Notions Of Fabric

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...

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...

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 ...

Hello lovelies! I am back - and this time, I'm not even going to bother trying to explain myself. It's been a while, but now I'm back, and I've had a big kick up the sewjo this last weekend! Having had a really busy week writing reports for work, I finally snuck them in early on Friday, knocked off work as soon as possible, and drove north. Coincidentally, I was also driving towards one of the worst storms eastern NSW has seen in recent times, but I only had to spend a very short time outside in it, luckily. I drove from Sydney up to the (normally) lovely town of Port Macquarie, where I simply found my accommodation and settled in for the night. My accommodation was awesome, and extremely central for the restaurants and the Glasshouse, our sewing venue. (Arriving, sewing machines in tow) (Our sewing tables - in the front was a huge cutting table as well!) What followed was 2 days of disgusting weather, but fantastic food, awesome sewing, and great ...

Evening everyone! Hope you've all had a nice week. Mine was super busy again - I'm starting to really look forward to the holidays (only two more weeks), and I'm aching to take a sewing day before then, but I won't. I need to work as much as I can in the lead up to Christmas; working as a casual teacher takes its toll over the summer when you don't work (and therefore don't get paid). I've also put myself on a fabric and yarn spending ban (with the exception of a few things I'm planning to make as gifts for people for Christmas), so I'm trying to work my way through a long list of things I've been planning to make for ages. First are some commissions for friends, I'm copying a ModCloth dress for a few of us - then the long list for me. Maybe I'll have my list finished by the end of next year... (I love this dress, so much! Although it makes me want a crinoline...) In the spirit of things I've made a long time ago, I made ...