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.

Shirt Dress with Butterick Retro

B5920 was calling my name again ... it appears that I hadn't finished with it, despite having made it twice before.

My first make was exactly to pattern version A. I never wore this dress! The second involved a few alterations to convert it to a maxi with a full length placket, which I wear regularly.

Floral, Beach, Summer, Holiday ...

Happy New Year!  Hope you all ate yummy food 'til your heart was content. I know I did.

I'm looking forward to what 2017 brings, which must be much better than 2016.  I started last year sick and missed the wedding of my very good friend and I ended the year sick, for three weeks if you please!  In between that it was just a big pile of life stuff that I didn't enjoy at all.  By default the blog went into hibernation.

Life is settled again and I begun this year in Rarotonga celebrating my eldest 21st birthday on new year's eve.  Being on holiday called for drink lots of tropical cocktails

 

Fluttering Around

Kia ora!  Oh my gosh how did it get to be March already! Best I get a wiggle on then and tell you about my first make for 2016.  Introducing my flutter dress....

To be honest I had to see a few of these on the blogisphere before I went ahead and purchased the pattern. I am a Papercut fan girl and this pattern did not disappoint.

The Adventures of B5882 (Part 1)

A wee interweb search of B5882 will quickly reveal the challenges that this pattern has provided - but who doesn't like a challenge right!  However, I didn't realise this until after I had committed to making two of them for daughter #1.

As always I started with a muslin anyway, so no biggie, I would just work out all the fit issues at that stage and then enjoy the construction.

The Knit Shift Dress

I've never really thought about where I fit into the style spectrum, I just make and wear what appeals. Oh yes, I've done the whole "what's in fashion now" thing, then look back at old photos and wonder what on earth I was thinking at the time?!

Now that I've done 2.5 years of ready to wear fasting I look at my wardrobe and realise that the shift dress, or variations of it, is a 'thing' for me. This probably explains why I've made two knit shift dresses in a month.

This is Mesa, one of the patterns issued with the June 2015 edition of Seamwork. It is described as "The flirty knit shift that's as stylish as it is comfortable", and I agreed 100%. Apparently it should only take 1 hour to make. It took me longer than that but that probably because I decided to line it.

I picked up 1.5 metres of this medium weight jersey double knit from Fabric Barn specifically for this dress.  The pattern suggested light to medium weight knit fabrics with at least a 25% 4-way stretch. Personally, I think that a light weight jersey would show all the 'lumps and bumps' underneath - No Thanks!

Summer is for Maxi Dresses

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for a maxi dress ... so when Named Clothing released their latest collection 'Ritual' the Ama Cowl Neck Frock was immediately on my MUST HAVE list.

I'm not a fan of an elastic waist band but the back of the dress bodice is 'killer'!  I've not seen this before in any other pattern, so the uniqueness of the design was also a big attraction for me.

Ignore the bra straps that poke out from the top - they are not part of the frock!

Inspiration Station

It's not often I copy a RTW look to the tee.  Usually I troll through Pinterest or designer websites for inspiration on styling and the detail that leads me to what I pull together.   On one of my 'internet window shopping' sessions I came across this dress...

I thought this dress would be the ideal, easy wear, summer, work appropriate addition to my wardrobe - simple but classy.  Immediately the Belcarra top pattern came to mind - how easy would it be to simply add some length to make it a dress.

Take Two Lola!

I don't know about you, but I have developed a habit of making everything twice!  I haven't made any pattern more than twice, so I don't think I can say I have a TNT pattern, but I'm not sure what's up with this little ritual I have of putting everything in the wardrobe two by two???

Yep, so this is version two of the Lola dress by Victory Patterns, which I made earlier here.   On my first make (which I have only worn once) the shoulder/armseye area was a bit tight and while I really liked the dress it was uncomfortable to wear.  This time 'round I made a size 6 for the top and bottom.

Meet Gillian - THE. Wrap Dress

This is Gillian!  She is the new release from Muse Patterns.  When Kat asked our local sewing group if we were keen to test her new pattern, I was keen as mustard.  At that stage I had planned and cut my frankenpattern wrap dress the "Midnight Dream Coppelia", so I really wanted to sew an actual wrap dress pattern for a comparison.

