A (comfy) GLAMOUR Dress

Oh HAI!

Excuse me while I blow the cobwebs off 'ye olden blog'; it has been a while ...

... so let me quickly side track you with my latest creation. Look, it's a dress!

I also recently made an insanely loveable little (huge) baby boy. Scroll down to the bottom of this post if you want to make your ovaries ache.

Back in August Kat from All The Whimsical Things hosted another Frocktails in Melbourne, which gave me the motivation to get out the sewing machine and transform myself from milk machine (do you know how much a 9 pounder DRINKS??!!!!) to glamour puss. Goals.

Because having a toddler and a newborn gives me heaps of spare time *cough* I decided to draft my own dress and make it the day before the event. Why do people let me make decisions for myself? Don't they see that crazed sleep-deprived look in my eye?

Luckily, it worked out! It was a pretty simple dress after all, but it's always the simple ones that end up messing you up! AmIright?!!

DETAILS:

Fabric

I made this out of a cheap stretch that I bought from Spotlight. Ashley was less than 3 months old at the time and I was still in that crazy period where I couldn't bear to drive more than 5 minutes to get to a decent fabric store.

It's not perfect but it still worked, though next time I make this I'll use a fabric with a bit more stretch.

Pattern

Self drafted. I wanted a long skirt with a wide neck and I wanted it in a comfortable stretch. Plus stretch is so much faster to sew. No darts, lots of room for error and finishing seams is optional.

The skirt is split at the front with rushing near the waistline.

The pattern making took the bulk of the time, but once I had cut out the fabric it only took a few hours to put together. It felt so good to get behind the machine again!

Extra Bits

I completely faced the bodice in the same fabric to give extra support.

I also attached a strip of thin elastic along the entire width of the neck to stop it from gaping or moving. I made the length of the elastic shorter than the circumference of the neck so that it pulled in a little.

I can pretend that I dress fancy all the time, but a sports bra tan line doesn't lie ...

I had a lovely night chatting with like-minded seamstresses, some people I had met before and some for the first time. It was so nice to get dressed up and talk about sewing!

And now if you'll indulge me, here's my latest human creation:

Meet Ashley Michelangelo, my little angel baby born May 11.  Ashley is named after my father, Michelangelo.
This little beach ball of cuteness was born 13 days over due and within 30 minutes of me arriving at the hospital! All 9 lbs of him! It was an incredible, beautiful birth experience and I still get goose bumps thinking about it. My mum, who drove me to the hospital thinks she is suffering post traumatic stress at the thought that we almost had a 'side of the road' birth.

It's good to be back guys! I've got some great projects lined up and I can't wait to get stuck into them!

Also excuse me dear internet, BUT WHY IS THERE NO SEWING MACHINE EMOJI?!!! I cannot adequately convey my sewing emotions without a cute little picture of a sewing machine. Who do I need to contact to make this happen?

Hope you are all having a lovely fabric filled week :)

Vintage Yellow Dress + Brooch Give-away!

Ok so my love for the classic shape of Butterick pattern 5603 (modified) has been well established. Making the re-fashioned pattern three times will do that.

But now it's just getting annoying. Seriously, I'm starting to creep my self out now after making this silouhette for the fourth time. It's like a sickness. Even my tired pattern pieces are giving me a concerned look:

Butterick Pattern (BP): "Oh honey, I don't know how to say this, but I think we need a break."

Me: "What? But we're meant to be together! We're made for each other."

BP: "Actually no, this is really awkward but ... I was made for a mass commercial market. Millions of people actually."

Me: *Gasp* "No! BP5603 you floozy!"

Though perhaps the fact that I think my pattern pieces are talking to me is of a more serious concern.

Whatever.

I made this dress in a 100% wool crepe that I purchased on my recent trip to Washington D.C.

 

This fabric has such a wonderful drape and feels like heaven. It's also a dream to sew with. Every time my Janome sunk it's teeth into the fabric, Marvin Gaye's 'Let's get it on' inexplicably started playing.

 

I made a sweet little collar out of left over lace that I purchased from Tessuti Fabrics a while ago. I had previously used the lace to make this dress:

I fully lined the dress and added sleeves.

The bodice also features a V shaped back.

 

I accompanied the dress with a new pair of shoes ...

 

... and the perfect vintage accessory, a beautiful brooch.

 

Don't you think the brooch just makes the dress?! The wonderful Lorraine from Ruemiraldi is also a lover of vintage accessories and personally picked a stunning brooch for me from her fabulous online vintage accessories store. 

The best part? She has also given me three extra beautiful vintage brooches to give away to three of my lovely readers! True story! Release the give away streamers!

Check them out:

 

Want one?

To be in the winning simply comment on this post

Three lucky readers will be randomly selected to win one of the three brooches.

Entries are open to everyone from anywhere in the world.

Entries close on Friday, April 20, 2012 Australian EST

One random winner will announced in my next blog post on Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

 

The thing that keeps drawing me back to this dress is the flattering vintage shape.

So here are the other dresses I have made using Butterick 5603.  On all four I drafted my own skirt for a more pencil look. You can see how I made the alterations here.

Click on the photos if you want to see the full blog post.

In honour of the yellow of this dress, I thought I'd leave you all with one of my favourite songs. This song is also called 'Yellow' and is sung by the beautiful and gifted artist India Arie. The YouTube clip is below.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!