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This weekend I managed to stay away from painting the main floor walls using the excuse that the floors were being done and I didn’t want to bother the flooring guys with my painting. They didn’t work all weekend, and I really could have went through my stuff and started de-cluttering… but I really wanted to sew. So I did and in the end I was one happy lady! Creating something always makes me feel good. I’ve had a pattern for Hudson Pants for a while now and I have even attempted making them once, but my lack of understanding fitting issues and going straight for woven fabric did not produce a wearable pair of pants. I threw my first pair away, crumbled the pattern and left it at that. Then over the past couple weeks I kept seeing similar pants everywhere. I just love the look of a comfy jogger that can be dressed up or down! And if I can get away wearing an elastic waistband at work, it was worth giving the pattern another try. I mean, “sweatpants” at work? Sign me up! This time I made all the adjustments straight to the pattern before cutting into the fabric. I now know what adjustments are likely to be needed for my pants. The usual ones are – deeper seat, increased back seat length, longer pant leg and shorter front seam length. I triple measured myself, compared the measurements to the pattern, made adjustments and off I went cutting into my fabric. My first pair turned out pretty well! It was a wearable muslin that I decided not to photograph. They look just like a pair of joggers you would expect to look like. They did turn out on the roomier side, which I don’t mind for sweat pants, but I wanted my fashionable joggers to be rather slim. I transferred all my adjustments to the pattern and decided it was time to cut into this cotton/poly twill I got at my local Fabricland. The fabric has about 25% stretch, so it is not as stretchy as the pattern instructions recommend. So I had to make sure my pattern would still have enough ease. Because the fabric is not really stretchy, I also had to make my calf bands wider so that I can get my leg into my pants. Finally, I cut the pocket trim piece on bias so it curved nicer along the pocket opening. The pants came together very fast! Once I knew how the pattern worked and didn’t have to worry about the fit, it barely took much time to make these. I omitted the drawstring cord just because I didn’t have one in my stash and I doubt I would use it. I also used the longest straight stitch on my machine to finish the elastic waistband, I just like the look of straight stich better than zig zag. The waistband looks great and wears great! I will likely mainly wear these rolled up on my calves as I find even though I added a couple inches to the length, the pants are still a little short. But it doesn’t bother me at all. After I made them I promptly wore them out to go for a coffee with a friend. They were comfy and made me feel so stylish! Now how many joggers would be too many? Cause I am really wanting to make them in every color! Love, Anya

My apologies for going MIA last week. It has been a very busy week and although I have been doing my best to get some sewing done, I have only been able to sneak away a few hours here and there. We have been toying around with an idea of moving for a few months now, but this past week it all came down to making decision to actually try and go through with the move. As exciting as it is, it involves updating our current place and potentially some major updates to the place we have in mind. Hence, all my Easter Weekend was spent taping, filling the holes in the walls, painting, more painting and even more paining. As well as de-cluttering. Fun! Nonetheless, I managed to snap some pictures of this bra I made a couple weeks ago in between painting and cleaning up. This bra is my usualm absolutely favorite pattern by Orange Lingerie - Boylston Bra. Seriously, I have so many of these that I feel bad posting them up. But they are so comfy! And pretty. This bra in particular came together by accident. I wanted to try using stretch knit for my cups and cradle because I loved the look and feel of it. It is a super soft rayon knit blend from Blackbird Fabrics. The fabric was part of a bra kit Caroline had in stock at the beginning of this year and it is no longer available. I actually still have the full bra kit in my stash, it comes with beige findings, which I ended up not using as I wanted to try adding white lace and white findings as a result. I still have enough fabric for another bra though! Since the knit fabric I used for the cups and cradle had quite a bit of stretch I decided to line the bra with stable lingerie lining fabric I had in my stash. The only thing I did differently this time is I sewed the bottom cups of the lining and fashion fabric together separately first and then connected them all when I attached the top lace cup. So the bottom cup fabric and lining is not connected at the middle seam. I think I like it better with the stretchy fabric as I find it lies nicer and doesn't gather at all at the seam. I decided not to top stitch the middle seam of the lower cup since I wanted a more seamless look. I think since the cup is lined, it turned out just fine! I used white mesh from my stash, together with white elastics and closure to finish the bra. I really like how it turned out! The fabric is so soft and feels so good on. I have a couple other knit fabrics I bought from Blackbird Fabrics to make Lark Tees and I am very excited to try using the left overs for more bras. Love, Anya P.S. I will try my best to write about my makes and sewing as much as I can. The next couple weeks will likely be busy with more painting and updates to our current house, but I will try to snap pictures of my un-blogged makes to write about. In the meantime, I will likely only post once a week until the whole living situation is sorted out!

