Notions Of Fabric

Yes, it's another Ruby dress! I was browsing Minerva Fabrics for other things a while back, when I spotted this wool blend fabric. And I love a wintery plaid! When Minerva then emailed me to say that it was only available in 2 separate lengths, no problem! It was easy to fit the skirt pieces on one length and the bodice on the other. I went with my usual size (M with a dropped bust dart), but used a lining. I personally really don't like a facing so I cut 2 bodices and line it, hand sewing it to the skirt to also enclose the waist seam. For this, making the entire bodice out of wool seemed, well, inadvisable, so I lined it with some of the black sandwashed silk left in my stash. It is a bit easier to sew than some of my other liing facrics and I like the feel of it. The other thing I bought to make this project was some bias binding. I decided that for the wool it needed a bit of nice bias, so I bought some black satin bias binding to go around the hem. Every time I make a Ruby...

This pattern is the Deer and Doe Belladone. Those who are long time readers of my blog will recognise my love for this pattern company. I have made Belladones, Daturas, Chardons, and of course a Luzerne! I actually also am planning to make Sirocco and Magnolia at some point soon - they're both on my Make Nine for 2020. (Since writing this post originally, I have made the Sirocco once, with plans for a second, and I changed my mind on Magnolia, buying the Myosotis pattern instead!) I have made quite a few Belladone's in my time, it must have been 4 or 5, although not many are still surviving. This is mostly due to moving interstate, across the world, and also my fluctuating weight. But I do like the silhouette and I always really loved the cross over element at the back (to the point where I've never made it with the plain back!) This fabric was, I believe, one of my earliest purchases from TMOS (the Man outside Sainsbury's) in Walthamstow? It's a lig...

Before I had even finished my first Kew dress (which you can find  here  if you are interested), I knew I was going to make another. I just had to do it soon, before we ran out of summer in London! Luckily, even after that, we have a trip or two planned to places which will be nice and warm so there should be plenty of opportunity to wear it again. I can even picture it over a black t-shirt when the weather cools down which could look quite 90s cool. For this next  Kew   I wanted to make it a bit more wearable by leaving off the cold shoulder straps. I do really like them, but I just think that in order to get the most out of this dress throughout multiple seasons (and wearing cardigans/layers with it) that it is more versatile without the cold shoulder. Plus, with this heavier fabric I don't think it would drape quite as well or have the same effect. This fabric was the only piece of fabric I purchased while we were actually in Australia for Christmas (before the wh...

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I love being a part of fandom and talking about my favourite books, TV shows and films. I love Pokemon (as evidenced in my last post by my Pikachu tee), Doctor Who (see wayyy back in the archives for my exploding Tardis dress), but my one true fandom love is Harry Potter. I read the books over and over throughout my life, they really helped me through tough times growing up. Now, I am a proud Hufflepuff (represent!) who, honestly, is a little shocked that I don't own any me made Harry Potter things! I have owned many a tee throughout the years, and currently wear almost exclusively HP socks, but I never found the right fabric for a themed dress until the Knitting and Stitching show last October, where I found this amazing HP newsprint fabric! While I have been trying to steer away from quilting cotton (which this is), I am not averse to using it when the design is so relevant to my interests! I made a NL6048, a pattern which I have made m...

This is the first project that I made while at home in Australia, however is the last one to make it to the blog. Mostly because as soon as I wear it, I wash it and wear it again! It has been in constant rotation ever since I made it, and even more so now London has finally decided that is summer now! This is the Kew dress from Nina Lee. Like my other Australia projects, it was something I hadn't made before but that I had fallen in love with when it came out. Specifically, version 2 with the straps and little wings (sleeves?) was really gorgeous and I loved the line drawing. I always had linen in mind for this dress, so when I went to spotlight I headed straight there. Red is not normally my colour, but this is such a lovely shade I couldn't resist! When I went to look at buttons and they had these lovely ones with exactly the sameshade of red, I knew it was fate! It does wrinkle a little throughout the day but it's nothing major and I don't worry too much about it. I ...

Hello lovely people! It's finally getting nice here in Sydney (although I believe it will rain again later in the week), and I have another dress to show you! I think we've allworked out how this works by now. I love to wear dresses, pretty much no matter how cold (well, in Sydney, anyway). And sorry, but this is a quick post - I'm swamped with work today, but wanted to share this one with you anyway! This lovely is another Deer and Doe Belladone . I've already made this gorgeous pattern a few times, but this one has a few small alterations to the previous one (and I have one in the 'to-take-in' pile as well!). I've gone down a size from my first (to a 42), a pleasant side effect of running, but I have also added little darts on the upper back overlap pieces. I find that the back can gape otherwise, which is a problem I have with a few patterns. Maybe I have narrow shoulders? Anyway, other than those few changes, this is exactly as is. I l...

