Easy Tote Bags (Sewing Project For Beginners)

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Hi there, I made two tote bags using cute cat-printed home decor fabrics. These tote bags are easy and fast to make, a perfect sewing project for beginner sewists. The final size is approximately 34 cm long x 34 cm wide and 9 cm deep. The size is enough to carry books or shopping stuff. The process started with cutting the fabric,  - The tote bag's body: 42 cm long x 38 cm wide (on fold). - Handle: 62 cm long x 8 cm wide (2x). - Bias tape band 4 cm wide. Fold the fabric right sides together and sew both sides. And then, clip and sew the bias tape band to secure the fabric (to avoid fraying). Cut the corners, 3 cm x 3cm square, after the seam allowance. Sew the corner and secure it with bias tape band ( both sides). Here is the look after I sew the corners. I work on the handles by folding them in half and then clip the seam allowance 1 cm inside. Fold the seam allowance 1 cm inside and fold the fabr...

Sheath Dress



Happy Tuesday to you all!
Today post is my latest dress for Mad Men Dress Challenge 2, this challenge is built by Julia from juliabobin.com. I never saw  Mad Men TV show but some of their dresses inspired me. I love Betty, Peggy and Megan style. And I am planning to make more dresses inspired by them in the future :))
For this challenge I chose Betty Draper dress, I love the simple yet elegant sheath dress that she wore on Mad Men season 5.


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Of course my dress is not exactly like her but I am very happy with it. Besides I will wear it on one of my special occasion, I will also be able to participate in the sewing challenge :)




This is a very simple style sheath dress with deep V back, middle back zipper and blind hem stitching. I used the pattern from BurdaStyle Sheath Dress size 34 for the bodice and size 36 for the skirts, so I have to make pattern alterations. Here is the original pattern from BurdaStyle,
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And here is the drawing of my dress pattern, the front dress is more like the original but the back dress is changed to a deep V back style and the invisible zipper inserted in the middle center back,


Materials:
2 yards of linen in purple color, 2 yards of silk crepe de chine for lining, invisible zipper, fusible interfacing to replace vilene bias tape/stay tape and same color of thread.

Pattern modification:
- For the front bodice, I added 2 cm from the shoulder to the neckline and added 9 cm from the center front up to the neckline. And then I drew a new front neckline using French curve.
- For the back bodice, I added 2 cm from the shoulder to the neckline and measured 20 cm from the center back down to the waistline. And then I drew a new V back bodice using French curve and ruler.
- For the skirts, I shorten the pattern 15 cm.

I worked with this dress for almost 5 days including transferring the pattern, fitting the pattern, cutting the fabrics and sewing it. Mostly I enjoyed the sewing process :)  
And here is how the dress lined up with silk crepe de chine,


And here are the pictures of me wearing this dress, the pictures are not so good because we took it at night, but anyway I am happy with it:)


 Happy sewing!!

Comments

  1. You did a great job with your sheath dress. I'm now following you on Bloglovin!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the shift dresses suit you very well! Pretty dress and very well made!

    ReplyDelete

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