Marimekko Dress - The Vintage Edition

Vintage dresses; no matter how much I love my modern fashion, sewing classic styles feels like home to me.

Here's one of my latest dresses that takes me back to my roots. The pencil shaped skirt and fitted bodice makes me think 'Mad Men' and answers my daily inner questions of WWJW? (What Would Joan Wear?)

The Pattern
I pulled out one of my all time favourites and most used patterns; Butterick 5603. I used the bodice of this pattern in version B, and added a pencil skirt instead of the full skirt like I have done many times in the past.

How many times have I used this pattern now? Oh, just a lazy SIX times. No biggie.

 the first step is admitting you have a problem

 

Fabric
Oh. Em. Gee. This. Fabric.
This gorgeous fabric is by the designer Marimekko and printed onto a heavy weight cotton.

It's from Yulki's Home Decor which is a beautiful site dedicated to designer fabrics and they have a wide range of Marimekko fabrics. Sadly the site will be closing down soon but a lot of fabrics will still be available in their etsy store.

Julie from Yulki's Home Decor has offered my readers an 18% discount store wide on all available fabrics before the website closes down. Just enter the code "special" at checkout.

Details
I love the little ties on this bodice. It adds such a sweetness to the dress, and the heavy cotton fabric gives shape to the ties without the need to interface.

So BOW-tiful

I highlighted the beautiful panelled design of branches and magenta berries by placing the pattern in the centre, with the top and bottom of the dress being white. This meant I had to cut my pattern pieces across the grain line, rather than along the grain line.

The bodice has a V shaped front and back and an invisible zipper down the centre back.h

Thanks to the sturdiness of this heavy cotton fabric, I went the easy option and didn't line it. It breathes easy and feels very structured so is very comfortable to wear!

The dress has an empire bodice cut just under the bust, and the skirt has four darts at the front, and two at the back, all perfectly hidden amongst the beautiful fabric design.

Conclusion

Here in the Southern Hemisphere us gals are packing up our summer gear and pulling out the knitting needles as we say goodbye to Summer *sniff* and hello to Autumn.

This cheery spring dress seems like a poetic goodbye to our warm weather as we hold onto these last few warm weeks.

I love how this dress turned out and feel happy to have finally made my very own Marimekko dress! Don't forget about the 18% discount code 'special' at Yulki's Home Decor if you are wanting to get your hands on your own Marimekko.

Hope you all have a fabric filled week! xx

Billie Jean Dress + Vintage Brooch GIVEAWAY!!

Ok firstly, it is IMPOSSIBLE to make this dress with out having Michael Jackson stuck in your head for over two weeks.

You're singing it now aren't you ...

You're welcome.

A while ago the wonderful Abby from Blue Ginger Doll Patterns sent me this fabulous Billie Jean dress pattern to try out. I loved it as soon as I saw the cover image. A vintage dress reminiscent of Mad Men times? Yes please!

This pattern was extra special for me because not only is this pattern company an indie company, the owner creator is from the same area that I grew up! True story! Since this pattern was released Abby has been busy creating a whole bunch of other gorgeous patterns (the girl clearly doesn't sleep). I'm lusting over this one at the moment.

Details:
I made this dress in a lush jacquard that I purchased from good old Spotlight a zillion years ago. As soon as I looked at this pattern I knew I was using this fabric.

The dress has princess seams in the bodice and a scoop neck on the front and back.

Changes:
I had some fit issues on the bodice which I worked out, though I really should have done a full-bust-adjustment (FBA) as it's too tight across the centre of my boobage which is giving it a bit of square shape. Meh; the pattern of the fabric helps to hide it. Though I am counting on the ol' bobby-ta-ta's getting smaller once my 15 month old stops breastfeeding (yes, that's right).

I used an invisible zipper down the centre back as that was what I had in my stash.

I also used pleated the skirt waist instead of gathering it so that it would be a little flatter on my belly.

I love the cut of this dress and it's classic style. If you're a lover a vintage it's a great easy pattern that you can dress up or down. I wore a petticoat underneath to give the skirt some fooph and I love the 1950's effect!

For endless vintage inspiration, you can check out my Mad Men Challenge post here.

VINTAGE BROOCH GIVEAWAY

To WIN one of the three brooches above from the Ruemiraldi store simply comment on this post.

All people who leave a comment will be in the running to win and three lucky people will be announced the winners.

Entries are open to everyone from anywhere in the world. 

Entries close on Friday, May 2nd, 2014

Three random winners will announced in a blog post on Saturday, May 3rd, 2014.

Thanks for stopping by; I hope you all had a lovely Easter!

THE BIG REVEAL!!! - Mad Men III

If you stop and listen carefully you might be able to hear it. A faint high pitched squeal that's not dissimilar to the sound a jacket potato makes when you put in the oven to bake and forget to poke holes in it (really creepy if you've ever experienced it). It's the sound of me squealing with excitement all the way from Melbourne, Australia. Why?

It's MADMEN III REVEAL TIME!

EEEEEEeeeeeEEEEEeeeeEEEE!!!

If you've been following on Instagram you may have already seen me reveal a few gems.
But now it's time for the whole ENCHILADA!

So sit down, put on some red lipstick and enjoy!

