Tag Archives: Dress

Wedgwood blue damask, with brass zips

21/09/2012 12:05 am \ 50 Comments \

A new dressy-wess!  This is dress 109 from the
Burdastyle magazine issue 09/2008, part of the Pattern Pyramid spoils that I had my clutches on for One Glorious Week!  I did manage to trace off a couple more of the treasures within (hehehe) before sending it off on its way to gladden the hearts of
new and eager seamsters….

Brocades and damasks rich in surface texture have been popping up on the runways; and exposed zips have been hot hot
hot for a few years now… so my new dress is fabulously current, ticking two
trend boxes in one neat little package. 
Trendiness doesn’t usually power my wardrobe choices, I tend to do my
own thing….  but it does feel nice
to have something that is the dernier cri every so often, oui?  Oh oui!
above: at left, glossy gold damask at Marchesa; at right; Balmain damask jacket and shirt,  heavily textured Azzedine Alaia skirt.  both pictures from Vogue Australia magazine

The damask from Fabulous Fabrics was a gift to me from Sam, for last
Christmas.  The delicate lace-like figuring
against a rather divine background of pale Wedgwood blue whispers “luxury” to
me; bringing to my mind the type of expensive upholstery that would fit right
into a chic Parisian salon.  I
think it contrasts beautifully against the slightly industrial feel of the heavy brass zips that I used for the pockets and the front opening.  Shimmering luxury and tarnished toughness: together in one dress.  I love the clash.

The dress is completely lined with coffee-coloured
polyacetate lining also from Fabulous Fabrics, and I bought the heavy-duty brass zips in Spotlight, of lengths reasonably
close enough to those stipulated in the pattern.  Initially I was disappointed I could not find zips with pale blue tape
to match the colour of the fabric more closely, but in Perth you take what you
can get, haberdashery wise.  I
counted myself super lucky to find four matching ones! And I came to like the white; how it holds its own; clean
and fresh against the delicacy of the blue and the gleam of the brass. 
The three pocket zips are all jeans zips, and a touch
longer than called for in the pattern, dictating that I cut my pockets all a bit wider.  That long centre-front, open-ended zip is 10cm short, but I opted to not hem my dress correspondingly 10cm
shorter, ahem!  I hemmed the skirt
to my tastes, longer than the zip.  I’m OK with that!
I left off the belt loops, so I can choose to wear it with or without a belt, whichever I so desire  🙂  I like it equally both ways.

The three pockets are all perfectly functional, but
the zip
teeth on those hip pockets are on the scratchy side against my tender skin. And the breast
pocket would look strange with anything bulkier than a credit card or maybe a
single slender hanky inside.  That
one is pretty much purely decorative, although I have completed it to be a
perfect self-contained little pocket. 
I cannot bear fake details in clothes, like zips that go nowhere and pockets with no pocket bags that are sewn shut.  Loathe that.

I liked the instruction to topstitch closely along each side of each seam, and followed it.  A subtle detail, and adds a bit of extra something…

The fabric is gorgeous, but I found
during construction it is the sort that finds snags on fingernails that you
could have sworn were perfectly smooth! 
:S  so I will just have to wear and
wear and wear my dress and thoroughly enjoy it for as long as I can!
Later edit: I added a full-length zip placket to the centre opening… those zip teeth are sharp against the tender tummy skin!

Details:
Dress; Burdastyle magazine 09/2008, dress 109, in a pale
Wedgewood-blue damask
Belt; Country Road, from yonks ago
Shoes; akiel, from an op shop

