Morning boys and girls! Happy Sunday! I'm having a very busy weekend with lots of socialising - it's funny how these things can all crowd in to fit the same space. Nic and I had dinner with friends on Friday night, I was teaching at Berylune all day on Saturday, we went to a party at a friend's house last night and this afternoon I'm off to London to hang out with my girl Liz. Thankfully I'm going to be working at home tomorrow so I can get in some pyjama time. I do always eventually get dressed when I'm working from home but I'm not going to lie - I am looking forward to being a slob for a few hours.
Thank you to everyone who chimed in with fitting advice about my Cambie dress on the last post - it was really helpful and I have a fair few ideas now of things to try that should help. It's not all fitting woes up in here though - I have a little sewing success story to share today. Hurrah! So, after experimenting with hacking the back bodice pieces of the Emery dress to make the v-back on the Monkey 47 dress, I was keen to keep working on that hack to get it right. And to sew it to a circle skirt, because I love circle skirts. I decided to pinch out the neck darts on the bodice piece and to try Mrs C's neckline taping suggestion. This is something I had actually done before, with some success, so it's silly that I forgot to do it on the Monkey 47 dress!
Anyway - I made the dart modification to the paper piece and off I went, cutting out some more of the fabric I bought in Paris. This is a lovely cotton lawn I bought as a 3m coupon in Coupons de Saint Pierre - I think it was €20 for 3 metres. It originally had a white background but it met with a colour-running accident in my washing machine and no amount of colour corrector would return it to white! I was a bit bummed out about this initially - and indeed, if I can find some more of the fabric so I can have a dress made out of it as it's intended to look, I will get some - but actually I think the pale blue background works. I like it a lot and I love the finished dress:
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Often - nearly always - when I try on a handmade dress before hemming it, I'm a little bit meh about the whole thing. This was not at all the case with this one, which I loved unreservedly. I think I got my reservations about it out of the way earlier in the process when, after cutting it all out and marking all the darts and everything, I lost interest in it for about a day. Coming back to it was weirdly a chore. But anyway - I love the dress! The print is of chinese vases and lemons which is a little bit random and, in the length I had, there was no way of having the vases running the right way up on the front skirt without either seaming it, or sewing a half circle skirt. I didn't want to do either of those things so let the vases be on their sides. They're right way up again by the centre back seam, though!
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Mrs C's tutorial worked a treat and the back neckline lies completely flat - I am very happy with how it fits! I'm keen to experiment with adding the Emery sleeves to this bodice modification - I'd have to undo the changes to the armholes but I think it could work and be very cute with it!
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I wore this dress last Saturday to go on a day out with Nic - the one that was originally planned for Rugby but ended up with Birmingham. It was a very windy day but I took precautions and wore a slip to prevent accidental flashing of Brummie strangers. I loved wearing this dress and felt pretty awesome in it all day.
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Anyway, I know it's been a pretty picture-heavy post but I'm going to leave you with two more pictures from a lovely day. Then I need to go and get my ass in gear if I'm going to catch a train to London!
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Running across this street sign in the back streets between Digbeth and the Mailbox was pretty pleasing.
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Nic took a few photos of me in front of this painted wall. It's beautiful and I really like it as a photo backdrop but OMG could it be more stereotypically blogger to do this? I suppose I could be jumping, or crouching, or staring off wistfully into the distance. Not going to lie - kind of wish I could find a wall like this in Leamington!
Okay, pups. I'm out. I've got shit to do. Bye!
Thank you to everyone who chimed in with fitting advice about my Cambie dress on the last post - it was really helpful and I have a fair few ideas now of things to try that should help. It's not all fitting woes up in here though - I have a little sewing success story to share today. Hurrah! So, after experimenting with hacking the back bodice pieces of the Emery dress to make the v-back on the Monkey 47 dress, I was keen to keep working on that hack to get it right. And to sew it to a circle skirt, because I love circle skirts. I decided to pinch out the neck darts on the bodice piece and to try Mrs C's neckline taping suggestion. This is something I had actually done before, with some success, so it's silly that I forgot to do it on the Monkey 47 dress!
Anyway - I made the dart modification to the paper piece and off I went, cutting out some more of the fabric I bought in Paris. This is a lovely cotton lawn I bought as a 3m coupon in Coupons de Saint Pierre - I think it was €20 for 3 metres. It originally had a white background but it met with a colour-running accident in my washing machine and no amount of colour corrector would return it to white! I was a bit bummed out about this initially - and indeed, if I can find some more of the fabric so I can have a dress made out of it as it's intended to look, I will get some - but actually I think the pale blue background works. I like it a lot and I love the finished dress:
Le Lotus Bleu dress - Christine Haynes Emery bodice with modifications and a circle skirt, worn with Swedish hasbeens peep toe sandals
Often - nearly always - when I try on a handmade dress before hemming it, I'm a little bit meh about the whole thing. This was not at all the case with this one, which I loved unreservedly. I think I got my reservations about it out of the way earlier in the process when, after cutting it all out and marking all the darts and everything, I lost interest in it for about a day. Coming back to it was weirdly a chore. But anyway - I love the dress! The print is of chinese vases and lemons which is a little bit random and, in the length I had, there was no way of having the vases running the right way up on the front skirt without either seaming it, or sewing a half circle skirt. I didn't want to do either of those things so let the vases be on their sides. They're right way up again by the centre back seam, though!
Back view. No crabbing about it this time, I promise.
Mrs C's tutorial worked a treat and the back neckline lies completely flat - I am very happy with how it fits! I'm keen to experiment with adding the Emery sleeves to this bodice modification - I'd have to undo the changes to the armholes but I think it could work and be very cute with it!
Here's the bodice so you can see the print a bit closer. Excuse the messy hair - it was a windy day!
Here's how I wore the dress - with a blue Hell Bunny Paloma cardigan and my new Zatchels saddle bag
There isn't a whole lot else to say about either the dress or our day in Birmingham. We had a lovely day out - Birmingham is a great city, especially in the sunshine. I introduced Nic to the magical wonderland that is Barry's Fabrics and I fell in love with a ridiculously expensive Paul Smith coat in Harvey Nichols. Oh, and I met a giant anglepoise lamp:
Yes. It's true. I love lamp.
Running across this street sign in the back streets between Digbeth and the Mailbox was pretty pleasing.
Nic took a few photos of me in front of this painted wall. It's beautiful and I really like it as a photo backdrop but OMG could it be more stereotypically blogger to do this? I suppose I could be jumping, or crouching, or staring off wistfully into the distance. Not going to lie - kind of wish I could find a wall like this in Leamington!
Okay, pups. I'm out. I've got shit to do. Bye!