Tag Archives: New Look 6699

A spy is amongst us…

07/11/2009 2:09 am \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

Hey ho, it’s Saturday. We didn’t get to go to the art exhibition last night but that’s OK. Around at my brother’s yesterday afternoon they had set up karaoke for my niece’s birthday party, and we mucked around on that for a bit before the girls got there. Hilarious! I tried to do “Bat out of Hell” and realised that Meatloaf really had a very good voice after all. Boy that’s a difficult song to karaoke to! Furthermore, it was demonstrated why it was a good decision for me to drop out of choir.
This dress I’m wearing today is a recent creation. It’s New Look 6699, with a few modifications. Namely the bodice with strap arrangement in the pattern was reshaped into a proper one-piece bodice front and back, and instead of gathering the bust section into the midriff I made three tiny pleats each side. I inserted a sash to be tied in back of the midriff, and moved the zip to left side seam. The skirt is flared slightly more that the “straight” one in the pattern. The best modification is the addition of these huge pockets!!! Major upgrade of the dress!
I really like the two contrasting fabrics I used, each is white based, with splashes of unusual “ugly” colours and a touch of black. The necklace adds to the overall random hodge-podge effect.
Confession time: when I made this dress I used an invisible zip I had already, and it really was not long enough. Meaning that when I take the dress off it would make a hilarious spectacle to an casual observer. Sort of like a mad battle with a strait-jacket.

The close up photo of the pot below shows my little spy, who is not visible in the other photo…

Other details:
Necklace; Surf shop on Rottnest Island
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, bought at Hobbs

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: dress, Fabulous fabrics, new look 6699

Big day out

22/10/2009 7:11 am \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

Thursday, 22nd October 2009

Thankyou for your lovely comments!

Today is a big day, my daughter’s final day at school. Her school makes a big deal out of it for us parents too; it started with a flower ceremony, followed by final assembly, morning tea, chapel service and then lunch; in order. Quite a day. So I needed a DRESS! I made this previously for a lunch held at the beginning of spring, but couldn’t wear it without risk of freezing half to death. So, held it over for this occasion.

Its New Look 6699 view G,J,L again, a little ripper of a pattern. As the lace I bought for it was completely see-through, I lined it completely with a cotton batiste petticoat. I added wide coffee-coloured border lace around the bottom of the petticoat and a simple tube sleeve of the same lace around the armholes. I moved the invisible zip closure to the left side seam as usual and eliminated the back centre seams. The midriff is of gathered silk, and I also added a long sash of the stuff to tie at the back. You can’t see it in the picture, but I added a close-enough-to invisible pocket on the right side, just big enough for a mobile phone and a credit card. I think I’ll do this to all my party dresses in future… so useful…

Got several compliments for this dress today, which was very gratifying! Ah yes, we seamstresses always deflect praise, “oh, thankyou but it was easy, nothing to it, really” but its nice to get recognition, no? Here’s a challenge, approach someone you don’t really know very well and pay them a compliment. It will make their day and, by association, will give you a boost too!

Other details:

Shoes; Marco Santini, from Marie Claire

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: dress, Fabulous fabrics, new look 6699, own design

First post ever!

10/10/2009 3:30 pm \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

Saturday, 10th October 2009

Hey, this is my first post ever. Scary! I’m new at this whole blogger thing, so we’ll just see how it all goes. My motive in producing this blog is to keep a record of all my sewing and knitting efforts. I’ve made myself so many garments over the years, most of which have gone the way of the “hamper in the sky” (ie. Good Sammys bin) and I have no record of those hours and hours of planning, pinning, cutting, basting sewing… Ok, Ok, unpicking too. I’m not young or trendy, well a little trendy I hope, but I’m still working on my own personal style. Speaking of Good Sammys, I also love to shop there too!

My first picture I’m posting is of a cocktail dress I made about two years ago, using New Look pattern 6699. The only adjustments I made were to reshape the back bodice to be a “proper” one piece bodice as opposed to the rather sundressy two piece back bodice in the pattern with adjustable straps. The dress is made of coffee/black lace over cream silk, from Fabulous fabrics. I’ve loved it and worn it quite a lot. The necklace is my own design and also selfmade, from a beading fad I went through.

Thanks to my son Sam for taking the photo, next on my list is to work out how to use the timer on our camera, big challenge for a technophobe like me.

Other details:

Shoes, Micam by Joanne Mercer, bought at Hobbs