Pattern
Description:
Fully
lined, sheath dress with high stand-up collar, princess seamed front with a
centre front opening by full-length, exposed, open-ended zip, inseam hip pockets
and single slanted breast pocket all with exposed zip closure.
Pattern
Sizing:
European
sizes 34-42; I made the size 38
Did
it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished
sewing it?
Yes.
Were
the instructions easy to follow?
Yes, in
my opinion the instructions are absolutely excellent!
What
did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
The pattern as is … there was barely any shaping, and when I tried on the basted dress and looked at my reflection in the mirror the words “Easter Egg” popped inexorably into my mind.  I looked like an egg!  Not the image I really wanted to evoke, so I made alterations so the dress skimmed closely to my figure.  I’m very happy with the shape of the dress now, though  🙂
I really love the look of that double topstitching on either side of the seams.
The
instructions on lining the dress are really excellent; an elegant and tidy
solution to lining a dress that I am sure I will refer to for other lined
dresses in the future.
Fabric
Used:
Damask
Pattern
alterations or any design changes you made:
There
was re-fitting aplenty necessary to transform it from a cocoon to a shapely dress …
The instructions direct you to topstitch closely to either side of the seamlines; I was glad I delayed this stitching until after basting all the seams up to check the fit, and I recommend to anyone else to do the same!  
I did
not transfer my fitting alterations to the lining pieces.  Since it is quite blousy on me, there is a bit of extra
wearing ease in there, always a good idea in a lining.
A
minor consideration, but one you have to take into account before cutting the
pocket pieces: since the zips are fully exposed, the length of the zips you buy
strictly dictates the size of the pocket openings.  There were only a few limited zip lengths available to me,
so I cut the pocket pieces in sizes to exactly fit the zips I bought.
I
made the belt carriers, but ultimately left them off.  I thought they made the dress look tacky with no belt, and I
wanted the option of wearing it beltless.
I added a full-length zip placket in underneath the central opening zip… (here) my industrial strength brass zip looked awesome but those teeth are sharp against the tummy skin!  Ouch!
Would
you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I
think I will sew this again.  I
know I always say this and then I pounce joyfully onto the next new-and-shiny
pattern to cross my path  🙂  but I do think this will have an encore.  The pattern has classic clean lines and I think has the
capability to change its personality depending on the fabric chosen.  I do recommend this on-trend little
number, if lengthened a tad it would make a lovely smart little dress for the
office.  You just have to locate a
long enough front zip!
Conclusion:
Well,
now that it fits me, I just love it! the high collar, the simple, sleeveless, streamlined silhouette.
The exposed zips are very on-trend and the rich damask fabric I chose
ticks off another trend I have noticed cropping up in high-end designers this
season…

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Mustard Bandage

13/09/2012 4:24 am \ 41 Comments \

A mustard plaster is of course an ancient herbal remedy for bronchitis, but I have borrowed and blended the phrase, and named my new dress the mustard bandage, since it reminds me of the Herve Leger bandage dresses that have been so iconic since the 80’s.
The pattern is from the 09/2010 Burdastyle magazine, a gift in a recent giveaway from Alexandra Mason… thank you so much Alex!  This is dress 122, the cover dress.  It is a very modern, almost space-agey design, don’t you think?  The dress has no side seams.  Those curved front pieces wrap around the sides to the back and join onto the long, narrow, shaped central back piece.  And I really love the disparate shapes; the juxtaposition of the blocky geometric angularity of those rectangular sleeve bands against the more organic, gently curved, nesting seam-lines on the body; a very visually pleasing effect to my eye and so interesting!

I used a piece of thick ponte knit given to me by my mother; the fabric originally given to her by a lady in her sewing group!  I just love the rich tobacco/mustard shade, a colour that is one of my best.
I finished all the raw edges for stability by overlocking before I started,  and I like how this makes the insides of the dress look.  That excess fabric in the seam allowance in the small-of-the-back (below right) was removed later on; I just included this picture to illustrate how I adjusted for fit through those long vertical seams in the back

The instructions to finish the sleeve bands are vague; and if I read them correctly, seem to result in an unsatisfactory (to me) finish with raw edges showing.  I finished mine in a way that the raw edges would be neatly hidden inside the sleeve band instead.  Described in more detail in my review below, if you are interested  🙂

There is one small issue with the dress, not enough to stop me from wearing it:  Comparative
to the cover shot of the dress; the second seamline falls high, right on my
bustline, and the neckline also sits a lot higher on me.  When I tug my dress down it looks like
the cover shot, but then it slowly and inexorably migrates back up again, all
by itself, like a sneaky puppy-dog onto the couch.  Sure, I am not a petite, admittedly for whom the pattern is
designed, but I didn’t think that would make a difference up that high!  Although, when you check out the shot of the dress inside the magazine (at right), that seamline is sitting at exactly the same point on the model as it does on me.  So (shrug) mmm.  Maybe they just tugged it down real firmly for the model in the cover shot too?  😀
Anyhoo, I don’t know if that says anything about my figure at all, but I don’t really care.  Because:
I feel goooood in this dress!  It is a modest dress with plenty of coverage, and yet it still manages to be sorta svelte and sex-ay.  That’s gotta be a very good thing, right?

