The Beatles Dress

This dress was made for me to wear on one of the most important days of my life - the day I met the single hottest man on earth, and got my picture taken with him.

Anyway this blog is about the sewing/fashion type stuff not to gush over Karl Urban.  Unfortunately I am too big to fit this dress at the moment - though it is close so hopefully this year will see it back on my back (and can you believe I thought I was "fat" when I made it)

Anyway jokes aside this dress is made using a simplicity reprint 1960's shift.  Some (ok all) of the seam detailing is lost in the super psychedelic pattern I chose to use.  The material was part of a quilting series for the Beatles and is called Yellow Submarine.  It was my first time working with Quilting cotton and I loved how it it sewed.  Quilting, however is a heavier cotton than some so works better on dresses with structure.

I chose the short version of the dress, because I have always loved mini's.  Age and wisdom has told me that sometimes the heart has a love the legs can't carry off, were I to make this again I would use the longer version.  The mini is super dooper mini, even at the time I ended up wearing it more like a tunic over jeans.  Don't judge me it was the style of the time.

I lined the dress in some navy polyester lining.  The lining was sewn like a bubble into the hem to avoid any visible hem seems on the front of the dress.  Basically, I cut the dress a few cm longer than the lining and sewed the two together.  Then I ironed it so that the extra dress hem folded up into the lining.  Not something I would recommend to others as ironing is a nightmare but the concept of a hem stitch was years away at this point.  The other change that I made was to move the zip down, mostly because it meant I would not have to finish the zip top.

Things that I like about this dress, the finishes are all well done.  The fabric is amazing and stands out and the dress when it did fit, fit really well.  I was initially; concerned that with my bust it wouldn't sit well but I was pleasantly surprised.  There is just enough shape in the dress to define waist and hips.

I do recommend this pattern
I also recommend the Beatles - still the best band of all history.

That 70's Dress

We call this the 70’s dress. It’s my first (and currently only) 1970s dress that I have done. I got the material fairly cheap at a sale it sat in the box for a while and until my mum gave me a heap of patterns (including this one) and I decided that the material that screamed 70’s to me would be great paired with maxi that she gave me.

I cut my peices so that the border pattern would appear at the bottom and also on the straps. I tried to match the pattern as best as I could when I was cutting and sewing and I think I did a pretty good job.

The skirt went together quickly and then the top as usual had to be brought up a bit for my high waist (I adjust most patterns up by about 1 inch to accommodate this). The pattern calls for facind but I lined the whole bodice and top band in white poplin so as to not have the dots going through the fabric. I also lined the straps over the shoulders in white. In hindsight maybe I should have lined the skirt because it’s a wee bit see through but if I wear a slip under and no one is the wiser. I gathered the front of the bodice and lining separately.

Once the bodice came together I needed a way to connect the straps to the back. I thought it could be press studs but, after trying that it pulled funny and didn’t work. So I went looking for some buttons. I found these awesome buttons that are little white daisys with yellow centre and go perfect with the rest of the dress. I love the little touch and think it finishes off the dress perfectly. So I put in button holes (a painstaking 4 step buttonhole process) and then it was all ready to wear.

The front sometimes seems a little loose especially when I bend over I am conscious not to flash people. I would probably make the under arms tighter to make my bust tighter. This could be a 70s thing cause Hef complained about the same thing with her 70s dress.

The Halter Maxi

As previously pointed out I bought this pattern on etsy from Historically Patterns, who I can highly recommend for their fast fuss free service as well as the awesomely cute button they included for me free of charge.

To be honest this pattern was bought more as an afterthought, it happened to be in my size, I happened to by buying a few patterns from this seller that I adored, and well when buying international Ange and I like to take advantage of the combined postage discount - and so on the whim that it "could" make an ok dress for spring and I would not need to resize it I bought the pattern.

