The Hills Are Alive... With Red Velvet

The hills are alive, with the sound of ...

Sewing machines... or sergers (we're not picky)... 

With songs Cake, (wait, not this cake)

With THIS Cake that will last for a thousand years...
(and is also completely gluten free) 

This dress fills me up with warmth and beauty
and My heart wants to wear every scarf it sees.

So, um just in case you haven't figured it out yet, Sewing Cake's Red Velvet Sewalong just ended and since it was also a contest I was compelled to make as many items as I could. You are now warned! Lots of Cake is going to be happening around here. To simplify things a bit I'm doing separate posts on my dresses, my Mom's dresses and the leggings. To try to keep things coherent I stole some of my template from C Sews who made a fabulous chevron Red Velvet and some from The Quirky Peach.

Pattern: Sewing Cake's Red Velvet

Size: ME
My Measurements
High Bust 35
Full Bust 37
Waist 29 1/4
My Shape: Tall (5'10")

Fabric: bridesmaid dress fabric of medium/heavyweight. Lovely soft probably synthetic stuff that was easy to work with.


My pattern adjustments before cutting my fabric 

Bodice – According to my measurements I cut a 35 C Bodice front and back which I lengthened 3 inches to get the correct under bust look. My second bodice I took the recommended amount out of the front side seam which I think helped with the wrinkles but I'm not sure cause I went crazy and drafted neckline pleats in...

Skirt- 3 inches added at the lengthen line so it would hit me right below the knee hemmed normally. For the maxi skirt I measured from the bottom of the midriff band to the floor (about 42 inches). I placed the pattern on the fabric and cut the top and side seam about 3/4 of the way down. I then measured down the center fold to the length I wanted and pulled the pattern down until the hem rested there and cut the curved hemline. I laid this cut piece out on the fabric to cut my second skirt. It made a nice full skirt without a bunch of billowy fabric everywhere.

Construction
Navy Bodice- Besides completely hacking the bodice so it would have neckline pleats, I sewed the pleats before I basted and stitched the neck facing. I stitched the facing down in the shoulder seams but it kept flipping out from the weight of the dress so I tacked it down in front under the pleats.

Lace Bodice- I marked chalk lines measured off the center front and zigzag stitched the lace down before attaching the facing. I stitched the facing down in the shoulder seams and sewed the buttons on front when dress was completed.

Pockets- No pockets in Lace dress. Tiramisu pockets in Navy Maxi Dress.

Otherwise I followed the directions as written! Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, MORE PHOTOS!!

Details and action shots!

So I'm not sure about the pleats, I probably shouldn't
have rushed them and I'm not sure even properly
drafted them... but I love the dress and since I don't stare
at my chest all the time it doesn't bother me.

Second dress for me out of some ugly fabric I dyed a prettier color. It was a nice cotton blend from the deep stash.

Quick photo before I went back to sewing.
Once spring arrives I'm looking forward to wearing
this little gem.

The more I played with this pattern the more I liked it. I wore my Navy dress non stop over the Thanksgiving holidays and even on the plane ride home. I've been trying to make a comfy, nice winter maxi dress and in this case the 4th time's the charm.

When I first began sewing with knits I bought Built By Wendy's book because it had the basic pattern blocks for most knit designs. I feel like Steph is giving us the knit technique building blocks with her patterns as well as giving us an arsenal of pattern pieces we can custom size and mix and match. I had never interfaced knits before and thanks to her tips it turned out beautifully. I can't wait to sew some more cake! How about you?