Details:
Dress; Burdastyle 09/2010, dress 122; mustard ponte knit
Tights; Kolotex
Boots; di Sempre, from Zomp shoes

Pattern
Description:
Sheath
dress with armhole bands that look like sleeves and avant-garde seaming.  There are no side seams and all the
shaping is achieved through the unusually shaped, curved seams.
Pattern
Sizing:
Burda
petite half sizes 17-21; I made the size 19
Did
it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished
sewing it?
Yes.  Except that the seamlines fall on my
body in slightly different locations, ahem, which could be due to the pattern
being sized for a 160cm tall woman?
Were
the instructions easy to follow?
Yes,
the dress is an exceptionally easy construction; all the seams are numbered and
you pretty much just sew them in order from one to ten.  The second-last step, the instructions
for adding the armhole bands, were verging on being head-scratchingly
convoluted in that manner Burdastyle sometimes employs… and seemed to indicate
that you ended up with a bias strip on view inside the finished armhole band,
which I did not like.  I finished
mine in a way that meant all the seams allowances, including the armhole band
and upper armhole edge seam allowances; were nicely tucked away inside the band,
and hidden out of sight.  Much more
pleasing!
What
did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
It is
such a flattering dress; with an interesting and very well thought out design.
The
pattern is exceptionally well drafted. 
While I was sewing together those front bands I was just marveling at
how well the unusual shaped pieces went together so perfectly and achieved
“shape” with no darting or tucking needed.  So clever! 
The
pattern is sized for the Burdastyle petite woman 160cm tall.  I am 172cm tall which does not put me
in the petite category so I had concerns about how the pattern was going to work
out for me.  My piece of fabric was
barely big enough to squeeze out the pattern pieces, so I could not make any
major adjustments to my pattern pieces, but because it is a stretch knit and
the pictured dress was so long I figured that I could work out any little body
fitting issues as I was sewing it up.  I needn’t have worried though, since it fits just fine  🙂
Fabric
Used:
Ponte knit.
Pattern
alterations or any design changes you made:
I had
to adjust the two vertical back seams to get a good fit for my sway-backed pear
shape; but this was pretty easy.  I
took out about 4cm in total the lower rib cage area and the small of the back,
and graduated out to a fairly narrow hip seam allowance.
I sewed
the armhole bands on my own way, namely the right side of the armhole bands sewn
to the dress in one single seam, and no trimming but simply turned under the
seam allowance of the self facing (like you would a waistband facing) and hand
slip-stitched it back onto the band, enclosing the upper armhole seam allowance
inside the band as well, out of sight. 
My way seemed simpler than the Burdastyle instructions, and ends up with
a neat clean finish.
Would
you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I
wouldn’t rule out sewing this one again, although I think I need just the one
for now.  I do recommend this
flattering and smart dress to others. 
Conclusion:
I
love this design; very reminiscent of the Herve Leger bandage dresses of the
eighties, with their distinctive horizontal ‘bandage” bands making for a
slim-fitting, body conscious silhouette…
This
pattern is in the Business wear category, and I agree, this would make a great
little number to wear to the office; modest, smart and stylish, not too out-there
but still with unique lines and details. 
I’m planning for mine to be an integral part of the coming Spring party
season; comfortable and easy to wear, while still edgy and interesting.
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A Velvet-y Dress

