New England Day Dress - Lucky Lucille's Sew For Victory Sew-A-Long

Did you guys know that the super talented Rochelle from the blog Lucky Lucille and myself are best friends?

  

That's ok, she doesn't know we're best friends either. Whoops.
One day however she will be wearing my best friend chain around her wrist even if I have to break a few restraining orders to make it happen.

A few months ago I saw on her blog a 40's dress that she had just made and I fell in love with it! I went straight online and ordered myself a copy of the pattern called the  New England Day Dress so that I could be more like Rochelle make my own version.

The pictures above are of Rochelle's version. Isn't it dreamy? Read about her dress here.

Rochelle is currently hosting a 40's dress sew-along called 'Sew For Victory' and my new dress and I are taking part. There's still time to get involved, so click on the picture below to check out the details. You'll want to check out all the participants amazing creations. Who doesn't love vintage for crying out loud!

So here's my review of the New England Day Dress:

Fabric
A cotton poplin from Spoonflower, 'Shabby Rose', designed by Kristopherk

Like
Easy to make with great easy-paced instructions.

I love the classic vintage shape of this 1940's dress.

The sleeves! I'm majorly crushing on these sleeves, with a 'I want to write his name all over my pencil case' sort of intensity. I mean would you look at that sleeve head?!!

 

It's a combination of small darts finished with a gathered stitch at the head to give the sleeve that structure at the top.

Fake bib top and skirt! How sweet does this look. I used contrasting mustard fabric on the facings of the bib for a bit of 'somethin-somethin'.

It has pockets! Pockets people!

Don't Like
The dress isn't lined and uses facings instead. I'm not the biggest fan of facings instead of linings, but I do like that it's faster to put together.

Look Out For

Really cute babies ...

Put your button holes on you skirt bib before attaching it to the skirt. The instructions doesn't mention this step and I realised at the end of the dress that it needed button holes. This involved a bit of unpicking.

Have a good think about what edges need to be overlocked/serged before you put them together. The instructions only tell you to finish the edges half of the time.

The yardage! Almost every pattern piece is cut on the fold and this chews up a heck of a lot of fabric! Make sure you buy extra fabric as you don't want to be caught short. If I hadn't made the facings a different fabric, I would not have had enough!

Changes Made
I shortened the bodice by 3cm, my usual modification as I have a shorter torso.

Oh heck, here's just a bit more cuteness. Adorable much?

How's everyone going with their outfits for the Mad Men Dress Challenge?

Don't forget to get your Mad Men Dress pics to me by Friday, April the 19th, 2013
click here for the details. Need some inspiration? Check out last years contributors here.

There will also be some great giveaways including vintage brooches from Ruemiraldi, and a $25 gift voucher for Patterns From the Past store

And for those of you who want to let your readers know you are taking part in the challenge, here is a button with the HTML code

<center> <a href="http://www.juliabobbin.com/2013/01/mad-men-dress-challenge-2-you-in.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8231/8431150793_b96cb3f106_o.png" width="200" height="200" alt="mmc27" /></a></center>

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Mad Men Dress Challenge 2 ... You in?

The results are in! CLICK HERE to see all your AMAZING MAD MEN dresses!! Congratulations everyone!!

Fabulous ladies and gentlemen, lovers of vintage and prettiness:

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and I ain't talking about Christmas. I'm talking about ...

Mad Men.

Yes that's right, the new season starts in April and that means a whole new bevy of stunning vintage dresses, hair and makeup.

And what better way to celebrate this momentous occasion then to welcome back the ...

Mad Men Dress Challenge 2!

Remember last years Challenge? Click here to see all the amazing ladies who got involved!

Challenge:      

Find a dress from Mad Men that you love and create your own version. It doesn't have to be an exact copy, you can just be inspired by the style.

Maybe you've recently made a dress already. You're welcome to submit that also!

Below is an example of a dress that was inspired by a Mad Men dress but not an exact copy:

Click on the photo to see the blog post

And here's one that is a copy:

 

Click on the photo to see the blog post

Why take part:

Why the heck not!

Group challenges are a great way to try something new, push yourself and set yourself a challenge. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or a pro, it is so rewarding to see what everyone has made and to take part in it!

It's also a great opportunity for new bloggers to give their blog exposure! On the flip side it is also a fabulous way to discover amazing new blogs to follow.

It's a great source of  inspiration when you can look through all the amazing finished vintage creations. Who doesn't love a vintage frock. Am I right?!

Email to me by April 19th:

• A photo of you wearing the garment that you made
• A photo of the inspiration dress
• A link to your blog post showing your finished dress so that readers can check our your site! 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 last year who didnt have blogs.
• Your first name (or fancy blog alter-ego)
• Email the above to Julia@juliabobbin.com – I will respond with a confirmation within three days that I have received your email.
• Got any questions? Feel free to email me :)

For those of you who want to let people know they are taking part in the challenge, check out the blogger button in the side bar with the HTML code.

Below is an example of a Mad Men dress I made based on a dress the lovely Joan wore.

