Every year as the Holiday season approach, I am tempted to give into marketing temptation and have a new dress. Since I became hooked on the sewing machine, this is a home-made version I’ve been opting for! I have just tested the Claudia pattern, created by French blogger Lisa of Make My Lemonade. At about the same time, I came across the perfect glittery fabric to make the best out of the pattern and be sure to have a unique look on Christmas Eve. Follow me at The Fairmont, the historic SF hotel, and at Marcus Neiman with its big ass Christmas tree…

Big ass Christmas tree it is!

Seeing how everything needs to be bigger here in the United States then everywhere else never seems to amaze me. Proof is on the subject of Christmas trees. It seems every major place in SF is competing to have the most outrageous green pine dweller to impress its costumer. And ornements too have to be super sized! At this little game, the historical hotel of SF, the Fairmont, is pretty good. That’s where we started our photoshoot.

But Marcus Neiman’s on Union Square beat him flat out. even bigger than our good old Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Well, at least I believe so, I haven’t been there in a long time.

Here are images of the finished dress then the explanations on its modifications.

At the Fairmont, with the It crowd

Off to the classy department store we go

I was sure we could come up with crazier ideas for photos… Wish granted!

 

The right pattern for a very busy fabric

The fabric chosen had two major point to be taken into account to sew it well:

• A very busy fabric >>> lace, gold, trims… this fabric had a lot going on. A simple pattern with a minimum of stitching will leave all the beauty to the design without it being too much.
• A horizontal pattern with a sense >>> you must cut it so that everything is parallel, paying attention to the lace direction (more attractive if it points downwards).

 

The ideal candidate turned out to be Claudia from Wear Lemonade (in French only so far). It’s originally a sportswear jumpsuit, I wanted to bring a somewhat japanese flavor to it, using it’s kimono sleeves the right way…

I had seen on My Dress Made a very nice dress version of the pattern. It seemed like the perfect idea for my project.

 

you can see on the picture here the top part from the Claudia pattern, combined with a straight skirt I patterned from one of my dresses.

I drop the idea of the waist elastic, replaced by a silk tie I found more elegant for the occasion.

I am already envisioning bold pattern hacks of this guy, as a pant suit, long skirt etc. It’s both figure flattering and easy to sew!

What about you? What did you make for this Holiday season?

La bise

Alicia