Challenge #6: Simple Dress Challenge!

Welcome to Stitch Once, Rip Twice's second challenge of 2014!  After our last Simple Top Challenge, which had more participation than the last few combined, we voted on a few different options!

Overwhelmingly, the members of Stitch Once, Rip Twice voted in favor of one choice.  May I present the...

The Rules

1. Your simple dress can be for yourself or someone else, and there's no restriction to which pattern, fabric, or style!
2. It can be made from scratch or refashioned, just as long as you use your sewing skills.
3. Share anything you would like on your blog or on the group's Facebook page along the way.  That includes patterns, techniques, inspiration, project ideas, problems, and in-progress pictures.
4. Have your finished dress done and posted by June 15th either on your personal blog or on the Facebook page.  The week after the deadline, I'll put together a wrap-up post with everyone's finished garments so we can all see!

Also, if you have a blog, post the button above by grabbing the code below!  Thanks to Scooter for designing our button.  :)

<a href="http://www.vintagezest.com/2014/04/challenge-6-simple-dress-challenge.html" title="Vintage Zest"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-CNXjvb9WxZH-jkUQoHVTpVQdd9J5Uym8UjU_CKTn03_laUttG3AdGwcyI3QFeYel1PkTrtpNKDYP3oKNBf95BvwNSvqN-JiW7hvem9I_IP3c53Okf9oL_9IEYZ3L29_oqLqhNaA7ad0/s1600/Simple+Dress+Challenge.png" alt="Simple Dress Challenge Announcement on Diane's Vintage Zest!" style="border:none;" width="200" height="200"/></a>

Usually, I show a few inspiration images for a particular garment, but this challenge is a simple dress, which could be just about everything!!!  Instead, I will share a few collages of the patterns from my collection, plus a couple of ideas that I am kicking around right now.

I have a whopping 56 dresses in my huge pattern collection, about half of which I definitely don't want to sew because the pattern is too intricate, ugly (I received some for free), or for the winter months so I wouldn't be able to wear it right away!  Here are a few patterns that I have been mulling over...

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Challenge #5: A Simple Top!

Welcome to our first challenge of 2014!  It is a brand new year for our sewing group and if you don't know about us yet, click here to learn about Stitch Once, Rip Twice.  You'll find some general information about us, how to join, and links to our past challenges.  Fun!

For our last Mad About Plaid Challenge, we only had a few members finish projects in time for the round-up, so we decided to make things a bit easier this time.  The next assignment for our sewing group members is the...

The Rules

1. Your simple top can be for yourself or someone else, and there's no restriction to which pattern, fabric, or style!
2. It can be made from scratch or refashioned, just as long as you use your sewing skills!
3. Share anything you would like on your blog or on the group's Facebook page along the way.  That includes patterns, techniques, inspiration, project ideas, problems, and in-progress pictures.
4. Have your finished garment done and posted by March 15th either on your personal blog or on the Facebook page.  The week after the deadline, I'll put together a wrap-up post with everyone's finished garments so we can all see!

Also, if you have a blog, post the button above by grabbing the code below!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.vintagezest.com/2014/02/challenge-5-simple-top.html" title="Vintage Zest"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2dM4UXb-WZ2Uc_X5CABEjhB5rIStsDRh02YmefstnUQ_83HSSawtm38o4ql0hzmtY4Onb0Nm4XvvBRiOh1_FVWZbQEnUS6xxb4f8Mp2ThhrtFnWqUMM0SK61FQtiHP7TteQ2rd7enmbM/s1600/Simple+Top+Challenge+Button.png" alt="Vintage Zest" style="border:none;" width="200" height="200"/></a></div>

Normally, I would show a few inspiration images, but it's really not difficult to come up with a good idea for a simple top!  Instead, I will share a few collages of the patterns from my collection, plus a couple of ideas that I am kicking around right now.

I have about twelve tops in my pattern collection, half of which I definitely don't want to sew because the pattern is too intricate, or just plain ugly.  As you may remember, I have been gifted patterns in the past, which is why I still own them!  The patterns below are in my "no" pile.

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Mad About Plaid Challenge Round-Up!

Hello again!

Some of you might have thought to yourself... what happened to Stitch Once, Rip Twice?  I posted about our Mad About Plaid Challenge and then I shared with you the plans that I had to make a coat.

And then...

...a big fat nothing.  Yep, the holidays came around, and there was complete radio silence on the blog, at least about sewing!  Since this is the first year of my blog, I was completely unaware about how busy I would be to blog/work/shop for gifts/sew/celebrate.  It seems like I am not the only one who was short on time, because we only had four members (including myself) who had time to sew something!