Click on the photo to see the blog post

Due By:

EXTENSION GIVEN UNTIL APRIL 22ND!!

Send the above details to me by Friday, April 19th – that gives us about eleven weeks to create a masterpiece!

The Blog Post:

I will then post up everyone’s photos and blog links on Sunday, May 5th – My Birthday month, how appropriate.

Here's one more Mad Men copy-cat. Obsessed much?

Click on the photo to see the blog post

Need Inspiration?

Check out last years amazing group challenge results

Head over to my Mad Men pinterest board for lots of pics of fabulous get-ups from the show.

So ... You in? I can't WAIT to see what everyone comes up with!!

Well looky what we have here ...

photo curtesy of my husband Robin

On other news ... um ... I had a baby!

Little Harry was born January 13, 2013 at 12:31pm weighing 7lb 11oz and as cute as a button! Our insides turn to marshmallow when ever we look at the little fellow. I mean COME ON! Would you look at that cuteness?!!

photo curtesy of my dad Michael

I am also pleased to report that Harry has excellent sewing hands.

Our family is very blessed :)

photo curtesy of my dad Michael

photo curtesy of my husband Robin

Tube skirt, a bump and a group challenge coming soon

Hello 2013 you sexy thing you!

Here's me at 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant (but who's counting) and looking it.

Recent Project

 

I'm wearing a tube skirt I knocked together with a stretch knit from Tessuti fabrics that I bought a long while back. Aren't I a good girl using fabric in my stash instead of buying more?!! I'm so good at sticking to New Years resolutions ... in the first week of January ... whatever.

This skirt took about ten glorious minutes. I measured the widest part of my lower body (good Lord the circumference of my bottom is what? WHAT?!!!) and then cut out the fabric in one big square, doubling the width. I then stitched the one seam line down with the overlocker, and hey-presto I have a new skirt to cover my my cankles. Though they are so swollen at the moment they look more like two necks. But hey, it's all worth it :)

Group challenges on the horizon

Start thinking gorgeous Mad Men dresses, as there is a Mad Men Group Challenge 2 coming soon!

Last years Mad Men challenge introduced us to some amazing vintage dresses with clothes inspired by some of our favourite small screen sirens such as Joan, Betty and Peggy.

I am so excited to see what we come up with this year!

Click here to see all the amazing contributions from last years challenge.

Julia Bobbin in Germany
(well ... sort of ...)

Wait a second, who's that cheeky young seamstress lurking in the corner of the magazine there...

Oh Hay! It's just me, hanging out in the German BurdaStyle magazine issue 1/2013. No big deal...

Ever seen a 38 week pregnant woman trying to do cartwheels? It aint pretty (our lounge room will never be the same).
In this little snippet I'm wearing Burda pattern #7494 and you can see the blog post about the dress here.

Good way to start the year don't you think!?!

A special thank you to Esther and Inges who spotted me in the BurdaStyle magazine and sent me pictures!  My poor husband, I am going to be impossible to live with now :)

Baby Watching

Seeing as I'm only a week and a bit off my due date, baby could come any day now. Or baby might set up camp and not come for another four weeks! Cheeky little thing.

If I am suddenly MIA in the blogging world you'll know that I have met my little bundle of joy and am thoroughly distracted by cuteness. Once things settle down I'll be back in action.

Here's a few sneaky little shots of some baby clothes that I have made.

 

simplicity 2264 - silk dupion and organza, zipper closure

 

kwik sew 3946 - cotton, button closure

We don't know if it's going to be a boy or a girl so I've made both types of clothes. Clearly I've gone a little crazy with girl clothes, but they're just so pretty! The embroidered H is the first initial of our family surname.  I like my baby clothes extra cheesy :)

kwik sew 3901  - cotton, button closer

simplicity 2264 - cotton, zipper closure

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and well wishes. I'm so excited it's ridiculous!

A year of blogged Julia Bobbin creations

Well it's that time of the year again where sentiments are high, dollars are low and every mirror in the house is covered while I stuff myself with food.

It's Christmas and almost the end of 2012.

Reflecting on the year I feel incredibly grateful. Robin and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary in October and our first little baby is due next month in January just 15 months after getting married. I have amazing family, friends and colleagues and have made more lovely friends through this wonderful sewing community. I travelled to New York thanks to the 2011 Tessuti Awards and have bought more fabric than my budget allows (whoops).

August 2012 was my third year anniversary since I started sewing for the very first time and I am so excited about the journey that it has taken me on. Sewing has given me a creative outlet, given me clothes that I love to wear, helped me explore my style and allowed me to meet other like-minded people through the blogosphere.

This sewing community has kept me inspired, taught me new skills and given me endless encouragement. So thank you times a million!

Julia Bobbin 2012

Below are all the Julia Bobbin projects that I blogged in 2012. Click on a picture below to see the full blog post for that creation.

I can't decide which one is my favourite. Do you have one?

Thank you for reading my blog and for your super kind words and encouragement throughout the year. 

I hope that you and yours all have a wonderful and safe Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Julia xxx