The Winter is Coming dress

No, this dress does not have anything to do with Game of Thrones. But it is the last summery dress I'll be making this year.

 

 I usually make at least one coat every winter. Last year I got carried away with summery dresses and made nothing else (almost) all year. By the time we got through winter and summer came around again, I was kind of annoyed at myself.

So here is the last summer dress of the year.

I absolutely love the fabric I've used for the bodice. The print is just beautiful. I have a feeling it would also look amazing with a skirt in a rusty red colour. I don't completely love it with the blue skirt of this dress, but it will do.

For some reason the skirt came out really tight. It fitted really well at the waist but there was a lot of seam allowance along the zip, which I had to let out. I haven't tried sitting in it yet so I'm going to assume it will not actually split open when I do.

I have crazy cat lady hair in these photos. I started with my hair in a bun, decided it was boring, so I took it out and it just fluffed up everywhere. I still have one short side from when I shaved half my head a while ago; at the rate it's growing it should be shoulder length by the end of the year.

And just to prove I really am going to make wintery stuff for winter, here is a little sneak peek of a coat I've started on.

F*ck off summer. There is velvet and fur and silk in my future and I must wear them.

Movie 'college' dresses

I wasn't supposed to buy any new fabric, having accumulated a lifetime's supply in my sewing room, but I couldn't let this beautiful stuff pass by. 

It was called Movie College print but I'm pretty sure they meant collage.

I thought I'd make one dress but ended up having enough for two! How terrible! Not!

First dress.

 

I used this New Look pattern for both bodices. For the first dress, I used the bodice from view D. I just used a long rectangle for the skirt and gathered it onto the bodice. It's a really easy, cheaty way to make a skirt.

 

I love how the print sits across the bust. I actually didn't plan that.

Then I used this gorgeous pattern I found in an op-shop to make a jacket to wear with it. 

 

 

The pattern of the jacket is boxy and hip-length, so I cropped it at the waist, and added a couple of wide darts at the back to make it more fitted. I also lowered the neckline by a couple of inches.

Dress number two.

For this I used the bodice from view B. I can't remember where I got the pencil skirt pattern from but it's pretty basic anyway.

I made the skirt in brown, as black was too harsh. The black in the 'college' print is actually faded to brown, so the brown skirt works better.

Oh, this? I'm just practicing my over-the-shoulder-and-over-the-glasses gaze. You know.

xx

Sew buttons?

This is the sister dress to the Peonies Dress, made using the same Simplicity pattern 1873.

I love the print of this fabric! Because the print is so tiny I wanted to use a very simple pattern and let the fabric speak for itself. 

The dress, for some reason, came out very tight at the waist. The peonies dress fits pretty well so I have no idea why this one was different. It fits, but it's best if I don't eat a lot while I'm wearing it. Maybe I should call it the Diet Dress.

This was made back in June... I can't believe my hair was that long! Sadly it is quite a few inches shorter now. Two years of hair dye and bleach, bleach and more bleach have taken their toll and I had to give it a chop *sob*

Thank you for the kind comments on my blog re-launch! I'm still getting the hang of things again and will endeavour to reply and comment as much as possible.

xx

1940's robe in satin and lace

Over the past 3 years I have regularly pulled this fabric out of a plastic bag, looked at it, despaired, and put it away again. It's an insanely slippery satin which feels like silk and I knew it would be a complete pain to cut out and sew.

Last weekend, inspiration finally hit.

 The pattern is Butterick 5152

 

The fabric is not exactly 1948-appropriate, but I think it works pretty well!1970's does 40's??

I didn't have quite enough fabric for the length, so I used some black lace for the yoke detail and for a band around the lower edge of the skirt. Apart from that I made no alterations.

These close up photos show the colour most accurately - it's quite a magenta/purple tone and not as pink as it looks in some of these photos.

I LOVE these sleeves. They're incredibly full and billow around like mad. They remind me of a wizard's cape/cloak.

 

The lace is stretchy and adds a lot of weight - perfect for twirling about and sweeping dramatically up and down the hallway (or anywhere really)

Oh! And my hair is purple! I spent two days bleaching the black out of it, dyeing it a permanent purple colour, banging my head against the wall because it didn't work, and then covering up the lot with Paintbox Purple Haze. Success! 

My hair is now quite fluffy because of the bleach but I like being fluffy.

 

The End.

 

So lately....

I have....

Glitterized my new shoes

The shoes are Nude shoes - style name is Mercury

The heel detail on these shoes was gold (yuk) before I took to them...

...with my new favourite nail polish...

...which I am using on everything I can find lately...

Woken up with an awesome instant mullet this morning

 

Scored some beautiful Christmas baubles from Jay

And swanned around in my new Christmas dress on Christmas day

Dress - Hell Bunny from Mod Cloth. Arrived with one waist tie 6 inches shorter than the other and one of the buttons at the back (the straps are adjustable) popped off the first time I wore it.  

Very annoying.

Now I am on holidays and for once I am not sick, do not have to move house - I have no cares. I hope everyone has had a relaxing and happy holidays.

x