Sew Over It Ultimate Shift Dress x 2

I have been trying to write this post for a whole week now but life keeps conspiring against me!  The weather keeps being too rubbish to take photos and now we have no internet at home for a few weeks!  Aaargh!  If I look really tired in these photos it is because I was, I've had a poorly child for the past few days and took the opportunity of a break in vomit watch and a break in the weather to quickly take some photos! (The child is all better now and back at school which means I am back in work and able to use the work internet - yay!).

This dress is the Sew Over It Ultimate Shift dress which I hadn't really given a though to until I bought this fabric whilst out on my recent trip to Goldhawk Road when Marilla suggested it would be a great fit for the fabric.  The fabric is so deliciously soft that I was tempted to make pyjamas from it but I needed a new dress more!  We went out to a dinner thing last weekend and at first I thought I needed a posh frock but when I actually read the dress code and realised it was smart/casual I decided to make this.  Which was a bit of a shame because I had some plans with some silk and a gold skirt.  Oh well, there'll be a next time!

I started this dress on the Thursday night, hand sewed the hems on the Friday night then wore it out on the Saturday night - perfect! 

I was a bit unsure what size to make as going by the pattern measurements I should have made a size 12 but I have put on a few pounds recently so decided to err on the side of caution and make the 14.  The fit is fine so I am happy with my decision and the only change I made to the pattern was to lower the bust darts by 3cm which I have to do to most patterns. I also decided to line the body of the  dress to give the fabric a bit more substance.  I finished the back with a button and loop rather than a hook and eye, thinking it would be easier for me to do up myself as I do find hook and eyes so fiddly.  

I am so happy with my new dress and had a fab time at the dinner thing. I am so pleased I made a new dress for it, it gave me a bit of a confidence boost and helped me enjoy the evening so much more because I wasn't worrying about what I was wearing.  

Because I loved the pattern so much I went straight on to make a jersey version in some fab stripy ponte roma that I picked up on the same shopping trip.  I felt like I bought a lot of fabric that day but actually I have used most of it already so my guilty feelings are lessening somewhat!

For this version, I cut the back on the fold, kept the rest of the dress as it was and added bands at the neck and cuffs - with anchors on!  This dress is the bees knees.  It is definitely a pyjama dress and I love it!  Since I finished it (last Tuesday) I have worn it 5 times, it is sooooo comfy!  

Checking out my stripe matching!

It was also incredibly quick to make since the majority of it was made on the overlocker.  I think I made it in 2 hours, which is quick by my standards.  I do spend an awful lot of time staring at the television when I'm supposed to be sewing!  

As I actually finished my dress in time I rewarded myself by sewing up some lovely lounge wear, none of which deserve a whole post of their own.  I made a pair of peach hudsons, a banana Lark Tee and a Linden with a gold glitter stag's head!!  Words cannot describe how much I love this jumper and I will not actually be wearing this as lounge wear until after the festive period (after spilling red wine down the front on its first outing!).   The morning after I finished it I realised that the quality of ribbing I used just wasn't up to scratch so I made the decision to unpick it and replace it with some gorgeous red and white striped ribbing I bought from KitschyCoo.  It's true love and I will be wearing this to every festive event I have to go to this Christmas, starting with a Guide party on Monday night!

Style 1711 - Victorian Outfit

I was in two minds about writing a blog post for this little outfit but in the end I decided that I wanted a record of it.  It wasn't a long or complicated make but I'm really happy with how it turned out. And the pictures made me laugh!

The pattern I used is Style 1711 from 1976 which I found almost by accident on eBay.  It is perfect for a Victorian style dressing up and I think I will make it again as normal wear, I like it!  I do enjoy using vintage patterns for children's wear probably more than for me as I don't have to worry about fitting issues.  I only changed two things when making this; I omitted the high neck band and finished the edge with a bias strip instead, and I left the back of the apron open for a more aprony look. Oh, and I left the frill off the bottom too!

I bought the fabric on my most recent trip to Goldhawk Road and I'm really pleased with it.  The grey/blue fabric for the main dress has a slight check running through it and is almost a trouser weight. I think the dress will get worn by itself a bit, I like the style of it.  The sleeves need shortening first though!

Following on from my last post I can confirm that reward charts also work on adults and as a reward for making a new dress to wear on Saturday night (not even started yet!) I am going to be heavily influenced by Marilla and make myself some nice loungewear! Featuring bananas!!

Marilla Walker Roberts Dungadress

I may as well change the name of my blog to "The Marilla Walker Appreciation Page"!  If we weren't friends I think she would suspect me of stalking her.  Ho hum, that's what you get for designing all the things I want to wear right now!

I finished this dress at about 11pm the night before going on a lovely jaunt to London to meet up with Marilla, Jo and Jane where I bought way more fabric than I normally do, and way more than I intended!  Among the bits I bought was a beautiful piece of burgundy coloured corduroy which I am intending to use for some Roberts dungarees, but that may have to wait a while as I have loads to be getting on with at the moment!

For this dress I used the final pattern and not the tester version which I had for my jumpsuit.  I decided to size down for this version for a slightly sleeker silhouette to a size two and am happy with how this turned out.  I like my jumpsuit being a bit roomier but I prefer this fit for a dress.  

The fabric I used this time is a lightweight stretch denim from eBay.  The stretch makes it so comfortable to wear - and explains why I could size down and still get it over my hips!! I could quite happily live in this dress.  In fact I have done for the past week (hence the crumply look) which means I obviously need more.  

I lined the bib and the pockets with scraps of my favourite ever fabric (used previously here).  In fact, I think I need to try wearing this with my Mathilde underneath for a really matchy matchy look - I think it'd be a winner!

For some reason, even though this dress is a relatively quick make, it still took me a week to finish.  Is anyone else finding the weather/clocks changing/general drizzle a bit draining at the moment?  I start sewing something, sit down to think about it and the next thing I know it's bed time!  I've got a dinner thing to go to next weekend and want to make myself a new top to wear and I need to produce a Victorian outfit for the child's school so I really need to crack on with things but I'm struggling to stay motivated.  I think I'm going to try a reward chart - if it works for toddlers it might just work for me!!