Hello lovely people! Hope everyone is well. It's been a great few weeks off for me on school holidays, but it'll be back to work tomorrow for. me. At least it's supposed to be warmer this week - I'm looking forward to  a day or two with no stockings! This dress is a stockings dress though. It is one I made late last year, actually, but I haven't worn it all that often. It is a departure from my usual style, but I like it.  This a Tilly and the Buttons Francoise. It's not my first, but I think it's my favourite. In terms of construction, this was made exactly the same as the first (in a size 4). I was planning on having sleeves, but the wool I chose doesn't have enough stretch for sleeves. Or enough fabric in the piece I bought. The main reasons that I don't wear this dress a lot is the length and the fabric. It's a great wintery dress to be worn with stockings! However, here in Sydney there isn't a huge amount of stocking weath...

Hello lovely people! I hope that you are all well, and if you are an Aussie, that you are staying warm and dry. Today I have a totally seasonally-inappropriate dress to share with you. I mean, it is the middle of winter here, but for me, that still means dresses - just with many layers on top and underneath to keep me warm. This dress is also a small first for me - this is my first full muslin on a dress bodice! I know, I know, I should have started making muslins ages ago, but my habit is much more 'make-the-dress-then-take-it-in-at-the-zip' kind of girl. Way too much work making a muslin, or so I thought. Turns out, it's totally worth it. (Photos for this post taken by my brother, with guidance from my Mum) I didn't keep my notes as to all the changes I made (silly), but I did go down a size from before, and take out the back darts. The underarm seam is just slightly crooked, but not enough to really notice. I had originally planned to use the S2444 skirt pat...

Hello again lovely people! Today I come bearing a pretty dress, a tale of happiness and wild despair and then returning happiness. This dress has been... a saga, to say the least. And just as a heads up, this is a picture heavy post. And... it's long. Very long. You've been warned! Let's get the particulars out of the way first though, shall we? This is McCalls 6696 , a gorgeous button down shirtdress everyone and their cat has already made. Yeah, yeah, once again I'm late to the party. But I am glad I waited this time. This is View B, with sleeves and gathered skirt, in a size 14. It fits perfectly. And I adore it. It started off so well. I had 4 yards of this lovely Kaufman Essex Linen Blend fabric in a lovely light blue (they call it Water) from fabric.com which I had originally intended to make a Victorian style dress from Black Sails. However, after not finding a pattern that already worked, and fully realising that I wouldn't wear the dress, or have ...

Evening guys - this is a very exciting post, but will be short. It's Thursday night (technically Friday morning), I have work tomorrow, my alarm goes off in 5 hours. I should be going to bed, but I needed to get this post up now before the weekend. So, last year Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots and Lauren of Lladybird  hosted the first ever Outfit Along, or OAL. I loved the idea, and also the dress (it's still in the queue - soon, soon...), and so I tried, but my knitting skills were not even nearly up to scratch! I failed before the first hurdle, as it were. But when they announced it was going to happen again this year, I was ALL. OVER. THAT. Because now I can actually knit things! (So my hair is a bit crazy in all these shots - it was super windy! Also it bothers me that the bottom of the ribbing doesn't line up properly - I think that was my blocking. What a noob.) I actually didn't follow the OAL exactly, but that's part of the beauty of it - y...

Hey everyone, how are we today? I hope you are super awesome, as I was while taking these photos. As soon as I saw this checked fabric in Lincraft, I knew it was perfect for a dress! A nice big check is always good. However, I straight away started to worry about the effect of having the white and black nearest to my face. The easy answer? Black edging! The pattern is New Look 6208 , I made View D. I figured as much as I love the bows, I thought they would be overkill, and I was right. To avoid having to pattern match, I turned the waistband on the bias instead, which worked a treat - I'll definitely do that again. As I mentioned before, I used black edging around the neckline and armholes. To avoid any awkward moments (I was worried the white was a little sheer), I lined the bodice with white cotton lawn, and the skirt with white Bemsilk. Lining dresses is awesome, you guys. I have vowed to do it all the time (well, almost, anyway), because it's so much nicer in all se...