Notions Of Fabric

This dress is truly and oldie but a goodie. It's another Ruby dress! My usual size, this was the first one I did with the full bodice lining rather than just a facing. If I'm totally honest, most facings I just find super annoying, especially on a dress like this. You might as well might make it a full lining and have more clean finishes as well! This Ruby in particular has become my favourite. It's a cooler weather staple which I wear all autumn and winter long, usually with tights. I added a couple of inches to the length of the skirt to make it a little dressier (and a bit better for work), and with the pretty but subdued print. This dress has become my good luck dress! I wear it regularly around once a week in the cooler seasons, but it also gets washed in time for every important occasion. I wear it for the first parent teacher night, I wore it to multiple job interviews last year (and I got offered the two that I wore it to!) and it really ...

Hello again. How are we all doing today? I loved the last dress I made, Simplicity 2444, so much that the very next thing I made was... another one! The fabric is really nice, actually. A family friend heard from my parents that I was sewing things, and mentioned that she had a HUGE amount of fabric she wanted to get rid of. I very happily went around to her place to take a look! She mostly did quilting, so many pieces weren't the right size for the job. But I picked up a few, and this one I wanted to use first. I looked it up based on the selvage, and it's actually a curtain fabric, 100% cotton, and quite sturdy. It gives the pleated skirt a really lovely shape.  I cut a 16 again, and pulled it in 2 inches before sewing it up. I (obviously) made the sleeveless version with pattern skirt this time. I learnt a big new skill for this one - bias binding! I used binding as a facing as well as on the inside of the dress - see, so nice! (Looks so nice...) ...

Another spotty dress! Part of my new fabric buying ban includes spotty fabric, in fact, after the two I've made... But this one is lovely! (Excuse the derpy face there...) This pattern I've had for a long time, actually - I attempted to make one a few years back, but it was masses too wide. This is Kwik Sew 3682, View B, with more spotmania fabric from Lincraft.  I really like this dress, only next time I might make the front skirt one section so there's no seam down the middle of the skirt. Having cut a size L last time and being swimming in it, I cut an M this time and it was spot on! New skills: facing

Way back when I first started sewing again, this was my first creation. It has a few flaws, but I still love wearing it. I am still working on developing my skills (practised and used my first french seam on my latest dress, and my zipper skills are much better than before!) and love learning new things. The fabric is Spotmania, a line from Lincraft (one of the 2 major sewing stores here in Australia). They have some available online, but not the colourway which I used. It's not expensive and perfect for someone like me, getting back into the groove and practising almost-forgotten skills!  The pattern is New Look 6208, a lovely high fitted bodice with a pleated skirt. It has 4 variations (this is View A). I used the measurements on the envelope back and hesitantly cut a size 16. It was almost a perfect fit (I only took 1" off the waist afterwards), and hemmed it 5" to hit just above my knee. New skills: pinking, inserting a zipper.