The Real Deal; Calvin Leo

After making the toile of the Calvin top which I posted last week, I dove straight in to the actual planned dress! This make was actually totally inspired - you know that feeling you get when you are just idly browsing an online fabric store (The Village Haberdashery, in my case), and you see a fabric - and instantly you know that you NEED it in your life and EXACTLY what to make with it.

This is what happened with this Mind the Maker Leo print viscose - I knew as soon as I saw it that it needed to be a True Bias Calvin dress. It is gorgeous - and I've been trying to bring more green into my wardrobe, to great success!

I made the size 10 again, the same as my toile. In the making process, I ended up taking 1cm off each underarm. I also took 8" off the hem (pardon my mixing imperial/metric, I work in strange ways, apparently) because it was really long on me!

It is a big departure from my usual style, with the lack of a waistband and the wrap, but every time I've worn it I feel fancy and swishy. I love how flattering it looks on the bust area, but it doesn't feel like I'm in danger of exposing anything! It's not a dress for days when I have big meals planned, but I have plenty of outfits that work better for that.

I would like to make another at some point, but I feel like for me 2 is probably all I need in my wardrobe. I just need to be on the lookout for the next perfect fabric!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Gingham Lilou - My Gingham-Along Entry!

Image
Evening all! It will be a short post tonight, and I also want to apologise for my face in these photos. I had to get these photos done and up today, but I'm ridiculously sick at the moment (and mostly still working, thanks to my profession). I got greeted three times today with 'Wow, you look unwell!' - which is just what you want when you feel like death warmed up. Anyway, this is coming under the wire, really, but is my entry into the Gingham-Along hosted by Karen of Did You Make That? How it came about is a slightly complex story.... When the Ginghamalong was first announced, I was like 'YES! MAKE ALL THE GINGHAM THINGS!', but then I realised I'm trying to save money as well as sew my stash, so my plans went by the wayside. I still have an amazing mental image of black and white gingham shorts (so if anyone knows where to find gingham sateen, let me know!). Except, on Friday (the 9th), I saw an ad for 40% off at Lincraft, where they have a decent...
Read more

Sixties Awesomeness

Image
Hi guys, long time no post! Sorry about that, I won't go into too much detail, but lately has been  busy and the weather has been less than excellent. But I had to come back now... When Tilly and the Button's newest pattern, Francoise, was released, I did a little happy dance. You can see from my other posts that I mostly make one kind of style - fitted bodice with a bigger skirt. But after I made my 3-quarter circle skirt (found here ), I had some fabric left over. In fact I thought I had just enough to make... A 60s a-line dress. (Anyone else a big fan of the children's book Something From Nothing? I loved it as a kid.) And just as I was about to go buy Simplicity 1609 , Tilly announced her new pattern, the Francoise!! It was a match made in heaven. My first one (which I actually have no photos of, yet) was made using the leftover fabric. The pattern is gorgeous and I actually love it on me. I can cut a size 4 and it's a perfect fit too, which is excellent. But ther...
Read more

Nautical Chic Dress - KS3682 x S2444

Image
Hey everyone! So, it's been a month... My bad. I did warn you I was going back to work tomorrow... And work has been crazy, I've ended up with heaps of extra stuff to do, and unfortunately all of the crafty things have had to take a backseat for a little while. Hoping I can get things back to normal soon though! (Also slight apologies for the background today - we were experimenting with in-our-living-room photography with a sheet as a backdrop. Not so successful, but plenty good enough for the blog!) Today I have my latest dress to share with you - and I have to say, this time it looks exactly like what I saw in my head. That doesn't happen all too often in my experience. This lovely is a bit of a mashup. It wasn't intended to be, though. I started off with Kwik Sew 3682 , which has a lovely deep V on the bodice (View B). However, I had bought slightly too little fabric, and even if I hacked 4 inches off the skirt (which I often do with patterns, because they...
Read more