The Christmas Dress

I know Christmas was two weeks ago but I never got around to posting my finished Christmas dress. I actually finished it on Christmas morning just before we had to leave for family lunch. I was way overdressed for a barbecue but I think my family are pretty much used to my eccentricities by now.

I probably could've taken in the side seams some more but I wanted to be comfortable (and considering the amount of trifle and pavlova I ate, that was probably a good decision).
It's pretty much exactly the same dress as the muslin I posted about but I took the shoulders in a little more.

The picture above is most like the true colour of the fabric. It was kind of hard to capture with such terrible lighting and on a dull day.

Take a Bow

Sometimes when I lose my inspiration to sew all I need to do to get it back is to make something really simple, quick and easy. Usually this involves refashioning rather than actually sewing something new. Since I've been lacking motivation recently I decided to give a cardigan that I don't wear very much a bit of a makeover.

I have quite a big stash of vintage sewing notions that I have picked up over the years at various op-shops. I hardly ever use them on big sewing projects but they are great for embellishing plain things.
Using some ribbon from my stash I made some really easy petersham bows and then hand sewed them onto the cardigan. I'm actually quite pleased with the way it turned out because I wasn't sure whether I would like it or not.
Now that I've got my sewing mojo back I'll have to get back to my Christmas dress otherwise it wont be finished in time.

A Christmas Dress Muslin

I've just returned from being away for a few days and have realised Christmas is looming ever closer. I want to make a dress to wear on Christmas day. We usually have a pretty casual Christmas (I'm pretty sure my Dad wore stubbies last year) so I will probably be ridiculously overdressed but I don't care.
I have had some poinsettia printed fabric in my stash for a while that I got off Trademe. I'm hoping it looks slightly Christmassy but not so much so that I can't wear it at other times of the year.

For once I decided to do a muslin. I used a weird tablecloth type thing I had in my stash as muslin fabric.
I inadvertantly cut off the top of my head in the photo (which was in fact probably for the best because I couldn't be bothered putting makeup on this morning).
The details aren't very clear in the picture but the bodice is really basic with kimono sleeves and a slight scoop neck. In the poinsettia version I'm going to take in the shoulder seams and the side seams slightly.

The skirt front has four pleats on each side which face the centre front. The back has two box pleats. The skirt is based on a vintage dress I saw on Etsy.

Now I've completed a muslin hopefully I'll be able to make the final dress before Christmas.

Hello Sailor!

I don't usually wear trousers being more of a skirt/dress type girl but I love sailor style pants. To make these I used this pattern from Burdastyle and modified it slightly.
I wanted a pattern that had a side invisible zip rather than a front closure and this was the only pattern I could find at the time. The waistband was really small and I wanted them to be high waisted so I made it about double the size of the one in the pattern. This was actually my second pair. The first are in navy wool with white buttons but I haven't managed to get a photo of them. These ones are made of some bright red drill cotton. The weight of the fabric is perfect but it is prone to wrinkling, as you can see in the photos.

The buttons aren't actually functional. There is an invisible zip closure on the left side. This was far easier than doing a button placket (not to mention the fact my machine hates doing buttonholes).
I also skipped the lining that was in the pattern because I didn't feel like they needed it.
Although it's too hot to wear them now, I wore the navy pair a lot when I first made them. They are really comfortable and have pretty much become my version of wearing trackpants (I abhor trackpants and would never own a pair so highwaisted sailor pants are the closest I'll ever get).
They aren't perfect but I'm pretty pleased as these and the navy pair were only my second brush with making trousers (I made a pair of horrible brown plaid baggy trousers in high school but let's not talk about that).
The photos aren't very good and I think they look better in real life. They also make me look taller which is always an added bonus for someone as short as me.
The top I'm wearing is another Port Elizabeth. I love this pattern. It's so quick and easy. At this point I've made five of them.

Ugh exams!

Sorry about the lack of posting. I start exams in less than a week. After they are over I will be back- with a vengeance. I have so many sewing plans for summer which I'm looking forward to starting on. In the meantime here are a couple of my latest finds. The vintage buttons above were from the Shabby Chic market and are mounted on some gorgeous French wallpaper. The fabric below is actually a full length cotton nightgown. There's tons of fabric so I think I'm going to make a blouse out of it.

Frocktober

On Saturday Frocks on Bikes held Swing into Spring, a market with food stalls, vintage clothing and bikes and a swing dancing demonstration. I picked up two lovely dress for just $35. Because of the escalating price of vintage I don't tend to buy much any more but one stall had really reasonable prices. The woman running it actually has a vintage store called Retropolitan which sadly, I think, sustained some damage in the quake and I'm not sure what's going to happen to it.

The dress above has a bit of damage at the back but someone has repaired it really carefully and matched the cotton they used exactly to the print. It's also on the back around the armhole so it's not very noticeable when it's on.

Both dresses are a little big but I couldn't resist the gorgeous prints. They will be perfect for summer I think.

Computer Problems

Sorry for the silence lately. I have been having issues with the new power adapter I bought for my laptop. Namely it started smoking when I plugged it in. It means I'm now without a computer for about a week. Anyway, so this post isn't completely boring I thought I'd show you a picture of the kind of jacket I really want to make. I went to the Shabby Chic market on Sunday and there was this lovely short wool coat with a fur collar. The only problem is that it was brown (definitely not my best colour) and the fur was real. I don't mind if other people wear vintage fur it just creeps me out having it that close to my face (I am neurotic like that). It was a really good price and if it weren't for those two things I would have snapped it up in a heartbeat. I found a picture of a similar one from Dear Golden Vintage on etsy.

Obviously it's the wrong time of year here to be thinking about making winter jackets but I am definitely going to save this in my mental 'stuff to make' file. I think a red wool would be nice with perhaps a faux leopard collar.
Hopefully my computer will be up and running next week and I will finally be able to show you some pictures of the sailor pants' I've been making.