Over the last couple months I found my style changing quite a bit. I am no longer drawn to fitted garments and I find myself reaching out for looser fit items in my closet. This change was a little unsettling for me and I kept thinking that something must be wrong with me. I must have gotten a fever or a bug or something... Then I finally gave into it and decided to give another loose dress a try. And hence this Fen Dress was born. Prior to settling on Fen Dress I did some research looking for a loose fit dress that was not tight but yet not very loose. I wanted it to have some idea of a form despite having lots of ease. After searching through indie patterns I settled on Fen Dress by Fancy Tiger Crafts. The pattern had everything I was looking for - subtle waist definition, loose fit, sleeves and even pockets!! It also is intended for woven fabrics and that's what I wanted as well. I printed it off and taped it together without encountering any issues. The instructions are clear and well written. Really, the pattern was a pleasure to sew. I chose a fabric from my stash. I really have been trying to use my stash as much as I can! This rayon was in my stash for probably 5 years... Its super soft and pleasant next to the skin. It is also very drape-y and easy to press and sew. Unfortunately, it does wrinkle well. But because of the busy print it is barely noticeable. I didn't muslin the dress. I cut the size I fell into with my measurements straight from my fabric. I figured the final adjustments will be minor and I could do them right on this dress. After I put it all together and tried it on, the dress was a little looser than I wanted it to be. I ended up taking in 1" from each side. I also hemmed it a little shorter than the pattern. This was based purely on my personal preferences as well. After making the adjustments to the side seams I transferred them to the pattern. For my next Fen Dress I will take 1" off the center back and front. I find the neckline on the dress is quite wide and I don't like when my bra straps show unintentionally. I think taking extra width off the center front and back will adjust both the neckline and the sides. I am very happy with how this dress turned out. It is so comfortable and easy to wear! I love the pockets, I love the sleeve and I love the overall ease of the dress. I am already trying to think of what other versions of Fen pattern I can make. Possibly a sleeveless summer dress? A top? If only I had all the extra time to make everything I want! Love, Anya

Do you ever find that you put off sewing the easiest garments the longest? I certainly do. I mean I have had the pattern for Lark Tee for a few months now, I have even assembled it and cut it out, but I have yet to actually sew myself a t-shirt. The whole shirt would take me may be 45 min to sew, but exactly because it is so fast and easy I keep putting it off. Grainline's free (!) Hemlock Tee was no exception. I've had the pattern for at least a year before I finally got to it! It only has 4 seams, excluding hemming and neckline, and I still couldn't bring myself to making one. Sigh... It was only when I realized there were no light, roomy, cute sweaters in my wardrobe that I finally decided to make Hemlock Tee. Sure, the pattern is for a t-shirt, but I decided to use a sweater knit. I think as long as the knit fabric used is not bulky, Hemlock will turn out just fine. The only modification to the pattern I made was taking the sleeve in at the very end by 3/4" at the seam. It made for a slightly narrower sleeve throughout and definitely more narrow sleeve at the end. I don't like when my sleeves are wide and hang on my arms. I like them slightly taught so I can pull them up just a little bit. I left everything else the same. I didn't change the length of the pattern and I haven't taken it in or let it out. For reference, I am 5'10" and take size 10 in regular Grainline tops. In the end I am left wondering why the heck have I not jumped on Hemlock train sooner?! It is such an easy and versatile pattern. It comes together in under an hour and goes so well with so many things. I have been wearing this Hemlock pretty much non-stop since I made it. I definitely recommend this pattern. Not only it's free, it's also amazing. Do yourself a favor and if you already don't have the pattern, go get one here. Your closet will thank you :) Love, Anya

