My new dress! Hehe, seems like I’ve got new stuff coming out every day lately but actually this is not new at all! really, it’s months and months old!! but it is new to my blog here. And the pattern is brand new to the world too, so… “new”, with caveats. The pattern is Closet Case patterns’ newest release, the Kalle shirtdress. I have been SOOOOO looking forward to wearing my version here only like ALL SUMMER LONG, welcoming it into my rotation of little dresses, cos you know how I love wearing my little dresses! I made it back in October when Heather kindly asked me to be a tester for her new pattern. SO I made it, bam! and like a good little tester I sat on it and didn’t wear it, well, not publicly, anyway! waiting for the go-ahead from Heather. Finally!
So, yes, it’s a adorable little pattern, I really love it. Heather says it is her most requested design yet, and I can well believe it! her own personal first white version was utterly delectable and had me all drool-y want-y too! The pattern has three variations; I made the dress version C but with the half-length button placket of version B. Except I used snaps because they were just handy. I also added three pockets to mine, one breast pocket, and two inseam side pockets… my curved-bottom breast pocket is a lot smaller than the one in the final version of the pattern, because the tester version was pocketless and I just added one for fun and visual interest. I see Heather has added a breast pocket to the final version of the pattern, yay! and as for the hip pockets, well I mean, who doesn’t LOVE hip pockets?! Hehe, I tried to not have my hands shoved into them in all my pictures, you know, to show the dress as it’s been designed but they just crept in there every now and again. I’m sorry, it’s just… pockets! I couldn’t help it!
The design is beautifully breezy and very comfortably roomy… I love the cute little cut-on sleeves with a simple cuff, the petite collar has prettily feminine proportions, and the exaggerated lower hemline looks quite dramatic and really cool, imo. That one big box pleat in the back is fabulous, and a pretty dramatic feature too, yes? love how the folds balloon out and down to that gently shaped back hemline. In fact I love all the features and the shape of the dress, full stop. It’s like the perfect little summer shirt-dress. I’m going to wear this one a tonne, for sure, and and probably going to make a tonne more too!
Fabric; a 100% cotton seersucker gingham. This is, um, it’s a little embarrassing… ahem, but it is actually an old tablecloth that I bought from the op shop in Toodyay, when I went there with Sue and Nicki on an alpaca-finding mission, a few years back now! Hohhhh, yeah!! “Tablecloth” might give one the urge to squeal “ew, groooosss!” but I assure you it was well washed, has no stains, and is in fabulous nick. The fabric is actually beautiful; crinkly, crisp and strong, but with a soft lovely drape. They just don’t make tablecloths like they used to!
Alterations: I pretty much made it up exactly to the pattern, because obviously I was testing! and needed to give accurate feedback. However I did do a few very minor little things…
a) as mentioned previously, I added three pockets; a curved-bottom breast pocket, and two inseam side pockets
b) for the lower hem I didn’t bother with bias tape to finish it, just turned up a skinny hem twice and hand stitched it in place. I know bias tape is an excellent choice for curved hems in certain types of fabrics, in fact sometimes it’s just about essential; but I found it just wasn’t necessary for my seersucker. Plus, I wanted my hem to be light and floppy and breezy, without any of the stiffness that comes with the extra fabric and seams.
c) for visual interest, I cut the front plackets, the sleeve cuffs, breast pocket and outer collar on the bias, although the under collar is on-grain, for stability.
d) not an alteration, but I inverted the back pleat on mine, so it’s set the same as for the little cropped shirt version A. Which, by the way, is OMIGODSOCUTE. I need to make one of these!
e) also not really an alteration as such, but Heather has reduced the neckline size by a few inches, so my collar doesn’t sit as close to my neck as it would do in the final pattern.
