Making My Own Bias Tape and Floral Silk

I have been very inspired by Amanda and decided from now on to finish my seam allowances with bias tape rather than the zigzag stitch on my machine. For my current projects, I thought I'd make my own bias tape from the extra fabric I had.

The first time I tried to make bias tape was actually over 10 years ago, for a linen dress that I never finished (probably didn't have as much patience back then). I had to fold it all by hand, and burnt myself with the iron many times, never succeeding in getting both sides even and eventually gave up on even sewing it onto the garment...

So with that memory in mind, I was psyched when I discovered the existence of this little gadget and how much easier it would make the whole process.

I went to Dressew and snatched a 2-pack with both the 1/2 and 1" maker for a couple CAD. They didn't have the Clover brand, but I thought the one I got would work just as well...
I was not impressed by the variety of bias tape they had though, not an incredible amount of color and/or fabric to chose from.

I also picked up a measuring gauge for .99 (my first inch-measuring device ! Everything else I have is in cm...) and an adaptable zipper foot for my machine (for $.25 !), that looked thinner than the default one I have and might allow me to sew closer to the zipper for "even more invisible"zippers...

Back to the tape, I am working on 2 different projects at once (photos coming soon). For the top I made bias tape from the same fabric, and for the skirt I used a scrap of black stretchy cotton I had in my stash.
I actually used two different method for the cutting process, the one from Colette Pattern's Tutorials, and this one form Prudent Baby, which makes the whole cutting and sewing much faster...

As a side note, the fabric that most attracted my attention this time around at Dressew was these gorgeous silk chiffon slod for $14.99/m:

I don't think that I am ready yet to try my hands at sewing silk but it would certainly make beautiful dresses or tops, with styles such as these:

BWOF March 2010 and February 2009

BWOF July 2008 and July 2006

BWOF -3-2009-107 - Sixties Style Dress

After a few months break from sewing (which included a 7-week trip around Europe and a move across one ocean and one continent) this is the first dress I sewed on Canadian soil :)
We had just moved to Vancouver and we were renting a room in a big house where the owner had a sewing machine. When I told her I loved sewing she said "You should go check out Dressew on Hasting St". So I did.

Dressew is awsome. It's not high end designer fabric, but amongst a lot of cheap stuff you can actually find some nice fabric with interesting patterns. They do have a large variety of fabric from 100% cotton, silk, wool to any type of synthetic. They also have a small bin of leather scraps. And their downstairs is full of accessories, rows of zippers, buttons, notions...and all very cheap.

On my first visit to Dressew, I found this stretchy cottong fabric with an interesting pattern.
I decided to whip up this dress from the March 2009 issue of Burda, that I had taken with me in my suitcase, while the rest of my burda stash traveled by sea...

Because of the princess seams, the pattern matching required once again a bit of thinking, I didn't match pattern at the sleeves seams but in that case I rather tried to get a visual balance with the rest of the dress. And as usual I did have to take a couple cm in on each side from the bust to the hips.

The thing is, I am not yet sure about how to modify the paper pattern beforehand, based on my measurments and the amount of ease required by each design. I am worried that I will modify it too much and then end up with something that's too tight. So for now I would rather just work out the right fit on myself. I start by basting all the pieces together and then try it on to see where it needs fixing.
It's a bit challenging in the back, and I have been dreaming of a dress form to make my life easier (hopefully this will be arranged soon...), but in the end I've been able to manage decently so far.

Back to the dress, the fabric was a stretchy cotton this time, which made the fitting easier...
Overall it was a pretty easy sew and I was able to finish it quite fast (for my records anyway :P), in time for our friends garden wedding !