I continued with my sewing life as if nothing was different, the nautical onsie outfit continued uninterrupted and I finally got to the point where I was cutting out the full circle skirt. It was here I discovered just what a dirty fabric hoarder I was. After cutting out the skirt which is in every respect a great material sucker - I was left with several meters still to be used, and in stash busting time too. I couldn't put it back into the stash - that would go against the principle of stash busting. To return such a distinctive material could be condemning it to another 12 to 24 months of life as a flat lifeless sheet.

The patterns from Historically Patterns arrived only a few days before and I was somehow drawn to the halter maxi, it looked simple enough, only a few pieces. I had all the fabric required, sure that I could squeeze it out of the remaining meters (probably 2.5-3 but likely more like 2.5). I was also pretty sure I could pump it out in no time flat.

I started at 8:30 (the start of NCIS on a Friday night) I stopped at about 1am and had only left the hem, and the hand stitching of the lining to the internal bodice. Also I had left the frenching (I think) of the two side seams. Usually I don't bother with finishing my internals, however weeks of checking out blog world has made me jealous of the perfectly finished garments made by those in internet land, as well as the perfect neatness of Ange's work and so given the ease of the pattern I decided that even if only this once I would make a dress that was perfect too.

The following morning (and I use that term loosely) I picked it up again and within the hour I had completed the dress.

The pattern pieces fit together well, the design is somewhat flattering and all in all I must say I am happy with how it turned out. I then was able to wear my new creation to my Husbands 29th Birthday BBQ in hopes of getting some good photos for you peeps in networld. Now to the details of the photos that follow.

I have a nasty habit, photo-wise. It is more like an unexplainable phenomenon. I am physically incapable of taking a good photo. I pull stupid faces, end up with triple or quadruple chins that appear out of nowhere, slouch myself into looking fatter than I am, and generally screw the photo up somehow. For these the issues include the above and also that I forgot to take them until the END of the day, so the cotton dress had gone a bit creasy. Further it could probably have done with a was before (to soften out the starch in the cotton) but by the time the photos were taken it most definitely needed a was, so if you can notice the slight orange mark on the front, it is dip and yes I am a grot.

Enjoy.

The "Pretty Dress" a History

Once upon a time I was browsing the wonderful vintage pattern wares on Etsy and I found this exceptionally pretty pattern.

After deliberation with my other sewing half Ange it was decided that it must be bought and owned by us. After further deliberation I won out to be the owner of the pattern, Ange it would seem would need to be happy with simply owning a finished product at some point. We dubbed this pattern "the Pretty Dress" as no one in any land could deny that this dress is indeed pretty, and it's name has stuck.

I should point out here that I had MANY MANY patterns sitting unmade, and this project remained my top priority only long enough for me to buy the materials for it, a nice soft white bastite, and lemon yellow bias tap for the accented trim.

I hunted out on etsy and purchased a petticoat pattern as the bastite would require it, for this I bought a lemon yellow cotton.

At some point I started the petticoat, which I will write about in more detail in a further post - but basically it got to the so close to finished I could smell it when the "issues" with it made me toss it to the side in despair, to fix it that mystical "one day" when all my failures at sewing are fixed/finished. From then on the entire "pretty dress" project sat untouched by me. The materials for it just another precipice on cloth mountain

Ange on the other hand was obviously much more infatuated with this pattern than I was and diligently set to tracing and creating this dress. A benefit for me because I would not need to trace it and could just use her copies. Again, I borrowed the tracings - and they sat together with the original for months gathering dust. Many projects came and went and yet "the pretty dress" stayed unmoved from its foundations.

With the introduction of the great stash bust this month, I have been forced to look to the projects in various states of completion. This particular pattern was holding up about 5m of material in the stash and honestly did not look to hard to complete - and so last Monday on my day of holidays I set to work.

This dress is almost finished, the petticoat almost corrected - and hopefully with this post going up I will find the gumption tonight to make those final touches and be able to post the whole process and results by this weekend.

Also outstanding - the Onsie 50's beach outfit (status complete post to come after I wear it to the 50's fair) and the 40's workwear project (status in limbo, I will have to get back to this soon)