Click on the buttons below to see all your inspired creations for each character:

Is your outfit missing? Please email me if your outfit is not showing!

Stay tuned for next week's blog post; we have some fabulous vintage brooches from Ruemiraldi to give away. 

It is FREAKING ME OUT how awesome these creations are! This is always my favourite time of the year and I'm continuously inspired by this community. Thanks to everyone who took part in the challenge; you all look fabulous!

MAD MEN Challenge 3 - You IN?

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CHALLENGE RESULTS!

Ladies and gentleman of the sewing world ... it's Mad Men time!

The TV series that we have been swooning over for the last six seasons will be airing part 1 of it's FINAL season this April.  That means another season of fabulous and give-it-to-me-now vintage fashions for us to indulge ourselves with. And for those of us in the sewing world, we know what this means ...

MADMEN CHALLENGE III

Can I get an amen?

Challenge:      

Recreate a Mad Men dress that you love. It doesn't have to be an exact copy, you can just be inspired by the style of the 50's, 60's and early 70's.

Why take part:

I love this sewing community and group challenges are a great way to meet other like minded vintage lovers. It's so rewarding to set yourself a sewing goal, and we all get to be inspired by the beautiful creations that people make.

What's more it's a great way to discover new blogs to follow and to get yours out there. Don't have a blog? No worries! You don't need to have one to be part of the fun.

What you need to do:

Make your garment and then if you have a website do a blog post about it. Then ...

Email me at julia(at)juliabobbin(dot)com the following:

• A photo of you wearing the garment that you made
• A photo of the inspiration dress/character - remember it doesn't have to be a copy it can just be inspired by a dress/character
• A link to your blog post showing your finished dress. Make sure you blog about your garment before you send me the images so that I have a blog post to reference. Don't have a blog? No worries! You only need to provide your blog details if you want to. Plenty of people took part in past challenges that didn't have a blog.
• Your name (or alter-ego) and your blog name.

Once I have received the above information I will respond with a confirmation within three days that it has been received.

Got any questions? Still not sure what you have to do? Just send me an email!

Shout it from the rooftops!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.juliabobbin.com/2014/02/mad-men-challenge-3-you-in.html" title="Julia Bobbin - Mad Men Challenge III" target="_blank"><img src="http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx160/JuliaBobbin/JuliaBobbinMM3_zpsa913cf16.jpg" alt="Julia Bobbin - Mad Men Challenge III" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

For those of you who want to let people know they are taking part in the challenge, here is a button you can proudly post on your blog:

Due By:

Send the above details to me by Tuesday, April 1st – that gives us about six weeks to create a masterpiece!

The Big Reveal:

I will then post up everyone’s photos and blog links on Sunday, April 6th 

Need Inspiration?

• Check out the Mad Men challenge from 2013 and 2012. It'll blow your mind!
• Head over to my Mad Men pinterest board for lots of pics of fabulous get-ups from the show.
• Check out my previous Mad Men dresses below:

So ... You in? Say yes yes yes!! (will also accept just one yes).

Colour Blocked Laurel + Coming soon: Mad Men Dress Challenge!

Um ... Happy New Year peeps! Yeah that's right, it's freaking 2014 and I haven't blogged since December 2013. Whaaaaa? Julia, put the egg-nog down!

Don't worry, I haven't just been in my pyjamas this whole time eating christmas chocolate (much). I've also made a few things, and here is one of my latest:

It's another Laurel by Colette Patterns! This is the second time I've made this dress and once again it was an easy-breezy quick sew and a pleasure to make. You can check out my first Laurel here.

Two Laurel's side by side

Details:
I made the sleeveless version using suiting fabric and bias binding to finish the sleeves and neck edge.

Changes:

I shorted the dress by about four cm and took the side seams in slightly around the waist. This gave the dress just a little bit more shape but still kept the loose fitted structure of a shift dress.

I also cut the pattern into three pieces to make a colour blocked effect, and now I just want to colour block everything! I love the combination of white, grey and yellow.

Accessories:

Shoes - Piccola Italy by Joanne Mercer in brown

Necklace - Neon Geometric by LiKeGjewelry

Love:

This dress is super comfortable to wear and is getting a real work out this Australian summer! I love how easy it is to jazz up with a pretty necklace and I especially love how fast and simple it is to sew. Its a winner!

Recent Indulgent Purchases:

So if you've been following my instagram, you may have seen my latest two babies:  Two amazing necklaces from Strangely Yours. 

A mini sewing machine complete with its own little spool of thread. Oh, and it says 'Julia Bobbin' on it. SHUT-UP!

And a mini polaroid camera, that has a little photo that pops in and out. That's a tiny photo of me and my two faves. It is so freaking cute that it burns my eyes!

News:

Coming soon ... Mad Men Dress Challenge Number 3!! Yes that's right, it's that time of the year again where we all get together and indulge ourselves with fabulous vintage sewing inspired by the TV show Mad Men! 

It's a ridiculous amount of fun and I absolutely love seeing what everyone comes up with! I'll be posting details about it in the next few weeks. In the meantime, check out the last two years Mad Men Sew-a-longs to get yourselves excited!

Eek! I am loving 2014 so much already! I can't wait to sew with everyone this year!