A Summer Darling Ranges Dress

I have been planning another Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges dress since I finished the last one in April, and finally, it has been sewn!

I used fabric that my Mum and Dad brought back from America last summer. I wasn't sure if it would just be too loud for a dress but used it anyway and I am glad I did, I love it!

I cut a straight medium again and, apart from a sneaky safety pin between the top two buttons it fits really well. I had enough fabric this time to make it the correct length, perfect for bare legs and sandals (which I froze in...)

I used glass buttons from my Grandma's button box, I couldn't decide on a colour of button so clear it was! I am slightly nervous about them though, I am good at smashing things...

Hopefully we get some warmer weather here soon so I can maybe wear it without turning blue :)

On a totally random note, look how much the garden has grown in 3 months!!

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A New Party Dress

It's party dress season in this house again! This is the first year in many that I have made a dress for little e as she is so fussy about what she wears. Normally the things I make sit, unworn, in the wardrobe until they are too small.

This year was different, my parents celebrated their Ruby Wedding anniversary on Sunday and about a month ago Mum took little e shopping to buy fabric for a dress for her party. This seemed to be the key...

She chose a quilting cotton with multi coloured butterflies on a black background. Nothing like what I would have chosen but she loved it. Then, after much deliberation, she chose this pattern:

McCalls 6020, view C but without the band. I cut the bodice front with extra length to take account of the  removed band and it worked well. I only lined the bodice as thought it would be a bit warm with a fully lined dress.

Initially she wanted sleeves as well but I got carried away and before I knew where I was had a fully lined bodice. There was no going back as I had clipped corners etc so the sleeves were scrapped and a we bought a new cardi instead.

why oh why does she always have to pull a face.... like mother like daughter I suppose :)

I also made a matching hairband - this was very well received!

I hope she will wear the dress again for her birthday in August but I have a suspicion that she might ask for another one that fully meets spec this time :)

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A Summer Dress from an Old Sheet

Don't faint, this dress is less than 72 hours old and is appearing here! I have been planning a dress like this for over a year but after a failed attempt at bodice fitting last year I gave up for a while.

I bought the burda block patterns this time last year and made up the bodice. According to measurements I had to do a fairly large FBA, but, this made the bodice massive and I couldn't be bothered working out why! Since then I have lost a wee bit of weight so decided to try again. I made the top in the largest size (16?) and after a few tweaks it was almost perfect!

The pattern alterations I did:

• lengthened the bodice by 2 inches
• dropped the bust dart by 1 inch
• moved waist darts towards center by 1 inch
• added bust darts
• lifted shoulder seam by 1 inch
• reduced slope on shoulder

I then scooped out the back and front more to get the look I wanted.

That looks like a lot of adjustments when I write it all down! I made 3 muslins and for number 4 I cut into an old patterned flat sheet that I got for £1.49 from a charity shop. 

I had to line the dress as the sheet was quite thin, but I am so please with how it turned out!

I have absolutely no idea when I will wear the dress, husband thinks I need an invite to a vicar's tea party (!) but I am going to use the pattern to try another dress with a pleated skirt and one with a circle skirt. I have lots of party dress fabric in my stash that my parent's have bought me and finally some of it will get used. If only I went to parties...!

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Darling Ranges Dress

I have been meaning to make a Darling Ranges dress for a year, since I made this muslin,which was massive. I do love Megan Nielsen patterns, did anyone see her brilliant April Fool's this year? It was brilliant!

I cut the L for the muslin so this time I made a straight M and it is practically perfect, maybe a teeny bit tight over the bust.

this face is much better than the one I was pulling

I had to drop the but darts by about 3 inches (I am not sure, even pre kids, that my bust has ever been as high as the darts are on this pattern... )  and I shortened it as I ran out of fabric. I used a cross weave organic cotton that I got in a bundle from here.

My right bust dart appears to be a bit pointy.... I will need to deal with that.

I have plans on a summer version to use up some of my enormous cotton stash that really needs attention but for now it's back to a couple of pairs of trousers that are WIP's.

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Another Party Dress - Vogue 1408

When I saw this pattern I though it would make a fab colour block dress. I bought the fabric ages ago intending to make it and wear it to a wedding yesterday. Typically life got crazy busy and the dress was made over a few days last week, another last minute rush job!

I ordered the fabric online (royal blue, cerise and purple ponte knits) and they are not the colours I was expecting (and the photos above don't show the colours well at all)... the royal blue is more like an electric blue. I went with the rather vibrant colours anyway and this is how it turned out.

I like it, feels a little costumey and I need to sort out the hem as it has sagged a little but I like it! It went together nicely, and is my first fully lined dress. It is lined with a stretch crepe fabric.

A little crumpled after a rather long day at the wedding!