Coatigan Silvia by Schnittchen is slowly taking over all my social media. I think I've seen in almost everywhere and it has slowly grown on me. Normally I prefer fitted coats but seeing coatigans over a few weeks I went from "hmm... this is interesting but I don't think it is for me" to "OMG! I must make it!". It was Lauren's coatigan that pushed it over the edge for me. She just looks so chick and effortless! So I purchased the pattern and this weekend I was set to make it. There is not much to say about the pattern itself. It didn't take long to tape it and I didn't even have to trim the edges of the paper at all. That's always a plus! I fell in between the sizes and seeing that this is an oversized garment and I generally up to this point wasn't comfortable with oversized items, I decided to go with the smaller size. I am happy with the size I picked, it fit perfectly and I didn't need to make any alterations to it. Well, except for the sleeve length. But that alteration is so common to me since I have to lengthen every single sleeve, so I don't even count it as a major change. The instructions are not the best. They do not have any pictures or much explanation to them. The translation from German is not perfect either and some parts of instructions are very interesting. But if you have made a coat before and have some experience with sewing, it's not bad. I've read over the instructions once before I started sewing and I ended up not following them. I am pretty sure I've added some extra steps, took some steps out and merged others. I didn't even try to read the instructions on how to line the coat as I always follow Grainline Studio's tutorial on bagging a jacket . Jen is amazing and her tutorial is very good. It does take some head scratching at first, but once you go through it step by step it's so straight forward. I am never lining a jacket any other way! I used a coating blend fabric from my stash. It has been waiting for it's moment since 2009! I bought it back in the day with an intention to make a warm winter jacket, but I never got around to it. The fabric is a pretty lose weave and I doubt it would make a very warm jacket. It also frays quite easily, so I am happy I waited on it since I don't think I would have had the patience and experience to treat it right back in 2009. The lining is also from my stash. I used some kind of black polyester lining fabric I had. It's not quite my favorite Bemberg, but at least I didn't have to buy it! I ended up lowering the button placement. The original placement looked weird on me, probably because I am tall. I just tried the finished coatingan on and then decided where I wanted to button placement to be. I used a sew-on snap closure instead of the button as well. I like how the snap is not showing from the right side, so it is quite invisible when the coatigan is closed. The coatigan turned out exactly as I anticipated. In hindsight I could have added another 1/2" to the sleeve length, but it is not bad the way it is. It is also not very warm, but it is just perfect for the spring and fall wear. I feel so cozy wrapped up in it and a scarf! It is also roomy so if I want to add extra layers under I definitely can do it. The bagginess of it is definitely growing on me even more. I probably will be wearing this pretty much every chance I get. Love, Anya P.S. I am wearing a Hemlock Tee under the coatigan which I will blog about later.

