is totally it.

As a kid, you may have worn red and pink together for Valentine's Day, and now you might be thinking to yourself that the combination is immature, even costume-y, but I invite you to think again. When done well, red and pink can look quite lovely together. For example, I give you Natalie Portman's Viktor and Rolph dress at the Golden Globes and this look from Loewe's spring 2011 collection.

However, if you still aren't convinced, I do urge you to consider wearing red or pink, even if you won't wear them together. And if your really in the Valentine's Day mood, you might even consider something with a heart motif, like this cute slip dress from Urban Outfitters.

Or, you might be interested in wearing something with roses, such as this top from Forever 21 that I wore last Valentine's Day.

(note the heart tights)

Or this red dress with roses or this white bodice with rosebuds

Or you could really go all out with something like this open-heart blouse from the window display at one of my favorite vintage shops, The Mustard Seed.