Eowyn's Green Dress part One

One of the many dresses that I want to make for myself is Eowyn's green dress from "The Two Towers". I decided that I would make it for my birthday. That would give me enough time to work on it at a leisurely pace and also make allowance for any mistakes that I might make. So I started doing research on it and looking for fabric. I soon realized that this wasn't going to be the easiest thing to make. There aren't any patterns that are exactly like the dress so I'd have to do some tweaking to the patterns that I already have. Simplicity has a pattern that is clearly made to look like the dress, but it is still not exactly like the dress in the movie. So I will use it as a starting point. But first things first. I will do the same  dress with cheaper fabric and make any changes that need to be made. This way I won't be as likely to mess up the nicer fabric that I'm hoping to get later on. So while the rest of the family is at market today I will be tweaking, cutting, and writing notes. What a fun way to spend the day. :)

Sewing

 As I said in my previous post the shed is more or less finished. So for the last month I've been sewing. I made curtains for the shed windows, a dress and shirt for myself and a skirt and shirt for Liberty. Now I'm gathering all the stuff that I need to make Timmy's birthday present. I can hardly wait 'till I have every thing that  I need and can start sewing it! I tried making the same outfit for him last year but I didn't like the results.The outfit doesn't match up with the picture in  my head or the picture in the movie. So I put it in my box of "in a pinch it will do" costumes. I'd tell y'all what it'll look like but I know that some of my siblings read my blog. :) Here are pics of the dress and shirt that I made for myself.

Simplicity pattern #3673

This picture shows the bodice darts a little better then the photo does. I made view C.

Front of the dress.

The back of the dress.

 I made this dress exactly as the pattern said to. I don't usually make the clothes to look exactly like the picture on the pattern envelope. I almost always use the pattern as a starting point for a completely different look. That is what I did with this shirt.

Simplicity pattern #2249

What the shirt is supposed to look  like.

The sleeves that I wanted the shirt to have.

 The pattern is for a short sleeved, tunic style shirt that zips up the back. The neckline is supposed to have a notch in it and there's also supposed to be a ruffle that goes from the neckline down the front of the bodice to the bodice/skirt seam. I had read reviews that said this pattern tends to run a size larger than what you measure. So I decided to make this a pull over shirt with no zipper, no "neckline notch", ties, and 3/4 length sleeves. These are the results of my alterations.

The front of the finished shirt.

The back of the shirt.

It looks exactly like I wanted it to. :-) Thanks Sara for modeling them for me!

My Sewing Room

One of my jobs for this year was cleaning the shed behind the house. I can now say that
it is almost done. It is close enough to being done that I've been able to do some sewing. Woohoo! The only thing left is to finish putting down the peel-and-stick tile. I don't have any "before" pictures. Even if I did I wouldn't post them. That's how messy the shed was. :) But I do have "after" pictures. So this is what the shed looks like now that it's been cleaned and organized.

My sewing space.

I plan to turn the table into a ironing board.

                                  The loft. This is where I keep the bins full of material
                                       and the sewing machines that I don't often use.  

Carlson family storage space. I'm thinking about putting some sort of doors on these shelves and then painting them with blackboard paint. Keep it looking neat and tidy while having a good use for it.