Midnight Summer Coppelia

Just over a month ago, I joined The Frankenpattern Contest on pattern review and set to looking for the most appropriate patterns to mash together.  After working through a number of options I settled on a couple of Papercut Patterns which would produce my first wrap dress.

I took the skirt (and tie) from the Midnight Summer Dream, a garden party summer wrap dress, and the Coppelia, ballet style raglan sleeve wrap cardi, and morphed these into a Spring appropriate wrap dress.

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.

A Little Black Marfy Dress

A little black dress, yes I've sewn a pretty plain looking black dress, but the construction of this little dress was more than simple.  Well that's what it felt like while I was in the middle of it.

This is Marfy 3358, one of the free patterns in the 2014/15 catalogue - I see that these patterns are now available for PDF download.  I was drawn to the pattern by the style lines - the empire line taking on a chevron rather than being parallel to the ground under the bust; the bodice princess seams and the high neckline.

Marfy Shift Dress

My discovery of Marfy patterns led me to the purchase their latest catalogue, which also comes with 20 free patterns.  I figured that 20 free patterns made it well worth the investment and shipping from Italy.

I thought I would start with a nice simple shift dress.  I took a fancy to the uneven hemline with slightly curved corners, matched with a square but curved neckline.  The side darts add waist definition as well as room for the bust.

Mission Maxi Hack

The month of May was not only Me-Made-May but it was also Sew Stretchy over at The Monthly Stitch.

The idea of a nice warm knit dress for winter has been brewing away in the back of my mind for a little while - but not anything as simple as finding a pattern and getting to work.  No, no, no!  This was a long-sleeve t-shirt dress which was a combination of the Mission Maxi by Jamie Christine, a Renfrew for the scoop neck (so I didn't have to calculate the neck band) and contrasting of the Ensis Tee.  Now put that on boil and stir occasionally.

Lining the Brasilia

Did you download the FREE Brasilia Dress pattern on Christmas Day?  Well if you didn't you should do it now!  HERE's the link

Back in November last year I was able to test the pattern and I fell in love with the fish darts, well at least I think that is what they are called - they're the bust darts that stem up and out diagonally from the bottom of the rib cage.  Anyway I digress ... the pattern is unlined and recommends either using bias tape to finish the neck and armhole edges or drafting your own facing - either provides for a great finish.  I myself love a lined dress, so of course I had to make another Brasilia Dress and fully line it.  You can read all about my first dress here and changes I made to the pattern.

I was always gonna make another Brasilia Dress, but it had to be lined!  Let me start my giving you a peek at the finished dress ...

Plaid Peek-a-Boo Party

The December challenge over at The Monthly Stitch was "The Party Dress" (I know we are just about half way through January and I'm just getting this to the blog!)

I did start a formal party dress, but I've got fit issues with the bodice that I have to fix, so instead I made a completely new dress, one that I could wear on Christmas Day ... because I always, always wear a new outfit on Christmas Day.  This was most definitely one of those sew like crazy projects that I started just two days before needing to travel.

Bring on a maxi summer!

Before the Christmas holiday season hit I'd been rabbiting on about the maxi dress being a must have this summer and I'd brought more than a little bit of fabric with a maxi dress in mind.  I'd been doing a lot of thinking and stashing and NO actual doie ... well that was until the Jamie Christina patterns went on sale.

I started by sewing up a muslin in some very cheap crinkle stretch cotton I picked up at the Fabric Warehouse summer sale for just $3 p/m.  I traced the pattern off starting with a size 8 in the bust and grading out to a size 12 at the waist and hips.  I made version A, adding 1.5" to the length.  The only change I made to the muslin was to pull the hips back to a size 10 so they weren't like wings!

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.

Oh to be like Jackie O!

This is the Brasilia Dress by House of Pinheiro.  A Jackie O inspired sheath dress that Rachel produced for the Fall for Cotton sew-along.

When I first saw Rachel's dress I thought it was to die for.  The inward darts at the bust are so unique - don't they just give the best shape to the dress.