I had just stepped off a plane in Berlin. I was running on four hours of sleep, but I was on a mission…
I had gone to Berlin to visit friends for a few days, but fabric and yarn stores were also on the agenda!
I dropped my bag off at 8:30 am, met up with a friend for breakfast, and by 10am I was on my way to my first fabric store, Hüco Stoffe.
From the outside this fabric store doesn’t look like much, but on the inside it’s a magical, fabric paradise stocked with long rows of every fabric imaginable!
I had no plans or list of projects I wanted to make. I was just going, which can be a very dangerous thing for a #fabricaddict , but I did give myself a guideline:
I would only buy fabrics that were unique, and knew I wouldn’t be able to get at my home fabric store.
So, what happened? What happened was I spent three hours walking back and forth in front of their faux-leather section debating whether I should buy it or not. Even though it does fit into the categories of “unique“ and “can’t get at home“, faux-leather isn’t a material I would normally jump on to work with.
I saw this textured, creme faux-leather first. I was drawn to it immediately. I thought, maybe it could be a cool biker jacket, but that’s when I discovered a metallic, baby blue leather - that would be the biker jacket. So, what would the cream leather be…
It took three hours, but I came out of that store with a plan. Mccall’s had just release their new spring patterns, and there was one dress, the Cora Dress: a little form fitting, empire waisted dress with a slit up the leg. That was it, and I was going to make it out of white faux-leather.
I made a muslin to make sure it would fit first. According to pattern I should have been a size 12 on top and it put me over a size 14 (the largest size) at the hips. I decided to add 1/4“ at the hips and go from there.
The bodice came out too big, but the skirt came out fine. I went down to a 10 at the bust, and also pinched out a bit of excess fabric at the top of the princess seams.
Here are the alterations I made for the finished dress:
Size 10 bust graded out to a size 12 at the waist
Graded out to 1/4“ beyond size 14 at the hips
Extended the skirt 9“
Lengthened the slit
This dress is probably one of the sexiest articles of clothing I’ve ever made. I love the very feminine, curve accentuating cut of the dress juxtaposed with the durability of the leather. I feel like this is probably what Superwoman wears when she’s incognito, because it’s like a suit of armor disguised as a summer dress.
I dared myself to go to a new place with this project, and I’m so happy I did! I learned a lot and it pushed my boundaries. Not to mention, it’s added a whole new element to my handmade wardrobe. A a new door of ideas and possibilities has been opened! I wonder what’s going to come next!
I do have some of this faux-leather left…I’m thinking a matching bag, or a mini backpack would be cute!
Happy Making!
Bella
Tips for working with faux-leather:
use a seam roller to press seams open (I learned this watching the Great British Sewing Bee!)
stitch over tissue paper (I used the tissue scraps I had from the pattern) so your foot won’t stuck on the sticky leather.
use iron-on hem tape to finish hems
make sure to put a cloth over the leather when ironing