Blog entries tagged 10 dresses

10 Dresses: Number Nine

Shelley — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 10:44:42 +0100

I finished Dress No. 9 the other day when Maisie was happy to be on her play mat on the floor in the sewing room. I took pictures of it as soon as I had it on since it seemed likely it would need to be washed soon. Nothing seems to invite spit-up like a piece of fresh clothing. Since I was at home by myself the easiest way to ensure Maisie would stay happy while I played with my camera...

10 Dresses: Number Eight

Shelley — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 10:40:36 +0100

Do you remember my ten dresses project? This is the dress that stalled it. I won't go into all my problems with it again (you can read back on them by following that link if you feel like it) but I will say I'm very glad to have it done and finally photographed. The print looks like balloons to me so I always think of this as a party dress and the reason it didn't get photographe...

Note To Self

Shelley — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 04:38:34 +0100

Always photograph a newly finished dress before wearing it out for dinner.

I Have a Hem!

Shelley — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:37:39 +0100

I finished hemming my dress on the weekend but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit for some proper pictures of it. You see I'm supposed to be getting on a plane this afternoon and so far my packing consists of a large pile of clothes and knitting on top of a suitcase. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do much blogging while I'm away but I should be able to send pictures to my Flickr to sh...

A Quick Progress Report

Shelley — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:48:58 +0100

I just don't seem to have the drive to write long blog posts this week so this is a super quick update for my two major projects right now:

Number 1: The Crepe Dress

I got the sash cut out and sewn together on Sunday and attached the bodice to the skirt. I have a dress (and it fits too!) lacking only a hem and a proper photoshoot in order to be considered comp...

I Have A Bodice!

Shelley — Mon, 07 May 2012 07:38:52 +0100

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you actually sit down and work on things. Once I had interfacing on the arm hole facings I sketched out some new lines and when I was satisfied with them I matched up the two pieces and trimmed them down. I kept the sewing machine nice as slow as I went along and used only the hand wheel in the really curvy spots. I remember when I started s...

Problems and a Little Sewing

Shelley — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:34:10 +0100

My crepe dress is causing me problems. It should be a really simple pattern to put together but I seem to be intent on making it difficult. My fashion fabric is a rather sheer voile and I added a layer of white lawn under it to make things more opaque. This shouldn't really make things difficult but for some reason it did. I managed to get past most of the problems I was having with flat lining my dress and now I'm stumped by the armhole facing. It just doesn't look right. Should it really be...

10 Dresses: April

Shelley — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:40:14 +0100

I said I'd finished a sundress on the weekend and here - with the help of my tripod and handy-dandy remote - it is.

I still call this April's dress even though March's isn't finished yet (it's cut out). It's very comfortable. I used the Mendocino sundress pattern and two layers of cotton voile (Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks). I love this fabric. When we went to Victoria ...

Pink in Progress

Shelley — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:14:59 +0100

I spent a lovely chunk of yesterday afternoon working on one of my dresses. It's the dress I was planning to make in April so even though it is now June and I haven't yet sewn together my dress for March I'm calling it April's dress. When it's all done it will be a Mendocino sundress. It was going pretty quickly yesterday (especially with my chosen hem style) but sadly I ran out ...

3 Dresses Waiting

Shelley — Fri, 20 May 2011 10:03:15 +0100

Have you been wondering what happened to my 10 dresses project? It took a little unofficial hiatus while I waited for some supplies to arrive. Now, finally, I’ve got everything I need to make my dresses for March (super late), April (not quite as late) and May (theoretically still on time). I’d really, really like to get all three dresses finished for the end of this month. Wi...

10 Dresses: February

Shelley — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:42:19 +0100

This dress says summer to me. That hot, sticky part of summer where it's hard to believe it will really get cold again. This dress is so lightweight. The fabric is Liberty's Tana Lawn in two prints that make me think of my garden. The skirt is cut on the bias making for a close fit that still allows for movement (and feels perpetually crooked - the first half hour in a bias cut dre...

10 Dresses: January

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:11:09 +0100

I took pictures of January's dress on Sunday. It felt so lovely to put on a sundress. I know things will be warming up by the end of this month - just a few weeks - but it doesn't feel like it (wind chill of -45 when we left for work this morning). I am sick of the cold and to make-believe it was summertime, even just for an hour, was pretty cool (er ... I mean warm).

I u...

Look what Arrived!

Shelley — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 11:28:21 +0100

A pretty package from Purl.

And inside are my fabrics for February's dress (which reminds me I still need to finish January's dress).

February's dress is going to be dress number 8 from Slip & Dress (the same Japanese sewing book as my last three dres...

Planning January's Dress

Shelley — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:00:00 +0100

Since I just posted about my December dress it should come as no surprise that January's dress is still more idea than finished garment. I'm not really too worried about my "deadlines" though - they're more like guidelines really and the fabric for February's dress will not be here until at least the 16th anyway. I thought it would be fun to share my ideas for January's dress because I've been building it in my head for a while.

Oh ... I like this one. This pattern is from the same book as my last two dresses. The sample in the book is in black and I just loved the lines in the dress. I knew I could make it in another colour but it looked so fantastic in black that I didn't really want to try. I asked Rob for his opinion. He said he thought a black dress would be a handy thing for me to have. It looks smart all...

10 Dresses: November

Shelley — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:25:26 +0100

There was much procrastination involved in this dress, especially when it came to the last bits of finishing, but it is finally done and photographed and I'm very happy with it.

The fabric is a Nani Iro print from my stash. I don't remember what it was originally intended for but I've never been able to bring myself to cut into it before. The pattern is from the same Japanese ...

10 Dresses: October

Shelley — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:21:38 +0100

October's dress is finished! Finally!

I had to make a major decision about changing the neckline on this dress and it just stalled me out completely. I hate that sort of thing. Where you think something might be better with an (irreversible) change but you're not totally sure and you can't quite picture it. In the end I went with the change and I'm glad I did. Lower...

I'm Taking Chances

Shelley — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 05:00:25 +0100

I'm making my October sundress without mocking it out first.

I was going to do a mock-up but when I started working on it last night (yeah, I'm a little behind) I discovered I didn't have enough waste fabric to cut both of the back pieces. I'm working from a pattern in a Japanese craft book and I'm never certain of the fit. One good thing - this dress is going togethe...

10 Dresses: September

Shelley — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 10:52:36 +0100

Here is September's sundress. Owing to a late start and a bit of procrastination it wasn't completely finished until the second of October but October's fabric wasn't going to be here until the middle of the month anyway (arrived today - will share tomorrow). I used Butterick 3660 and a beautiful piece of Liberty of London's Tana Lawn.

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September's Dress In Progress

Shelley — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0100

September's dress is underway. I realized on Friday that September was going to end in the middle of this week - for some reason I thought I had another weekend - and I needed to get working. I don't know why I didn't do my pattern fitting while I was waiting for my fabric to arrive but that is what I ended up spending Friday night and Saturday doing.