After my last attempt to play around with Pin Ups Girls Classic Bra pattern and not reaching the results that I wanted, I needed a quick and satisfying make. I also needed a basic beige bra. I had enough materials leftover from my last attempt at bra making and without thinking too much about it, I decided to make one of my tried and true patterns - Boylston Bra by Orange Lingerie. I swear it is not the only bra pattern that I use. I have also made quite a few Malbourough bras too... which is also a great pattern. As I've mentioned in my previous post all my materials cape from Bra Makers Supply . I used beige duoplex, matching mirrored beige lace and beige power mesh. I wanted this bra to be as basic as possible. The bra itself is unlined. With duoplex you really don't need to line the bra. Just topstitch the seams and trim the extra fabric. It will look great! I have only lined upper cup lace and the bridge with nude sheer lining. I prefer to line lace just in case it is even slightly itchy on my skin. And the bridge is lined so that the top part is finished nicely. I ran out of matching beige channeling and I was too impatient to order some extra and wait for it to arrive. The supplies for bra making in Calgary are pretty much non-existent. So I opted out for an off-white colored channeling, which does not quite match but at the same time does not stand out really badly. Since I've made quite a few of Boylston bras, this one came together really quickly. The pattern is so familiar to me, I barely have to think about the process and can just enjoy it. I am really happy with how this bra turned out! This was exactly what I was looking for the first time around. The bra is also super comfortable. I have already worn it twice this past week and I am very happy with the fit and comfort levels. Now I think I have enough sewing mojo tackle the pattern alterations on the Classic Bra! Love, Anya

This was a heartbreaking fail. It doesn't look like it in the pictures at all! But believe me, when I put it on, it just looked bad. I had very high hopes for it and I was really looking forward to a basic beige bra I can wear with almost anything, but it wasn't meant to be, which was completely my bad. I never realized how many bras I actually need until I started sewing lingerie myself. Even though a bra is more or less a fast make, after I've put all that effort into it I want to take really good care of it. So gone are the days when I wear my bras for weeks on end (yikes!) and throw them into my washing machine. Now I try to rotate my bras and wash them by hand after a couple wears, soaking them in water first. It's actually not as labor intensive as it sounds! Soaking does all the work for you. All of this extra care lead me to realize that I need more every day bras and I decided to quickly whip one up last week. Instead of tried and true Orange Lingerie patterns I decided to use Pin Up Girls Classic Bra pattern, which is also good after the extra "pointiness" in the cup is taken care off! What ended up happening though is I got lazy. And cocky. I wanted to modify my Classic Bra pattern to a more of a demi-cup, so I lowered the bridge height and re-drew my upper cup. Easy, right? I decided I didn't need a muslin. For the bra I used stretch beige lace on the upper cup and beige duoplex together with beige powermesh, all from Bra Makers Supplies. I wanted it to be as basic as I could without being frumpy. I finished the WHOLE bra! Everything, wires, closures and all. I was very happy with the quality of the construction. It turned out really nice. But then I tried it on.... Its a little bit hard to see it on Becky, but it looked pretty hideous on me. Even though the shape of the cups themselves is not that bad, it wasn't what I wanted it to be. I could have lived with the bra if it was the only issue. The strap positioning was all kinds of wrong. Once I changed the upper cup, the straps we really in the middle of my chest and made me look awkward and weird. To top it off, the bridge was too wide. This was strange because when I first made this pattern I thought I needed a wider bridge, but this time I was sure it was too wide... I am going to write it off on freshly gained experience and some knowledge sewing bras in the last little while. In the end the bra looked so majorly off that I just couldn't wear it. I left it for a few days thinking that I should try it on again later and then make up my mind. Still, a few days later I couldn't bring myself to wearing it. Note, that on Becky the cups pool at the bottom, but I didn't have that issue when I had the bra on. Hmmm... After I gave up on this bra, I took my markers and drew all the corrections I thought I needed right on the pretty bra itself. The black line on the lace is where I wanted my upper cup to end. The black line on the lower up is where I think the cup seaming should be for more pleasant look. The red dot on the top lace part of the bra is where the strap should be. It's almost a whole inch to the side! And finally the blue line on the bridge is where my bridge should end. Overall the things were minor, but they added up to a bra that I couldn't wear. I took everything I could salvage off the bra - closures, rings and sliders, straps and wires. I transferred my markings to the pattern pattern and gently put the remainder of the bra into garbage bin. I couldn't just throw it in garbage, it was too sad. The main lesson I learnt here is - muslin, muslin, muslin! Every time there is a change to a pattern or I try a new pattern I can't just assume it will fit. With a bra you can't try it on until it is all finished, and once it is done you can't make major changes and adjustments to it. So muslin is super important. Especially since it takes less than 30 min to quickly put one together! Lesson learnt. Thankfully I have enough supplies leftover to make another one. Love, Anya