Note; also an excellent design for cat-cuddling
Sophie!! it’s hard to tell, but she’s being made to “wave” to the camera
Details:
Dress; the Kalle shirtdress by Closet Case patterns, gingham cotton seersucker, also my tutorial for adding inseam side pockets is here
Hat(below); Vogue 8844, ivory corduroy, details and my review of this pattern here
Shoes; made by me! details here
below; before I could “reveal” it I sneakily did wear it once or twice anyway… 😉
location: Bunker Bay, Western Australia
Partly because I stingily didn’t buy much of the print, and also partly for the same visual grounding reason as having a belt: I cut the pocket bags in a thick chocolate brushed twill, a small bit of leftover fabric harvested from Craig’s old pair of chocolate moleskins and which I used to make 
Above, I spaced it to turn up the hem exactly between two horizontal stripes in the print. The lower edge of the skirt is finished in bias cut black cotton, the same as for the inner waistband and pocket facings. See that little tiny row of mustard stitches along the top? I initially started hemming with black thread to match the bias; but quickly realised that even though I made my stitches as tiny as tiny could be, that row of minuscule black dots did show up on the right side of the skirt if you looked closely enough, and I didn’t like it!! So I switched to the same mustard thread that I’d used in other seams, which disappears nicely into the print.. so they’re pretty much invisible on the right side, which is the main thing!
OH! I forgot to blog about this before, in fact I just checked and I made this back in February! bad blogger! but I also made another little work dress for Cassie, another Named patterns Inari tee dress. This is my fifth Inari made, my third for Cassie, she loves the style just as much as I do! Also it’s like a perfect little design for work, plus being easy and comfortable to wear, and quick to run one up. I incorporated the same 
I cut the neckline and all pieces as is, and diddled about with the lengths to get the look I wanted… as follows:
Hello! I’ve finally finished these black leather clogs; that have been on the go for nearly a whole year now…. eeeeek!!
The last time I went down to visit Mum and Dad: Dad had some pinewood he’d cut himself from a “weed” pine on their block… and he very kindly helped me to shape the blocks on his bandsaw, and have the use of his sander to do some further shaping while I was down there… I’m so lucky that Dad has all the perfect equipment for this!
Once I got home, I sanded down the soles even further, stuck some cork to the bottom and the heels, and applied five coats of satin varnish. Ohhh, wait, getting ahead of myself… before that, I’d fancied the idea of a nice deep, chocolate brown wood, I thought it would play off nicely against my chosen black leather. So I bought some walnut stain and gave them a coat. They looked um, not good, but I persisted (“maybe they just need MORE of it” famous last words) and did a few more coats. Then they looked DREADFUL. A day or so of deep depression later, and I’d regained the energy to set up the sander again and sand it all off. THEN I did the soling/ varnishing thing to my clean, new soles. *sigh* Lesson learned; wood looks better in its natural colour.
just felt vaguely frumpy in them and peeled them off straight away. I’m just not feeling this style any more, feel like it’s becoming a little bit dated. Is it just me, or are skinny jeans appearing decidedly passé right now? Anyway; OUT THEY GO!!! Well… maybe just to the time-out box for a while. I have this box you see, that I chuck doubtful clothes into, and in a few months or a year or so I’ll check them out to see if it’s easier to make a decision then. Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I even have that box since it’s a kind of hoarder-ish thing to have and really nine times out of ten the items within get the flick! but for the one item that gets a reprieve I’ve always been glad I kept it after all. Sometimes, you and your clothing just need a bit of a break from each other. A trial separation. A conscious uncoupling, with the door open to re-coupling. Yeah. *madly justifying hoarding tendencies to oneself*
Like most bloggers, when taking my pictures I usually try to pick some nice location as a backdrop to my creations, something that has the colours and the “feel” and/or just some general overall appropriateness in subject matter or whatever, that I think enhances whatever it is I’m showcasing.
The bottom layer is thin cork-covered, contact paper, cut to size, stuck on – more liquid nails, yo!! and then three layers of clear, enamel varnish to seal and strengthen.