14/07/2012 4:39 am \ 51 Comments \

I desired to make for myself something quick and easy and selfishly frivolous…   and a Tshirt dress is very quick and easy, yes?  The fabric, a stretchy panne velvet from Fabulous Fabrics, is very lush; smooth and slippery and glides over the skin, the colour has the same gleaming, creamy-milky-white shimmer of
moonlight, and the texture is the same choppy and shadowed roughness of the moon’s craters.
I was quite struck with
Mary’s post particularly the bit about using fabric from the stash, allowing the fabric within to
achieve the potential you saw in it when you purchased it; to let it have its
moment in the sun.  So often I am
intimidated by my lovelier fabrics, and find myself dutifully using the cheaper
and lesser fabrics first, not ever rewarding myself by letting myself wallow in
the pleasure of the gorgeous ones. 
I have some very beautiful fabrics.  And I want to use them.  I want to have the fun of planning something with them,
cutting them, draping them, making something fabulous with them, even ruining them maybe but hopefully not!… one thing is for sure I am certainly not
enjoying them whilst everything sits folded up neatly in a cupboard.  Life is too short, no?
So yeah…  I am making a start  😀
For this dress, I wanted a
winter-y version of my grey stripe dress, a Metalicus kind of a  thing.  And for the record, this is the exactly
the vision, or the “potential” I had in mind for it when I bought it too!
The shoulder seams are stabilised with short strips of bias cut poly-cotton, and the sleeve bands and
neckline band are circular bands sewed on using this very simple and easy method.  The lower hem is overlocked to finish the raw edge, turned up once,
and topstitched using a twin needle. 
I opted not to turn the lower hem up twice since the fabric has
quite a healthy pile to it and is thicker than it looks.  Making the dress quite cosy and warm, a
good one for winter! 
This is the easiest sort of
dress to make.  I drafted the
pattern myself, which is just a fancypants way of saying that I cut pieces
for a plain scoop-necked, long sleeved Tshirt, just very slightly gathered-in at the centre front: and then two “cone” shapes for the skirt
pieces, just a straight diagonal line from the waistline width out to the selvedge.  I really like this
A-line style of skirt.  It skims the body in a streamlined way and is therefore very figure flattering; far
more so than a gathered skirt would be. 
 And so easy.
Anyone can make a dress in
exactly the same way using a basic Tshirt pattern.  In fact, my honest opinion? save yourself some money, and
draft your own Tshirt pattern from a well fitting Tshirt you already have; honestly it is the
easiest thing in the world.  I’m
serious.  Even if you do not have
much experience at drafting your own patterns, trust me, this is the one you
should start with.  Get a Tshirt,
lay it down and trace around it. 
Done!  That’s free advice  🙂

So in the final
analysis I can see this dress probably going to be a very useful basic building
block in my winter wardrobe and not particularly frivolous at all.  I guess I failed that part of my
assignment.  But not to worry, I
have also unearthed some awfully frivolous fabric from the stash, which is
waiting patiently in the wings to be transformed into something definitely very
un-useful and very un-practical; in short horrendously gloriously frivolous!
and which I am steeling myself to take the scissors too… hehehe.
Soon, peeps!
Details:
Dress; self-drafted, of
shimmery oyster-white stretch panne velvet
Scarf; knitted by me to my
own design, details here
Tights; voodoo
Boots; Andrea and Joen,
from Uggies in Dunsborough, now renamed Eco boutique
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An unusual dress