I cut a size 14 and merged into a 16 at the waist. I shouldn't have, it is a bit big round the middle but good for this time of year when food is plentiful! I might take it in over the seams I enlarged but there are a lot of them...!

Now I need to sew the couple of Christmas orders I have, a twiddle cushion for my friends Mum who has dementia and Cinderella dress. Must do them soon....

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The Birthday Skater Dress!

It was my birthday last Saturday and Husband excelled himself and booked a table at The Dome in Edinburgh. I had heard how amazing it was a Christmas but WOW, I didn't expect it to be this fab!

Anyway, a special place meant the perfect excuse to make a party dress! I spotted this dress in M&S and knew I needed to make one of my own!

I bought 2m of stretch velour on ebay (£5.99 p/m) and whipped up this Lady Skater in a couple of hours.

think I was about to say something...!

The fabric is more of a teal colour in real life but it is the perfect understated party dress (it is stretchy too so may end up as my Christmas Day Dress too!

Going to hit publish now, we have had no consistent internet connection for weeks now so actually being able to publish this will be a miracle!

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In love with Lady Skater

I had been eyeing up the Lady Skater dress for ages but resisted it as I wasn't sure how the style would look on me but when it was on offer for $5 a couple of weeks ago I couldn't resist!

I promptly printed the pattern and dug out my rather loud Aztec print fabric that I had bought on ebay last year. I thought it was muted colours and cotton only to receive it and realise the photo must have been terrible because it is bright with gold bits and gold glittery bits through the other colours. I thought I would use it for the muslin and at least the fabric would have been of some use.

My hurry up and take the photo face!

Well, I'm in love, with the pattern, which went together amazingly, and with the awful / amazing fabric! I now have a Lady Skater party dress and I wore it to my sisters 30th at the weekend!

After that success I cut out another with the fabric I had originally intended for the dress (another ebay purchase from someone selling stash).

This time the fabric was cotton with less stretch and ironically it doesn't fit as well as the original, not enough stretch may be the issue. It is still a nice dress and totally wearable though, and wear it I will!

Now to decided if I need some lovely organic cotton jersey from Kitschy Coo or Village Haberdashery....or both!!

Linking to some of these fab linky parties.

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A wee dress...that will probably never be worn...

Little e - queen of fussy dressers (and eaters but that is a whole other topic..) requested a dress. Yes, the girl who will only wear dresses if they are jersey fabric and not made by me actually asked me to make her a dress.

She chose this pattern
 

 and some pink gingham fabric with flowers printed on it.

I had to shortened the skirt by about 1/3 of the length as it was proper party dress length and she doesn't like dresses below the knee. Also, I lined the bodice which hides some of the scratchy seams...

It looks nice on the hanger, if only I knew what it looked like on, but of course she says it is a party dress and there have been no parties to go to yet...

My bets are that it is never worn and ends up as a gift for one of our friends daughters.

Oh well, it was nice of her to ask..

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Another Dress - V1194

This was another dress I chose because, technically, it should have looked good on my rectangle body shape....

I made in from a light weight cotton jersey with some lycra that I got on ebay. It was the wrong fabric choice, too stretchy and not thick enough. Unfortunately I only realised once the dress was made and  that the fabric stretched out of shape at the back under the weight of the gathers.

It looks awful in this photo, couldn't be bothered to iron it and I really need to put my shoulders back.. I wore the dress to my Nephew's christening and thought it looked ok until my Mum was asked twice if I was pregnant again.... Another item relegated to the wardrobe until I become skinny, hahaha.

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A New Dress for Halloween!

I got  Butterick 5917 pattern ages ago when I was looking for patters to suit my shape.

via

Technically it should suit me, being empire line and having detail at the bust to draw attention away from my non defined waist. I didn't bother with the bust ruffle on this version, it is really a wearable muslin.

The fabric is very old (1960's) that came from a Great Aunt's house years ago, black with white stars. I thought it would be a perfect witch's dress for Halloween.

Turns out it is not all that flattering after all (which is why it has taken 3 months to photograph and post about it), think it emphasises rather than disguises my non-waist but it will do for Halloween!

The next dress I have to post about is even worse, no wonder my desire to sew for myself has been non existent!

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Vintage Dress

I bought this dress in a charity shop for £9, I fell in love with the fabric, about 75% of my wardrobe is blue...! And it was made in Scotland which makes it even more desirable!

It fitted fine so all I have done to make it less granny ish is take up the sleeves to 3/4 length and shorten the skirt from calf to knee length!

I wore this to the wedding fair I was showing at and really felt like I stood out but not in a 'what the hell is she wearing' type of way! There were loads of really vintagy dressed people there, some burlesque 40's and some granny chic, I was in the second camp!

Linking up to these fab linky parties!

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