More Copy Your Clothes

Green dress at Great Sand Dunes National Park

You may or may not know that the main reason I started making clothes again...and stopped quilting...is because I no longer live in Abu Dhabi & no longer have my tailor, Mohammed, to make clothes for me.  We left Abu Dhabi in 2008, so the wonderful cotton dresses and skirts and jackets I have are beginning to wear out.  

This green dress, in particular, wasn't all cotton to begin with.  (One of the hazards of buying fabric for 27¢/yard is not knowing exactly what that fabric is made of.)  Anyway, it's faded horribly, and it's time to try my hand at copying it & making another...

If you're wondering what it will be made of, check out this amazing fabric from Windham Fabrics.  I love it & broke down last week and bought 4 yards (there's a discount if you buy more than 3, so I HAD to).  

After taking the pieces apart, I marked
them so I wouldn't get confused. 

The green dress is mostly taken apart at this point--it's quite a good thing to do if you're watching a movie, as we were last night (those old Columbos are great fun!).  There were 10 homemade buttons (fabric + plastic) on it and Bella is loving those--they bounce & skitter extremely well on our hardwood floors!  

The next part will be turning these dress pieces into pattern pieces.  I don't think Mohammed used a 5/8" seam allowance!  But I have plenty of old maps from work to make pattern pieces out of...so here I go.

I've traced the piece, but need to add
the 5/8" seam. 

I pieced the pattern piece for the sleeve, I didn't
want to start cutting into a new map! 

BTW, the copied skirt is coming along nicely--lined and everything, I just haven't felt like tacking the hem.  Will probably wait until my friend gets back in town so she can help.  Explaining to the Roommate what I want is rather a chore, but Heidi will know exactly what I want...

Bella is devoted to Project Runway, too!

Overseeing the efficient use of fabric.