12/05/2012 7:49 am \ 56 Comments \

Wacky warning alert… this is it!!  
I’ve liked how Caroline is making good use of old Tshirts lately.  And Tim did a clean-out of his wardrobe recently, and part of the toss-out pile was a few old surfie Tshirts, in shades of blue, navy, grey and black… there were cool prints and interesting stitching details… and my brain started ticking over.  I saw artistic possibilities.
Also I have just bought a few new patterns recently, and Vogue 1281 was mysteriously part of my haul, a very pretty, extremely flatteringly shaped, draped cocktail dress.
This is the thing, you see; when it comes to sewing I like to be challenged and so I prefer the more interesting, difficult and intricate styles and it so happens that these patterns are also usually the most formal and prettiest of little cocktail numbers, totally unsuited to my actual lifestyle.  Most of my days are very casual; I walk my dog, I go to the beach and climb over rocks and walk through the bush, I work at home and I do the housework; so what is a girl to do?  Well I’ll tell you what this girl does; she still stubbornly ploughs ahead and sews up the challenging and intricate patterns she loves, but by using the most casual and grungiest fabrics I think this rather formal style has happily become a very cool dress with a deconstructed urban style that fits in very well with my tastes as well as my actual lifestyle.  I am thrilled with how it turned out, and could not be happier with my new dress!  This is now a perfect everyday dress…
WIN!
I used four Tshirts for the main pieces of the dress, and another one for the lining pieces.  I cut them and sewed them together, arranging the different colours to be evenly spaced around the finished dress, and to have the prints and areas with the interesting stitching details that I liked to be prominently featured.  One of the Tshirts was plain black with no interesting stitching or detailing but was of a very lightweight and beautifully soft knit compared to the other three; so this one I used specifically for the potentially bulky part of the dress; the pleated, draped and knotted areas all coming together on the centre front of the bodice.

Picture taken around 11am;  Temperature at the time 22C.
Overnight low: 14C; Today’s high: 29C 
Gloriously sunny and warm!  Maybe the last really warm day of the season.

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1281 modified slightly, using 5 of Tim’s old surfie Tshirts
Thongs; Mountain Designs

please excuse the sandy bottom…!
Pattern
Description:
Dress has no side seams, very close-fitting, lined bodice, single layer, pleated shoulder strap looped through front pleated drape, front wrap skirt cut-in-one with back, raised waist and invisible back zip.  Strap and bodice: Narrow hem.  Bodice lining: Elasticised upper edge.
Pattern
Sizing:
6-14.  I made a size 10.
Did
it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished
sewing it?
in essence, yes
Were
the instructions easy to follow?
Pretty easy.  Step 8 and 9 takes a little bit of concentration to get it right.  I had to redo this when it didn’t work out the first time.
What
did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I loved the style of the dress, the draping, the interesting bodice and neckline!  The pieces fitted together perfectly well.
I personally didn’t like the instructions to hem the upper edge of the bodice before attaching to the pre-elasticated lining pieces.  Instead I constructed mine to sew the bodice and bodice lining pieces right side together, so there is no visible stitching on the outside.   I really think that visible stitching would take away from the dress, particularly if one was sewing this as a dressy cocktail dress which is I suspect the purpose for which pattern is intended.  Not that it really makes much of a difference in my particular dress, which is a very casual style using very casual fabrics, but that is just my personal preference in any case.
I thought the stitching line along the bodice lower edge left it with a weirdly wide seam allowance, and for no discernible reason…  I left it wide but I still don’t seen why it is like that.
Fabric
Used:
Cotton knits
Pattern
alterations or any design changes you made:
I made my dress using slightly stretchy knits, so I eliminated the invisible zip and sewed up the back centre seam.
I extended the right skirt edge by enough so that I could sew the skirt edge down on the inside to a joining seam inside the left side of the skirt.  This was only possible because I had made a pieced skirt piece, but in any case I think it would be essential to extend that right skirt edge to wrap around more fully underneath anyway.  Unless one plans on wearing a slip underneath the dress, or lining it; since there is absolutely nothing to stop that skirt from flying open in a breeze!
I found the strap piece to be pretty long and needed to shorten it considerably… by 10cm!
Would
you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I might sew it again.
Conclusion:
It is a gorgeous style, very flattering to a woman’s curves.  I liked that shoulder strap, how it frames the decolletage and the face in a very lovely way, that chic front draping, and how it joins in at the back asymmetrically.  Interesting!
You could eat to your heart’s content at a cocktail party or dinner, and this dress would allow you to do so very comfortably!
I love this dress and plan to wear it a lot!
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Grey stripe dress; 6 different ways

