Petite Republic

I usually buy my fabric online, but whenever I visit Joanns, especially the past year, they seem to always have the best knits. I went a few days ago and saw a knit that is thick, comfortable, good recovery and made from mostly rayon!! I had to get 1.5 yard to try it out.

The pattern is lengthened from a basic knit top, again, except i didnt add enough room for the hips as this fabric is not super stretchy for a knit. No prob;em, I just added a little gusset (basically a triangle) on the back seam and now it looks like a design feature! the little skirt is simply a half circle skirt, I added a half circle skirt and then trimmed it down to the length I liked. The fabric does not fray and is a bit thick, so I left the skirt unhemmed.

That’s it, a very simple, quick dress that looks great and is super comfortable. Thank you for reading!

I am so excited about sharing this project with you! I made a cropped trench coat!!

The inspiration for the cropped trench coat is from various cropped trench coats Ive been eyeing after on wendy’s lookbook. I figured that if it looks so fun on her (a petite), it may look good on me.

Ive had this fabric in my stash for a few years, its a cotton gabardine from Crooks Brook that I hunted down and ordered 4 years ago (it was hard to find cotton gabardine!). I wanted to use the same type of fabric as Burberry, though this is a cotton gabardine and repels water a bit, the Burberry fabric is a bit thinner but stiffer. However, its still a very nice weight and feel for a trench coat, I’d highly recommend this source! The color was a bit drearier than I expected, so I left it in my stash for a while. That’s why I decided to use some bright red as a pop!

I used 2 heavily altered patterns – the base of the coat is a cropped and front-altered Burdastyle Talea – as usual. Years of slow alteration evolution made it pretty easy for me to just crop the bodice, as I used the same the altered front of this Talea. The outer caplet thing + collar is an altered I used BurdaStyle trench coat 09/2012. #103,which is what i used for this coat here. I debated whether to make it a true caplet or sleeves, and ended up doing sleeves, making it a more faux caplet.

The inside Is lined with bright red rayon Bemberg lining, it feels really amazing on. Of course, I have to add my usual logo embroidering.

I chose to use 4 pairs of magnet buttons as closures, as the red stuff is making this little cropped trench quite busy already. ITs kind of fun to wear magnet buttons.

After I made this little trench, I couldn’t stop wearing it. There are so many new fun outfits to be had with a new silhouette, I love it.

Those are just a few random ones I have with a bunch of me made dress/skirts – this goes well with pants and sweaters too!!

thank you for reading!

Its the end of the year and I realize I am sooooo behind in my posting of this year’s creations. Let’s see if I can catch up in the next few days!

I got this super thick, cotton sweater knit from fashion fabric a few years ago, and I didnt quite know what to do with it. It felt like it would be too stiff for a sweater, and too thick for a body con. At the end, I decided to make a skater dress. It turned out REALLY well, I’ve been wearing it with boots quite a lot this winter.

The pattern is just a basic knit top, with a slant cut to make it asymmetrical, and I attached a regular circle skirt to it, and then trimmed the hem to make the skirt hem even to the floor. Having a cover stitch made making of this dresss a breath! This thing was simple, easy, fast, comfortable but such a chic dress!

Thank you for reading!!

Hubby loved my red poka dot dress a lot – I decided to make another with more work friendly prints. It’s pretty much the same pattern but longer sleeves. I made it with a rayon crepe and let me tell you- this is one amazing material! It’s crisp, drapery, and cool to the touch. Swishing around in the wind in it is the best!!

I love having a flounce on this material – it is really bouncy. I needed to hang the dress and let it hang for a bit before cutting off some area due to how drapy it is – its also a pretty weight-y material and would pull the flounce down one area more than the other.

I have been wearing this dress to work a ton! I love how comfy it is and now I am on the hunt for more rayon crepe!

As mentioned in previous post, I made a black version of the peasant dress. This one is much more like the original inspiration. It has much more skirt, and asymmetrical gathering, and a longer top. I ran out of fabric at the end, so the ruffle is made from a slightly different rayon.

Not more more to say about it except that I had been wearing ti to death this summer. It is super fun to swish in, and the asymmetry makes me feel curvy and hip-py 🙂 Plus it goes really well with my favorite elephant bag and Greek sandals!

I made this:

A few years ago I saw a dress in Pinterest and I finally got around to making it.

I decided to make a red version, and while it didn’t come out exactly as I had planned, it looks pretty good on me!

I made it using a red rayon crepe, which is a wonderful material to swish around in. (It is as soft as rayon Challis but feels more opaque and slightly heavier). The top part I used McCal 5039,, and the bottom is just a half circle skirt connected with a wide elastic band. There are elastics around the neckline and armhole. Then a bunch of frills on the bottom.  I do like to pair it with my black leather belt, black Greek sandals and black elephant bag.

After making it, I knew I had to add a few inches to the top part and not have a elastic band around the middle, and this needs a fuller skirt. I’ve already made a black version that is closer to my inspiration.  In any case, i do love wearing this version, and red is always a fun color to swish around in!

You May remember that last summer I made a Ogden Cami from the cutest rainbow drop fabric I got from a trip to Seattle. I had made it in anticipation to match with my girls. This week I finally got my acts together and made little K and little A their dresses!

Little K’s dress is self-drafted, based off one of her favorate tank dresses- and I made it with tied straps on the shoulder, and elastics around the waist.

Little A’s dress is a racer back tea party dress  – and since I made hers last I knew I had enough fabric, and added frills on the bottom.

I know – we look adorable together!! This collection is definitely a crowd pleaser 🙂 I do love that all 3 garments are from different patterns and are different.