I am sure I am not the only one, but every time I get invited to a wedding or an event I feel like I need a new dress. Even though I may have appropriate dresses in my closet, a brand new dress that is specifically made for the event makes me feel good. Having said that, I still prefer my "special occasion" dresses to be wearable outside of those special occasions. May be that is why I am reluctant to wear them to the special events since they are already a part of my daily life...This past week we spent in Mexico where we were celebrating S' friends getting married. Of course I needed a dress for the occasion! I used to really stick to my tried and true fit and flare dresses. I have perfected my pattern and they were so easy to put together. Yet, this year I think I am finally growing out of them. I still like the look of fit and flare dresses, but I have an urge to try a different silhouette of a dress. I am really leaning towards loose and flowy lines these days. I bought Ruby Dress by Tessuti patterns a few weeks ago and I was waiting for the right opportunity to make the dress. Wedding in Mexico was just perfect! The pattern is well drafted and I didn't have to do any modifications to it, except for lengthening the skirt a little since I am quite tall (5'10"). The dress is extremely easy to put together! Since there are no darts and the fit is intended to be quite lose, very minimum fitting is required. I didn't make a muslin and went straight for my fashion fabric. I used a beautiful watercolor print poly (crepe?) from Blackbird Fabrics. This particular fabric is gone now, but Caroline has other drool worthy fabrics in her shop. I think the fabric really shines with this dress! It is really light and airy, and feels almost silky next to my skin. I omitted the facings and instead finished my neckline and armholes with bias binding. The keyhole opening is also finished with bias binding. I really do not like the facings! I always find them a little too bulky for my taste. I am absolutely in love with this dress!! It turned out exactly like I envisioned it. It's flowy yet not frumpy, or as S referred to it "it's a sexy mumu". I'll take it. It was extremely easy to wear and move around in without feeling constricted (well.. of course, it's lose). It also held up on the dance floor. I am very pleased with both the fabric and the pattern, which lead to a great final result. I can not wait till summer to wear the dress again! I am already thinking that I need another one, now I just need to decide on the color. I am thinking this time a solid. I mean just look at how amazing this one looks! See, everyone needs one. Love, Anya

Success is great. It makes you feel accomplished and proud, there is nothing like the euphoria of successfully finishing any endeavor you take on in your life, including sewing. However, I think failing and falling short are just as much and just as important parts of life as success is. Failure and struggles have an incredible lesson to teach if one is open to it. I don't want to create an unrealistic view of myself and my life here, so I think sharing my failures is important. On that note, I will start keeping track of them here with a Fail Friday, whenever I have a photographed failure to show that is! I had a lot of hopes for this blouse. The design is very beautiful and has a lot of potential. The pattern came from BurdaStyle magazine from May, 2009. The link is in Russian, as unfortunately this pattern is not available in English, and I apologize to those who can't read. To make it easier though, here is the technical drawing of the blouse: It is a rather easy make and I've actually already made the same blouse back in 2009 when I first came back to sewing after a break. I loved my first blouse but I didn't pick the right fabric for it. Well, the fabric was right but the color and the shine level of the bright blue stretch satin were all kinds of wrong for me. To top it off, the blouse was a little tight in my shoulders. I still wore it though and I was happy with it for a bit. Fast forward to late 2015, I decided to make another version of the blouse. I picked a colorful polyester blend, which doesn't show the yoke or pleat detail very well, but I think still looks nice. I've made some adjustments to the pattern - I widened the shoulders and slightly shortened the length of the blouse. I didn't make a muslin, seeing that this is my second version of the pattern and I felt I was aware of what needed to be changed. It was an easy make! It came together