18/04/2012 3:35 am \ 18 Comments \

I was chuffed when Robyn suggested this dress would be a good candidate for a mix-up and match-up; thank you Robyn!  And you were so right, yes, indeedy, this is an excellently versatile dress…
It is self-drafted and I was inspired by a Metalicus dress, pretty much my favourite RTW label.  Everything in their range of thin stretch garments layers together and goes together so beautifully; so it is all very easy to wear.   When I made my dress (dressmaking details here); I envisioned that I would be able to layer it up and down and all different ways, to go with a lot of things already in my wardrobe.   These non-colours are good for any time of the year and any season…  also being very light and flowy means the dress has no “structure” itself, making it very easy to throw over and under other things, it can adapt to different functions and not just be worn solely as a stand-alone dress.
And stripes are so hot right now!  (thank you Zoolander for that awesome quote)
So here are just a few of the “ways” I came up with after a bit of a play session in my wardrobe…
First up, well (obviously) worn as a dress.  I made it specifically the perfect length to go over this white petticoat, so this is the way I have worn it mostly so far  🙂  But at right; it can also work as a petticoat itself, worn under a shorter open dress.

stripe1

It doubles as a tank top as well as a petticoat, when worn under a big skirt.  Actually I wore this outfit last week, and it turned out to be a good idea… this skirt is very pouffy already, but I would love it to be pouffier still! and having a full-skirted petticoat on underneath gave the whole thing a welcome extra ounce of pouffiness.  I liked that!  And at right, put a light Tshirt and optional cardi over the top, and the dress is a skirt…

stripe2

At left; the dress is a pinafore when worn with a Tshirt underneath.  And at right; the subdued colours are a natural choice for winter too, so here is all layered up and ready for winter; with long johns, tights, a little jacket, gloves and a scarf.

stripe3

What am I wearing today?  well today has a definite and very welcome autumnal air to it, so I am wearing the pinny version just above with the raspberry half-sleeved tshirt underneath and my purple-y raspberry scarf…  but one thing I learnt even in this short play-about with this dress is that I have so many more options and I’m really looking forward to wearing this dress a bunch this autumn and winter…   What do you think?  how would you wear this dress?

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Grey stripes

15/03/2012 10:26 am \ 66 Comments \

I’ve made a new dress for autumn! (sneaky peeked in my Fashionary here)  More accurately, I made this about a month ago and have been awaiting a day I can actually wear it without unladylike perspiration marring the photograph. (ew)
It is a Metalicus sort of a dress.  
Oh, OK; it is pretty much an almost exact copy of one from their summer range.  (pictured at right)
Well, I saw, and I was helpless to resist.  I just had to have.  (shrug)
I used a cotton knit jersey with a charcoal and black stripe from Fabulous Fabrics, and drafted my own pattern with the help of a tank top.  The skirt is just a slightly shaped to-the-waist and then flared A-line design.  I bought 2m of 150cm width fabric, but found that 1.2m was plenty to cut out this dress shape using the layout pictured below.    

Don’t worry, the leftover 80cm has been put to good use already, undergoing a rapid transformation into a three-quarter sleeved, scoop-necked Tshirt.  This using my now go-to Tshirt pattern, the one formerly known as Burdastyle 06/2011, 120 (altered completely until beyond recognition, but still one must give credit, non?)

I edged the neckline and armhole/sleeve edges of both the dress and the Tshirt with a folded band, the type that you see on just about all Metalicus pieces,which is why I have it stuck in my head as The Metalicus Finish, lol.

Please note; the Absolute Perfection in Stripe-Matching.  I pinned the junction of each and every stripe to achieve this.  No, I am not exaggerating.

The red pen below is pointing to a bodice side seam.  Can you even see it? (said with an unseemly lack of humility)  
This is the kind of thing not noticeable to a, er, normal person (read: someone who does not sew), but is the ultimate in self-satisfaction for those of us who have ever sewn stripes together.  Stretchy jersey stripes, I might add.  (insert deep and disgracefully un-humble sigh)

The lower hem is overlocked, folded under once, and finished with a straight stitch.  I hemmed my dress exactly the right length to work perfectly over one of my favourite actual Metalicus pieces, this frill-edged white petticoat.

