My mom and I went to the Regency at the Fairmont Palliser a few weekends ago, and it was beautiful.
The hotel is old and is stunning inside, and I loved seeing all of the costumes that people were wearing. 
I made dresses for my mom and I, and I have to admit that I cut a bit close to the deadline when it came to making them... I ended up finishing my dress just a few hours before we had to leave. Fortunately, I did not have to finish it in the car on the way there, which I have heard of happening in the costuming world!

I used the pattern on the left for my dress, and the one on the right for my moms. Everything that I used for this project was stash, so it didn't cost me anything.

This first one was made out of a sheet. It is gathered at the sleeves, waist, and neckline with twine, which can be tightened or loosened so that different people could wear it. We accented it with a white ribbon at the waist. In some of the pictures you can see the twine at the sleeves. The twine is hidden when the dress is worn.

I will do another post about the dress that I wore, along with some photos from the evening at the Palliser.
~Katherine

A few weeks ago I picked up a few things for new projects. I have had a gift card from my boyfriend and his family to Fabricland for months now, so I finally got to use it! 
The first thing that I grabbed, which I was originally planning for, was a wool blend for a 1940's pattern that I have been wanting to make since the beginning of the year.

I am thrilled with the fabric that we found, so I will be making both the dress and the matching blazer with it some time in the near future. I also picked up all of the things that I will need to finish the dress: a zipper, belt buckle, and some buttons.

The next thing that I picked up I am very excited about! American Duchess just released their new pattern, inspired by the Red Dress from Outlander. I was impressed by their last patterns, so I didn't hesitate to grab this one. 

It comes with patterns for a separate top and skirt, along with a pannier pattern, which I will be putting to good use! Another thing that I am thrilled to have picked up was a dress form! I have wanted a dress form for ages, so I ended up choosing that for my grad gift. 

The last thing that I got was actually a gift. This is one of the most amazing gifts that I have gotten, and I love how it looks in my little sewing room.

A family friend was getting rid of a few things, and she gave me this beautiful sewing machine! Since it came with all of its extra parts, I am hoping to be able to get it working so that I can sew with it.
I have been working on a few things to get ready for grad lately, but once grad is over, I will start working on some new projects that I have been planning. Also, we went to the Jane Austen ball last weekend, so stay tuned to see some photos from it!
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~Kate

I made this dress using a vintage-inspired Burda pattern. I used a patterned cotton, and I would love to make this pattern again, just as a blouse with a peplum. 

The pattern includes many different types of sleeves as well as collars and other additions to the dress, so you could make many variations of the dress, which I really appreciate. The collar of the dress was really difficult to figure out, but after doing it once, I think it will be easier next time. I would recommend the pattern, but be aware that the instructions aren't very clear all of the time, but with the drawings and some common sense, it is possible to figure it out.

~K

The reason why last weeks blog post was pretty late because I was on vacation in Mexico over the spring break. I loved travelling much more than I thought that I would (I have never really been out of the country, so I was a bit nervous), and I got a ton of inspiration while walking through the markets and sitting on the beach.

My family history is actually from South America, so it wasn't as big of a culture shock as I thought it might be. A lot of the language and humor, etc, that we encountered there were pretty reminiscent of my grandparents, and it was really great to connect more with my roots. 

I loved all of the colour that we saw on the buildings and in the clothes, and I think that I will be bringing some of that into my work more than I have in the past. I normally gravitate toward more darker, muted colours, and I am very excited to start trying to use more colour. I was also inspired by some of the costumes that the dancers wore when we saw some of them at the resort. Since I have been planning and drawing out my ideas that I will be submitting to MakeFashion next year, I have been using some of these new ideas for it.

I really loved the experience, and I am hoping that I will get lots more opportunities to travel in the future. I can't wait to use some of the colours and shapes from Mexico in my future designs!
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~K