Blog entries tagged Dress

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...

A Wee Dress

Shelley — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 03:29:24 +0100

Maisie took a nice long afternoon nap in her swing on Tuesday and I put together this little dress for her. It's a pretty funny way to sew: stitch a seam, check to see if she's awake, press a seam, check to see if she's awake, … At every point expecting to put away my project until some unknown time (now I suppose since she's napping on the bed at the moment) but being...

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 ...

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...

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...

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.

<...

Thursday's Dress

Shelley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:25:05 +0100

Erin, of Dress a Day, had declared last Thursday International Wear A Dress Day. I almost forgot about it but remembered in the nick of time when I was hunting for a shirt to wear to work. Of course having forgotten all week I'd never gone out to get wool tights and the only dresses I could find were light cotton but in a flash of inspiration I remembered wearing a sundress with jeans in A...

The Mendocino Sundress and Some Knitting

Shelley — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:49:21 +0100

I'm finished my second sundress and love it dearly. It's my first project with a Liberty print and I think it was completely worth the price. Lots of the prints have a vintagey feel to me and I though this one was so summery with its fruit and flowers (the strawberries are my favourite).