Since the garden is really taking off, I thought I'd bring a small piece of it inside.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Home-grown beauties
Since the garden is really taking off, I thought I'd bring a small piece of it inside.
Monday, 30 January 2012
I heart sewing
It's true, I do love sewing. And I have found the perfect little necklace to prove it.
<3
<3
Red dress dress
No, it's not a typo. It really is a dress dress!
See?
Dresses:
(For some reason that last one always uploaded sideways. I tried. Anyway.)
Dress!
I wasn't going to make any more of these dresses for a while, but there was NO WAY I was going to delay making this gorgeous fabric into something. I bought the end piece - 2m - and luckily it was just enough. I had to cut the skirt out sideways though. The fabric wasn't wide enough to have the pattern running vertically.
Ok, so there are sunglasses and shoes and bags all over it as well. But I'm calling it my Dress Dress.
Alterations: 2 darts to the back. I've always struggled a bit to get the bodice of these dresses fitting well. I finally figured it out.
See?
Dresses:
(For some reason that last one always uploaded sideways. I tried. Anyway.)
Dress!
I wasn't going to make any more of these dresses for a while, but there was NO WAY I was going to delay making this gorgeous fabric into something. I bought the end piece - 2m - and luckily it was just enough. I had to cut the skirt out sideways though. The fabric wasn't wide enough to have the pattern running vertically.
Ok, so there are sunglasses and shoes and bags all over it as well. But I'm calling it my Dress Dress.
Alterations: 2 darts to the back. I've always struggled a bit to get the bodice of these dresses fitting well. I finally figured it out.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
My collection of stuff
I've noticed a few "my collection of..." posts around the traps lately. I couldn't decide which collection of my own to feature. So here they all are. (Shameless self-promotion? What are you talking about?)
Samantha Wills jewellery.
Latest piece, "Gatsby Girl ring," love it!
Long necklaces with pendants
My two favourite girls, Cameo and Marilyn
Fragrances. I love gardenia, jasmine, vanilla, rose and violet.
This label is beautiful, and luckily the perfume is delicious as well! (The entire range is fantastic... it took me FOREVER to choose).
Fabric I may never use but which I bought "in case I use it for something"
Red lipsticks
Books, books, books. (And one of those weird puppet things on strings. You can't see it but he's wearing a little black hat. I don't collect these puppets though.)
Nail polish(es)
Marilyn movies
And of course my favourite thing to collect is pictures of Molly.
"Yay! The wardrobe is OPEN!"
"I am
totally
going
in."
The end.
Samantha Wills jewellery.
Latest piece, "Gatsby Girl ring," love it!
Long necklaces with pendants
My two favourite girls, Cameo and Marilyn
Fragrances. I love gardenia, jasmine, vanilla, rose and violet.
This label is beautiful, and luckily the perfume is delicious as well! (The entire range is fantastic... it took me FOREVER to choose).
Fabric I may never use but which I bought "in case I use it for something"
Red lipsticks
Books, books, books. (And one of those weird puppet things on strings. You can't see it but he's wearing a little black hat. I don't collect these puppets though.)
Nail polish(es)
Marilyn movies
And of course my favourite thing to collect is pictures of Molly.
"Yay! The wardrobe is OPEN!"
"I am
totally
going
in."
The end.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Wildflowers in water colours dress
Finally I am back in action. Apologies for the lack of posts lately, I have had some health woes this week! But now here I am, and with a new dress I've almost finished to show you all.
The back of this dress buttons to the waist, but I don't have the buttons (or button holes) done yet, so there are no back shots so far. This was made with McCalls 4026, which as far as I can tell, is no longer available.
You may also notice it's not a dress pattern. But I love the style of the bust. Probably more suited to stretch fabrics, but I inserted some elastic at the sides of the bust, and it sits perfectly well. I'm thinking a waist-tie or something around the bodice might be needed though. Also, I didn't plan to have that orange butterfly in the front, it was just a happy accident.
And how amazing is this fabric?? It's pure cotton, from good old Lincraft. It's rather sheer so I've lined it in white cotton. This is what it looked like before I turned it into a dress.
And just because I like the way they turned out, here are some more photos of me wearing my beautiful new dress. (Check out my flowers behind me! They're not dead!)
The back of this dress buttons to the waist, but I don't have the buttons (or button holes) done yet, so there are no back shots so far. This was made with McCalls 4026, which as far as I can tell, is no longer available.
You may also notice it's not a dress pattern. But I love the style of the bust. Probably more suited to stretch fabrics, but I inserted some elastic at the sides of the bust, and it sits perfectly well. I'm thinking a waist-tie or something around the bodice might be needed though. Also, I didn't plan to have that orange butterfly in the front, it was just a happy accident.
And how amazing is this fabric?? It's pure cotton, from good old Lincraft. It's rather sheer so I've lined it in white cotton. This is what it looked like before I turned it into a dress.
And just because I like the way they turned out, here are some more photos of me wearing my beautiful new dress. (Check out my flowers behind me! They're not dead!)
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Vogue pencil skirt
As I'm not really loving my own adapted pencil skirt pattern, I decided to buy one.
This skirt is made with Vogue 8697.
On the pattern envelope it looks a bit fiddly and tricky, but it's actually very simple. It's just time-consuming to put all those pieces together for the waistband and side panels. Rather daringly I decided to try and make it exactly as per instructions. Of course that didn't work.
Alterations I made:
Tapering the side front and back seams (not the actual side seams). The pattern envelope describes the skirt as tapered, but from the hips down it seems like a simple straight skirt to me. So I tapered the seams from the hip line to lower edge.
The original seam is on the right.
Waistband. I took about 3" / 7.5cm off the waistband. This is not unusual. The skirt is tapered from hip to waistband, but the actual waistband is straight. This is fine if your hips are curved and your waist is straight, but I have 11" difference between my hip and waist measurement and no straight lines on my anywhere. I usually have to take in waistlines. I only reduced the waistband from the top edge, tapering it to meet with the skirt.
The original seam is on the left.
As you can see, it is quite gappy on Doris here, and much more fitted afterward.
And here is how I styled it.
There seems to be a very large space between the hemline and the shoes, but I actually have Doris set up at my height. (My legs must have looked great!)
This skirt is made with Vogue 8697.
On the pattern envelope it looks a bit fiddly and tricky, but it's actually very simple. It's just time-consuming to put all those pieces together for the waistband and side panels. Rather daringly I decided to try and make it exactly as per instructions. Of course that didn't work.
Alterations I made:
Tapering the side front and back seams (not the actual side seams). The pattern envelope describes the skirt as tapered, but from the hips down it seems like a simple straight skirt to me. So I tapered the seams from the hip line to lower edge.
The original seam is on the right.
Waistband. I took about 3" / 7.5cm off the waistband. This is not unusual. The skirt is tapered from hip to waistband, but the actual waistband is straight. This is fine if your hips are curved and your waist is straight, but I have 11" difference between my hip and waist measurement and no straight lines on my anywhere. I usually have to take in waistlines. I only reduced the waistband from the top edge, tapering it to meet with the skirt.
The original seam is on the left.
As you can see, it is quite gappy on Doris here, and much more fitted afterward.
And here is how I styled it.
There seems to be a very large space between the hemline and the shoes, but I actually have Doris set up at my height. (My legs must have looked great!)
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