Stitch Once, Rip Twice members did participate in a small holiday swap, which I posted about.  I was set to share my own project last week, but instead I had a mini rant last week when I lost my pictures. Oh well!

It's long overdue, but I really wanted to share the other projects that everyone else made for our challenge!

Mad About Plaid Challenge Round-Up!

This project from Amy at SewNBows one is completely different than what we have had before...

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1 year Blogiversary & New Plans for 2014!

Yesterday marked exactly a year since I started the blog!  No party or big hoopla mostly because all of the holiday plans in real life mean that I have been so crazy busy.

This little blog of mine has grown so far beyond my expectations and I would love to take this time to reflect on what is in store for the blog this upcoming year, and some new posts that I hope to put into effect soon!  I'd like to think of this post as my public New Year's Resolution for Vintage Zest.  :)

Some Blogiversary Tres Leches cake from Picca!  Yum!

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I will share some of my ideas for the upcoming year, but first here are...

My Current Weekly Posts

Monday - Recipe Day!

Possibly my favorite posts of the week, so they're staying put on Mondays.  :)

Tuesday - Do Tell Tuesday link party

Remember to link up every week and have the chance to be featured by any four of our blogs!

Wednesday & Thursday - Original content

You may see sewing, organization, DIY, or tutorial posts 

Friday - Weekly Wrap-ups!

All of the fun adventures, food, and fun from the week.  :)

Saturday - Shop Small Saturday Showcase

Following up on my 25 Days of Handmade Gifts series, we will be having lots of great small businesses with beautiful local, handmade goods and interviews with their fabulous makers!

Sunday - Sunday Synopsis & Stumped on Sundays

Saturday Synopsis posts will now be on Sundays, and they will be exactly the same as before.  Now, what is Stumped on Sundays?

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Mad About Plaid Challenge Plans!

This weekend, I spent Saturday with a friend and not only did we made some delicious handpies, she helped me to figure out the design for my next sewing project.  I was a little iffy on whether or not I liked my existing ideas, and all I needed was a thumbs-up from her.  Yay!

So, here are my plans for our Mad About Plaid Challenge!

In our announcement post, I included a bunch of inspiration photos for us all.  For some reason, I forgot to include my favorite of the runway looks: Coats!  Shame on me because they really are cute, but I just went back to edit the post.  :)

I especially adore the first and third looks!

For the fabric, I perused my entire fabric stash and only found a purple plaid flannel.  Not exactly what I was looking for...

Then, I remembered that I bought some clothing to refashion for $1 each from the swap meet.  Remember my Pink Portrait Blouse from the Refashioning Challenge?  That was one of my $1 finds and, lucky me, there was a plaid jacket in the box!

To incorporate another trend, I also bought some pleather on sale last weekend to mix with my jacket.  I'm thinking about using it for elbow patches and for the top half of the jacket, but I'm not sure if I will be able to Franken-pattern it very well.

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Announcement: Mad About Plaid Challenge!

It's that time again!  We have a brand new Stitch Once, Rip Twice challenge, and it's our last one of the year!  If you don't know about our sewing group, click here for more information and to read about our past challenges.

I'm always so excited to announce the winner of our member vote, and this time we had a definite favorite.  A few of the top contenders included making a holiday party dress and using embellishments to zhuzh up a garment.  This time the members of Stitch Once, Rip Twice will be incorporating one of the most popular trends on the Fall/Winter 2013 runways:

Plaid!!!

Yes, that's right! We are all...

The Rules

1. Your garment can be for yourself or someone else, and there's no restriction to what type (i.e. dress, blouse, trousers, etc.).
2. The garment can be made from scratch or refashioned, just as long as you use your sewing skills!
3. Share anything you would like on your blog or on the group's Facebook page along the way.  That includes patterns, techniques, inspiration, project ideas, problems, and in-progress pictures.
4. Have your finished garment done and posted by December 31st either on your personal blog or on the Facebook page.  The week after the deadline, I'll put together a wrap-up post with everyone's finished garments so we can all see!

If you have a blog, post the button above so your readers can join along too!

Lastly, to get the creative juices flowing, I rounded up a bunch of gorgeous looks that may just inspire some of our final garments!

Dresses

Plaid in many different colors, scales, and prints can be found in these beautiful dresses.  There are also a variety of sleeve lengths, hemlines, and silhouettes.  Some are more tailored while others are more draped and easy fitting.  The one thing in common?  All of them are impeccably sophisticated!

Source

Tops

There were a variety of tops that utilized lightweight fabrics to more structured wools.  Most of these mixed are with solid colors and have dramatically different silhouettes.  The colors and plaid patterns are so unique for each piece, that they all easily dress up a plain black pencil skirt or pants!

P.S. - You know how much I love the peplum, so the red number is calling my name!

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