fast and soon I was able to try it on. Unfortunately, the blouse was off. Even with my widened shoulder, it was still too tight in the shoulder, back and chest. The pleats didn't lie smoothly and were opening up in a rather unflattering way. I also think the length of the blouse ended up being a little short for my liking. You can see that in all the pictures I am sloping my shoulders forward a bit to make sure the blouse hangs well enough for the photos. What went wrong? Well, in hindsight, I think the fabric I used for my first blouse had stretch in it and the adjustment that I thought I needed would have worked for a similar fabric but it didn't translate well into non-stretch fabric. If I am to make the blouse again, I probably should go up in size and muslin it fist to make sure the pleats and shoulder are where they should be. I think the length is important too. I made my blouse long enough for the wear, but the final length does not seem to sit well with the proportions of my body. I prefer when the length of my top stops right around my widest hip. It seems to be more pleasing on the eye and elongates my body into a slimmer shape. All in all, this blouse is made well, but I have only worn it once. After having it sit in my closet for a few months I have finally given it to my slimmer and smaller friend. I am sure she will give it much needed wear. Love, Anya

I think I have made enough Ella Tanks to last me a while. I have also managed to mess up a couple tanks, which I am blaming on fabric, and they came out smaller than intended. So I have unintentionally made enough Ella Tanks for my smaller friend as well. It's safe to say that Ella Tank is a clear win across the board. It's so simple and comfy! It is a looser fit tank, with almost a racer back and a cool pleat in the back. There are so many ways to make this tank awesome! Just look at all the great examples on here. My apologies for the quality of pictures. I took them in the morning before heading to work and even with all the lights and lamps on they still turned out blurry and dark. Nothing beats natural light! This particular version of Ella tank I made on a whim. I didn't plan it and one night I was sitting starting at a piece of beautiful lace I had leftover from a grad dress project I worked on for someone else. The lace was so pretty and it made me sad that the piece that was left was big enough to think you can do something yet small enough to figure out what it is you can work it into. I pulled out my Ella tank pattern and with some creative cutting I was able to fit the back yoke into my lace! I was ecstatic. Within minutes the idea of the tank was born. I used a very pretty cream and black print I had in my stash as the rest of my tank. The main fabric was quite sheer on its own so I decided to line it with a plan cream fabric I had in my stash. All the fabrics are some kind of poly blend and I do have an unusual amount of cream / off white fabric in my stash. I love my creams! They make great basics and are very good for lining sheer fabrics. When I am only down to one cream fabric in my stash I start to feel uncomfortable... It may be an addiction. Since I was lining the tank top I eliminated the need to finish my neckline and armholes with bias binding. I sandwiched my lace yoke in between two pieces of fabric and sewed all my armhole, neckline, yoke and shoulder seams. My tank top ended up having a very clean finish on the inside as well. The lace did not have a scalloped edge on its own and I wanted it to have a very delicate feel to it. I had a piece of lace trim in my stash that had these tiny scallops on it and was very close in color and texture to my lace. Bingo! I sewed my trim onto neckline and armhole edges of my lace in tiny zig-zag and it provided beautifully finished edges with a scalloped lace look I wanted. Pardon my bra straps hanging out in the picture above! I would normally wear the tank with a racer back or a black bra so that the straps at least match the color of the lace. I love the way this tank came out. It turned out to be one of those basic pieces with something extra that takes it above the basics without bringing it into a special occasion category.The fit is perfect and I think the pattern is very well drafted. There are so many possibilities with it! It can be a great stash buster as well. Just from looking at the pictures and writing about the tank, I am already wanting to make a few more. Love, Anya