Details:
Dress; self-drafted, from charcoal and black striped cotton jersey
petticoat; Metalicus
Sandals; Misano, from Marie-Claire shoes

Now OK; do I feel bad about outright copying a dress like this?  I do, a bit.  You see while I like to make my own clothes nowadays, I have a lot of respect for Metalicus.  I used to buy their clothes.  And actually I will own up now that in a small transgression of my pledge I did indeed buy a few pairs of Metalicus winter tights at their New Year’s sale,  eep!  But they were such fantabulous colours!! (the colours made me do it, your Honour…) and anyhow, tights can be classed as underwear, right??
I am OK with supporting Metalicus, since it is an Australian company, with the clothing traditionally made here in Australia.  I am of course a big supporter of ethical fashion which includes buying locally made stuff wherever possible.  So I wish to see Metalicus successfully continuing on this path and not succumb to the evil lure of the profits that come with overseas manufacturing.
It was during this visit to Metalicus I noticed that a few “made in China” pieces were making an insidious and very unwelcome appearance in the range.  I did feel sad about this and wondered briefly (and probably foolishly) if my boycotting of RTW had contributed in even some minuscule part.  And copying a dress from the store, even just one, for me, is also part and parcel of taking away business from what is a legitimate Australian business.  So I did feel a bit guilty.  But if Metalicus is going to go to the dark side and send  their manufacturing overseas, taking away Australian jobs, then while I am very sad about that it does at least make it a heck of a lot easier for me to stay away from RTW.
btw I did check my tights before I bought them, and they are indeedy of the Made in Australia variety.
So I’m resting easy on that purchase.
Sort of.

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The Woman in Red

28/02/2012 10:06 am \ 65 Comments \

As soon as I read about the Red Dress contest over at Pattern Review I decided I wanted to enter.  I do so love red dresses, so I have no good explanation for why I did not have one already.  Oh, just remembered I do have a red ball gown, oh yeah.  But I’m talking about a dress that I can actually wear.  You know what I mean…  
When I was a teenager at school a teacher once opined that red was “my colour” and that little factoid has stuck in my head ever since.  But I do find red a quite challenging colour to mix into the wardrobe (I have a short list of stupid rules about the colour red and what other colours it can and can’t be worn with; that I won’t bore you with just now)  So I just have a few select red pieces.  A dress not being amongst said pieces, so it was time to remedy that! 
This beautiful scarlet rayon jersey has been sitting in my stash since my last birthday, when a group of my friends very thoughtfully gave me a Fabulous Fabrics voucher for a birthday present.  I know, I have the most amazing and fantastic friends, right?!  They know me so well!  I used my birthday voucher for this fabric, along with some other fabric that is still in the stash.
Vogue 1087 is a simply gorgeous dress pattern, and I was cross with myself that I had used such el cheapo fabric for my first version, that did not go the distance.  I’ve been really wanting to make the pattern up again sometime…  The same old problem about finding the right fabric and the right time, yeah.  Well I had found some great fabric.  The contest finally sparked that “right time” for my red dress to take shape.
I made a few changes to the pattern this time; which I have outlined in my new review below if you are interested…
And just saying girls; want your husband to really sit up and pay attention when you walk in the room?  Make yourself a dress like this one….  Word.  My husband absolutely looooves my new dress!

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1087, red rayon jersey
Sandals; akiel, from the op shop

below: no zip, and naturally one can still slip it on perfectly easily…  my advice? save yourself the trouble 🙂

