Pink Floral Sweetheart

This dress was fun but challenging at the same time. First the fun ... I found this fabric by accident while on holiday in Rarotonga earlier this year, and immediately knew it would make a lovely summer dress while still keeping within my wardrobe comfort zone ... because it was black? probably!

The challenge ... to mash together two separate patterns into one dress that looked like it was meant to be. The top is the Sewaholic Cambie pattern and the bottom is the Billy Jean pattern by Bluegingerdoll.  Both dresses I've made before quite a while ago, and well, the body has changed a little since then.


Then came the cheating ... in theory, the side seams and dart legs of the top are meant to be in the same vertical line as the skirt, right?! Hmm, did I really need to fluff with getting that right if the skirt and top are separated by a waist band and the floral print would act as a camouflage ... NO! Can you tell? NO!  #winning

With this dress I experimented a bit with the underlining. I took my silk organsa and underlined all the front pieces and the top half of all the skirt pieces.

A couple of reasons really.  I didn't want the dress to be too heavy but I did want the front to have some structure. The top half of the skirt needed to fall over my hips without showing every curve but the bottom half really didn't need it. Unfortunately I can't find any of my 'work in progress' photos to share with you :(

The dress is also fully lined, but with separate fabrics for the top and bottom.  The top half is lined with some silk crepe de chine from The Fabric Store. Something I bought a wee while ago at a good price because of colour inconsistency. No one gets to see the lining, so not a problem. The skirt is lined with some 'new to me' lining from Hawes and Freer Ltd, from their Superwash range. It is heavier than the crepe de chine which helps give another layer of fabric over the hips and butt and helps the skirt fall really nicely. It skims over the body and moves so nicely, but doesn't look bulky, and so far no static! I think I'm sold on this as a lining for skirts!

To finish the look I picked up some baby pink merino from Levana and whiped up this cute little bolero.

More photos in my Flickr album -->

Lux fabric pattern hack = little red dress!

Warning:  before you read any further you might need to go get your sun glasses and put them on!

Why?  Because I've had a bit of a mono tone, near the black end of the colour scale, kinda obsession.  Just check this out for proof!  Then this happened ...

Nope, no gradual introduction of colour over here - just jump right on in there a sew a red dress!

Well actually it's not just any read dress, it a beautifully soft wool crepe red dress.  And while the photos look bright the actual colour is more like a raspberry / ruby kinda mix.

Growing up as a kid I've got these memories of, what I now know to be, polyester crepe clothing.  I don't know what made me take a dislike to it, but it always made me shudder.  So whenever anyone mentioned crepe, I'm like, MEH!  But then the lovely MrsC said that I needed to go down to The Fabric Store and take a look at the lux wool crepe that they have in store in this really yummy raspberry.  Now if MrsC says that something is lux, then it must be - so off I went to the fabric shop ... I don't need to be told twice to go fabric shopping :-)

She wasn't wrong - this wool crepe is lux lux lux.  It's this stable woven that is light but malleable with this beautiful drape.  So you know I didn't just walk out of the shop with this one piece, oh no!  I bought some black and some beige - every colour they had actually!

Just look how beautifully it falls :-)  Have you recognised the pattern yet?  I had this idea floating around in my head for a while, but just wasn't sure what fabric I wanted to use.  So when the wool crepe jumped into my life I knew that it was just right for this dress. 

This is the Bill Jean Dress by Bluegingerdoll, which I'd made before here.  This dress looks super different after all the adjustments I made.  Here's the list:

• the inner shoulder seam was lengthened to bring it closer to the neck.  The outer shoulder seam is original and creates this lovely wee cap.
• extended the back upwards towards the neck to completely cover the back.  The original pattern has a scoop neck at the back.
• changed the darts in the skirt back and front to be pleats with the top sewn so it still sits flat below my waist.
• changed the shape of the skirt to an semi A-line shape, while maintaining the hip shaping of the pattern.
• dropped the upper chest by 1/2".

I really do like the bodice shape of the Bill Jean - the princes seams just seam to fall in all the right places.

What I'm not in love with are the armholes *face plant*.

What I should have done, is raise the underarm by 1/2" when I lowered the upper chest.  And perhaps I should have considered reshaping the front and back armhole when I extended the shoulder seam in.  I did do a muslin before I cut into this beautiful fabric, and it looked okay, but I don't think I looked close enough - I was busy looking for where the waist fell and whether my bust was fitting into the princess seams where they should and that I was okay with the partially sewn pleats.

I'll feel a lot less self-conscious with a wee cardi thrown over top ... there better already :-)

I lined this with some acetate that feels like silk rather than the usual slippery acetate stuff.  I didn't really plan the lining and just grabbed something from the stash, well actually the only light coloured stuff I had, which was this beige stripe - you can see it poking out of the back shot above.  It probably would have been better with something that had a little more weight, but oh hum it's done now!

Usually I like to wear my stuff a few times before I blog about them, so I can reconsider my thoughts that I had when I finished it.  Cause I go through this love / hate relationship with every garment I make and don't really make up my mind until I've worn it.  But I haven't worn this dress at all yet, other than to take photos.  It's still too cold here to go without stockings and this dress is too light weight.

For now I'm looking forward to summer and getting to wear this one :-)

More photos on my Flickr -->

Floral - Summer - Wiggle

This cute little baby is my first ever full on floral dress (can you believe it!), and I am super in love with it.  Yay for the gorgeous summer days we've been having lately - no hanging around in the wardrobe for this dress.

As some of you might know I'm a little obsessed with Instagram atm and this wee obsession allowed me to be one of three lucky people to get a discounted 'end of stock' pattern from Blueginerdoll.  Abbey had rebranded all her pattern packaging and was looking to off-load the last of the 'old' Billie Jean patterns.

Actually, I was sitting on the fence about the pattern cause I just wasn't sure about the shoulder straps. The discount was just enough to tip me over and I must say it hasn't disappointed.

While I was in Auckland earlier in the month I managed to get in a wee bit of fabric shopping.  This lovely cotton sateen just kept calling my name and I kept walking away saying 'I don't do floral', but in the end the colours just drew me in.  I actually bought three pieces of fabric that day and this is the only one that has made it to my sewing table.

Billie Jean is described as a wiggle dress, but I actually have a heap of room to wiggle around in.  I think the pattern is very cleaver in that it looks super body hugging, but doesn't feel that way at all.   When walking it does call for small step, especially when paired with these shoes :).

The construction methods are fabulous making it almost impossible not to be able to line up the bodice princess seams with the skirt darts.   I think I might adopt this method for other patterns now.

I lined this dress with a black cotton viole, the perfect choice for a summer dress.  I did debate with myself about the length, but went with the pattern recommendation and think that it adds to the charm of the dress.

If you are sitting on the fence about this dress, there is no reason to be any more.  I'm sure my Billie Jean will get loads of wear this summer.

More photos on my Flickr -->