I really should come up with a different tag for my No Buying Clothes for a Year Challenge, or a cool abbreviation… It’s just too wordy and seems bulky and takes forever to type. I toyed with Shopping Free Year, but it’s not truly reflective of the reality, because I will still buy shoes, accessories and fabric. It is also not quite Ready To Wear Free Year, because I am still wearing my RTW clothes I already have, I am just not buying more. So after thinking about it I am going to go with NBC Challenge as in Not Buying Clothes Challenge. As you can see, I am very creative when it comes to naming things . It’s been a month after I’ve officially announced NBC Challenge on my blog (truly thinking that no one would notice it!), and I think an update is in order. The great news is that I haven’t bought any clothes!!! I think it is fair to say that so far I am succeeding. I bought some socks and tights because mine seemed to wear out, and some shoes, because… shoes! Other than that, here are a few things I discovered this month: I started to really consider my sewing projects before jumping into them. My sewing time is limited, and since I don't have the liberty of buying an item just because I want it (if I can afford it), I really need to reflect on all the details of a potential make before I devote my time to it. That involves thinking about things like style, shapes, details, colors, fabric choices and how it overall fits into my life and closet. All of those considerations help me decide if it is something that I will wear and is worth spending my time on. On the same note, since my sewing time is precious, I noticed that I started to slow down in my sewing process. Weighing in on the decisions about a garment lead me to treat that garment with more care and hence with more intention when I am making it. I try to slow down and make sure that my item comes out the best it can. I still make mistakes of course, and I am sure I always will, but I do enjoy this aspect of slowing down to intentionally create the best quality item I can create at that particular time. All of that lead me to really consider what it is that I truly do wear and ultimately start thinking about my core style. I have always been interested in going through Wardrobe Architect project developed by Sarai from Colette, but I have been quite lazy and in the past I skimmed through it and did some minimal reflection which was enough to have a general idea of what I liked to wear. I am really considering following it along with Christine Haynes who has been doing the challenge and posting results on her blog. I've also been interested in trying out The Workbook from Into Mind blog. Anuschka has a plethora of ideas and tips on building a functioning wardrobe that is reflective of who you are on her blog and I can easily get lost for hours reading her blog. Those three things have been occupying my mind this month and I have to say that so far I am enjoying the NBC Challenge a lot more than I expected. I don't miss shopping yet, but I am sure there will be a weak moment in the year to come where I will. I will most definitely be sharing it! Love, Anya

Full disclaimer - this dress is a total knock off! Ever since I saw Ami's from Little Tailorless Peony Dress I was obsessed with it. It just looked so perfect. And she looks so adorable in it. It was a combination of the beautiful dress and wanting to look just as cute as Ami that I decided that I needed to have a white lace Peony Dress. The pattern is Colette's Peony Dress. I think the name is perfect for this dress. It is so delicate and beautiful, yet understated, just like a blooming peony. Also, peonies are my favorite flowers. So may be I am a little biased on the name. Reading Amy's and other dressmakers reviews, as well as having my own experience with Colette Patterns I knew that some modifications to the pattern were in order. Thankfully, the dress didn't require more than my usual alterations - lengthen the bodice, redraft the armcycle, move the darts and take in at the sides. It really sounds like a lot of work, but may be because I've done it so many times it doesn't seem that way to me anymore. I was confident with the fit after my first muslin. I followed the construction process as per the pattern instructions, but the only thing I did differently is I didn't use a neckline facing. Instead I used a self made bias tape to finish the neckline. I cut my lace pieces and fabric pieces and laid them on top of each other and treated them as one piece. It did involve some basting at the seams and darts, but it wasn't as hard as I expected it to be. For the sleeves, I used the lace on it's own. I decided to hem the dress as one piece as well. The lace and the underlining are attached at the hem, and I used a regular straight stitch on my machine. I know there was a better way to do it, but at this point my lace was starting to become quite finicky and was stretching with pressing. I don't know what it is about me and stretchy fabrics... So I decided it was for the best to attach the fabric and the lace together in a very concrete manner, hence a simple straight stitch hem. The fabric came from my local FabricLand. The underlining is a simple poly blend fabric, that is very light and not transparent at all, and the lace is a mystery blend. As it turned out it does stretch with pressing and it stretched a lot. But it also shinks immensely with wash!! I was very surprised and scared by it but thankfully I learnt it when I pre-washed the lace. It came out super shrunk and crinkly, but turned back into beautiful lace with ironing! So strange... I wonder if anyone else has seen something like that. Do share! Despite funky lace fabric, I am very happy with how this dress turned out. I've always wanted a delicate white lace dress! It's so easy to dress it up or down. I simply can not wait to don it in warmer weather with my black biker jacket and boots. Oh, to feel edgy and cool! Love, Anya