April 2018 DIY projects- What I’ve been up to

Hello sweet souls! I have been very bad at writing free tutorials recently, so I’ve decided to update you guys on all the April 2018 DIY projects I’ve been working on.

The last few months have been very stressful. A lot has been going on in my private life, my days at work are busier than they used to be, I traveled a lot and there you have it… My Curly Projects became a loved, but neglected child.

I should change it, shouldn’t I?

In order to bring back my focus on the blog, I’ve decided to make a monthly update with all the projects I’ve made in April.

Project 1 – The Queen of Lace!

 

I have a minor obsession about black lace, so you’ll probably keep seeing it in my projects. Who cares that the spring is coming and we should all wear frilly, pastel-colored outfits? I’d rather have black lace 🙂

The skirt is dreamily simple to make.  I bought a black mesh which had 3 panels with beaded lace running horizontally across it.

I cut out the top stripe, left it aside. Sewn the square that I had left on the sides, leaving a little space on the top free. Then, I gathered it along the top edge. So in essence, it is just a simple, gathered skirt!

My plan was to take the strip I had left and fit it over the top of the skirt as an extra layer. That didn’t look good at all. It could have a chance if I reinforced it with hard mesh maybe, but while I was trying it on I’ve noticed that it looks amazing when I just let it fall on the back of the skirt.  Thus, the lovely little detail at the back was born.  It adds extra volume to the skirt (in all the right places :D) and has a remotely Victorian flare to it.

Project 1 a – What goes under the skirt, stays under the skirt (usually) 

 

The Queen of Lace skirt just so happens to be see-through between the lace panels. It looks cool (especially if you have stockings on! :D) but I’m not quite bold enough to wear it without anything underneath.

 

I wanted to have my lace skirt ready for an event and didn’t have much time to make a proper petticoat. The necessity is, as always, the mother of all inventions, so I came up with a quick, easy petticoat. It consists of few layers of tulle (wish I had more, but hey.. better this than nothing!) and used the same interfaced satin ribbon as in the Queen of Lace for a waistband.

 

Project 2 – I wanna do bad things with you

 

(I’m having fun with making up names for dresses, don’t mind me! )

 

I came across the cheapest ever red (fresh-blood kind of red!) velveteen during one of my trips to the fabric store when I was supposed to buy ONLY a zipper. How could I leave it? it was just 2,5$ per meter! I don’t think the whole dress came up to more than 5$. How awesome is that? The thrifty gnome inside me is having an orgasm right now.

In essence, I combined a slightly modified basic bodice pattern with a pencil skirt pattern. Voilà!

 

Project 3 – Checkered Anglophile 

 

This project consists of 3 garments – wiggle dress, circle skirt and a jacket to match.

The wiggle dress

My primary goal was to make a wiggle dress with a peter pan collar which would poke out from under a cropped jacket. I decided to use a slightly modified version of my DIY Vintage Jacket and match it with the dress by lining the jacket with the same fabric. The original DIY Vintage Jacket has a peter pan collar, but I skipped it, opted for a very simple neckline to allow the dress’s collar to show. It would have been more comfortable to have a collar attached to the jacket, but that way I could use this cute, black jacket only with this set and nothing else.

In retrospect, I would have liked to deepen the neckline of both jacket and the dress. At the back, the collar of the dress comes up a little too high, which is awkward. :\

Circle skirt

Then, I was incredibly excited to make a circle skirt, because this material is not only in my favorite color, but it also drapes so well! So off I went to merrily work on my skirt. I got confused with MY OWN measurements (how is that for a seamstress fail) and made the skirt wayyyy to tight. I can’t even describe my frustration. What could I do? I would NOT give up this skirt!

I decided to go on a diet to fit in the skirt.

After extreme efforts, pain, and sacrifices I thought I should love my body the way it is and quit the diet. That was the worst day in whole April. 

That is not the end of my blunders. I adjusted my pattern, folded the skirt over and cut out a bit deeper circle. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW did I do it, but I cut out too much. To be honest, I don’t truly understand how does the seam allowance work for a waistline in a circle skirt.

The skirt was too big and at this point, my only wish was to see it flying out of the window.

Ehh but again, this material is the love of my life and I wouldn’t give up on it. I tucked in a little bit at the front and at the back of the skirt, trying to make the tucks as even as possible. Once I put the waistband on it I was in heaven. Phew… It was definitely an adventure.

The Cropped Jacket 

 

The jacket should have been the easy peasy bit since I have based it on a jacket I’ve made before. The second half of April was really hard on me physically. I was coming home exhausted every day. I am pretty sure that most of my problems wouldn’t have been there if I were rested.

In nutshell, the jacket is awesome except for a tiny little problem. The buttons are on the wrong side!!!! Trying to put on that jacket is probably a great exercise for the brain ever. I swear – trying to do up those buttons feels the same way as trying to write with a left hand (given that you’re right-handed).

 

There you have it – my April 2018 in garments.

I will write a similar post every month, just to keep myself on track with everything that I have planned for this year.

A little secret –  I am currently working on improving all of my previous tutorials. I really want you guys to be able to create your own, vintage-inspired clothes. I will send out an email to all the lovely people who subscribed to my newsletter as soon as I get the first tutorial ready.

Let me know in the comments below if you want me to make a specific vintage-inspired garment. I will be happy to oblige. 🙂

As always with love,