Graduation Dress: Part 2

Over the weekend, I graduated with my PhD, a perfect excuse to make a new dress. I was lucky enough to have my best friend and fellow sewist Nicole graduate with me. Together we made “reverse bridesmaid dresses” for the occasion. I’ve talked a little bit about our planning in a separate post here. Today’s post is essentially two-in-one, because Nicole and I have both detailed our dress-making adventures for you. The same dress can work on two very different body types–after some trials and tribulations.

Graduation Dress: Part 1

My friend Nicole and I have been planning graduation dresses for a few months. She’s ahead of me in the process, and is defending her dissertation tomorrow! I have officially written my dissertation now, and I’m finally pretty confident that I’m really going to graduate this spring. That means that I can finally talk about the dresses that we’re making for the occasion. Continue reading

Project update: NewLook 6123

I’m not much for refashioning or alterations. If a piece of clothing doesn’t work for me, I generally just give it to a friend and wish it luck on its new journey. I almost gave this dress away at a clothing swap last month. It was too tight in the shoulders and upper back, forcing me to stand up uncomfortably straight. I was a little too sentimental about it, though, since I defended my dissertation proposal in it, so I couldn’t give it away that easily. At the last minute had a change of heart and a brilliant idea. What if I just removed the sleeves?

Valentine’s Day Dress: Megan Nielsen Karri

This dress was originally intended for Valentine’s Day 2017. I ordered the pattern in November 2016 and bought fabric for the project soon after. But, it took me until Valentine’s Day 2018 to finish the dress. Read on to see why…

Ireland Holiday Dress: Butterick 6168

Back in 2015, I travelled to Ireland to present at the Society for Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies conference in Dublin Castle. While I was in Dublin, I wandered into a fabric shop and bought this luxurious black and white printed fabric (content now unknown). I knew I wanted to make a dress out of it, so I bought 3 yards, but it took me 2 years to build up the courage to cut into it. Continue reading