Pattern Description:
Fitted dress, below mid-knee, has pleated and tucked front forming wrap effect. Front extends to back at sides, back has zipper and hemline vent. No side seams.
Pattern Sizing:
12-18.  I made mine to be a size 12 at the hips and re-graded the bodice to be a size 10.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?
Yes
Were the instructions easy to follow?
This is the second time I have made up this pattern.  The first time I made it up I wrote about steps 12-13 being tricky to work out and I ended up with the wrong side lapping over at the front and had to unpick and fix it up… well, after studying the instructions I am confident that they are wrong here.  If you follow the instructions to the letter as many other reviewers did then you WILL end up with the wrong side lapping over, and it is not your mistake.  To get the fronts lapping over the way they are on the line drawing you have to lay the OTHER side over first in step 12.  The simplest visual way to describe the correct way would be like a mirror image of how they have drawn each the two diagrams here, if you like.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I just love this pattern; the fronts folding across each other and wrapping around the body to make a gently draped X along with that curved triangle seam on the front skirt; these shapes combined together are very flattering to a woman’s curves.  The pattern pieces are very unusually shaped and the complexity of the construction makes the dress a nice challenge.
Fabric Used:
Rayon jersey
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
My first version of this dress, a size 12, was too loose and floppy for my liking in the bodice, and frequently fell off my shoulders.  So I re-graded the pattern to be a size 10 at the top and graded out to the size 12 around the hips.  I felt like this was quite a dressmaking achievement for me, since it is a complex pattern rated Advanced with unusually shaped pattern pieces, and I did not have a size 10 printed on my version and had to grade it myself by eye.  I’m pretty relieved how well-fitted it worked out!
Just like I mentioned in my first review; I see absolutely zero need for a zip in a stretch knit dress… really!? why is it even there in the pattern?!  So I cut my bodice and back neck facing on a centre fold and so eliminated both the zip and the whole seam.
According to the pattern, the darts on the back of the skirt are supposed to be facing out (sewn wrong sides together). I don’t think so. Mine are on the inside of the skirt, where they should be.
I altered the final stitching of the front pieces to the bodice piece, to sit in a position that I preferred. My neckline is more “wrap” than “squared” as a result.
A bit of experimenting revealed that any sort of edge finish was going to show through on that figure hugging skirt; so I left the edges of the seam allowances here raw; for a smooth look on the outside.  All the seams were sewn on my machine but all the bodice edges, the armhole edges and lower hems are invisibly hand-sewn.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
This is already my second version of this pattern, so definitely!
Conclusion:
I just love this pattern, and this dress, and my husband really loves it too  😉

This is my entry into the Red Dress contest

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Purple dress; 6 different ways

20/02/2012 2:00 pm \ 32 Comments \

I think this little purple shot rayon dress, made using Burdastyle magazine 06/2011, 102 and seen first here will be one of those winning dresses with year round capabilities.  I have been wearing it a tonne this summer;  being a natural fibre and with its flow-y loose design it is beautifully light and so cool on even the hottest day. And I think that come the cooler weather that I will still be able to wear it to, thanks to its sludgy winter-y colour.  It’s amazing to me that I was a little doubtful of this dress at first… since I can’t imagine now how I did without something just like this before!
At left; being such an easy casual design with no zips, buttons or other bits and bobs, makes it a perfect throw-on over the bathers, as a beach cover-up or if you just want to pop out for a few groceries.  I have worn it on over my bathers like this lots of times this summer already!  I also love this colour combination of bright yellow against that sludgy purple colour too; colour wheel opposites.  At right; I have a big collection of light summer scarves to dress up a plain dress like this one.  And y’know what? it is amazing, all of my scarves are showcased beautifully against this very blank canvas of a dress.  This scarf, a gift from my parents from their trip to Italy, is one of my favourites.

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At left; with a loose-fitting blouse over it, it masquerades as a skirt.  I don’t often go for the dress-as-a-skirt look, but the loose nature of both these pieces allow the combination to work really well.  At right; the simple but elegant style can be dressed up for a more formal party or dinner on a summer’s evening, with all hot-pink accessories.  I wore this outfit to Cassie’s birthday party.
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Now for some cool weather ensembles, and I am looking forward when I will be wearing more nuanced outfits with a few layers such as these!  At left; purple is a great base colour for an autumn wardrobe, and I love it against warm rich autumnal colours, such as raspberry red.  Add a creamy scarf, and I’m all ready for a casz day.  At right; worn as a tunic top, and layered up with neutral and similarly sludge-y hued accessories for winter…  I would wear this when I wanted to look smart, like meeting my husband or friends out for lunch, or going out to dinner.  Fyi? best not to try wearing either of these outfits on a 38C day.  That would be just plain silly, yes?  😀
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What am I wearing today?  Well I am wearing the second outfit, with the lovely colourful scarf… it was perfect for a pretty hot summer day.  I had morning tea out with some friends and then ran a few errands.
So which of these outfits would be your favourite?
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Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: , ,
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