OH. Hi everyone! It's taken me rather longer to get around to blogging again than I meant to. This past week has genuinely kicked my ass. I've been super stressed and uptight about work. It's silly really because work is fine but for some reason this week it all got on top of me, and it ended up with a long rant and tears on Tuesday afternoon and more of the same on Wednesday. Today was much better - although I was flat out all day, it didn't seem so bad because I have tomorrow off. Hurrah! Also, yesterday afternoon after I had finished for the day, I spent a few hours sewing. That always makes me feel better. Tonight I have a lazy dinner, a film and a big glass of wine planned so I hope that will complete the job of de-stressing me!
Because of my lack of blogging time - not to mention the lack of daylight hours in which to take photos - I have once again a bit of a backlog of projects to share. Here's a dress I made a few weeks ago: my second version of the Deer and Doe Belladone dress. The one I made the summer before last is now much too big and to be honest, it was never a fantastic fit in the first place. So, I recut the pattern and cut into some printed denim that I bought in Paris in May. A Parisian pattern and fabric from Paris? MAIS OUI. SO FRENCH.
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The fabric itself was lovely to work with, and the Belladone pattern is enjoyable to sew. I'm not thoroughly in love with my finished dress though. This is going to sound stupid, but I think I've decided I'm not all that keen on the cut-out at the back. It doesn't help matters that, try as I might, I couldn't really get the fit of it right on my back. And you know, for those of us who suffer from Derp Back Syndrome - well, it's probably not a great idea to draw attention to how derpy our backs are!
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So, okay. This dress is a little bit too tight and I really should have done a full bust adjustment. In fact, I think giving myself a little bit more ease at the side seams and a little bit more room in the bust might go some way towards addressing the fit of the cut-out. But let's be real here: I'm never going to sew this bodice again. The dress - while it wouldn't be suitable to wear out to eat a big dinner in - does fit, does comfortably zip up and I can move around in it. And I wear cardigans ALL the time - if I wear this, that back mess is going to be covered up. I'll look like this:
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So, you know. This is kind of a fail. It's not one I can really bring myself to feel bad about though because I can wear the dress (as long as I don't put on any weight or try to do anything too vigorous in it!) and I enjoyed sewing it. I really like the skirt and I will definitely use this in combination with some of my favourite bodices. The skirt finish is lovely too. The hem facing is very enjoyable to sew and, while I'm usually fairly meh about pockets, I like the shape of these and the topstitching finish.
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This is also a (very slightly) different silhouette for me, and I do like the a-line skirt. I'm also keen to sew with some more printed denim because it's comfortable to wear and enjoyable to sew with.
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Because of my lack of blogging time - not to mention the lack of daylight hours in which to take photos - I have once again a bit of a backlog of projects to share. Here's a dress I made a few weeks ago: my second version of the Deer and Doe Belladone dress. The one I made the summer before last is now much too big and to be honest, it was never a fantastic fit in the first place. So, I recut the pattern and cut into some printed denim that I bought in Paris in May. A Parisian pattern and fabric from Paris? MAIS OUI. SO FRENCH.
La Bicyclette dress - Deer and Doe Belladone dress in bicycle print denim, worn with Swedish hasbeens braided sandals
I've been thinking on this dress for a while and, unlike most of the rest of the fabric I bought in Paris, this fabric was bought with this pattern in mind. It's just taken me ages to get around to it! If the fabric looks familiar, you might have seen it on Lauren. I bought her a 3m coupon of this fabric too, and she made herself some Maritime shorts with it. The fabric is adorable and was such a bargain - I got 3m of 150cm wide fabric for either 10 or 15 euros and, you know, it has bikes on it!
Fabric detail with added lens flare.
The fabric itself was lovely to work with, and the Belladone pattern is enjoyable to sew. I'm not thoroughly in love with my finished dress though. This is going to sound stupid, but I think I've decided I'm not all that keen on the cut-out at the back. It doesn't help matters that, try as I might, I couldn't really get the fit of it right on my back. And you know, for those of us who suffer from Derp Back Syndrome - well, it's probably not a great idea to draw attention to how derpy our backs are!
Derp Back. NOW WITH ADDED FITTING ISSUES!
So, okay. This dress is a little bit too tight and I really should have done a full bust adjustment. In fact, I think giving myself a little bit more ease at the side seams and a little bit more room in the bust might go some way towards addressing the fit of the cut-out. But let's be real here: I'm never going to sew this bodice again. The dress - while it wouldn't be suitable to wear out to eat a big dinner in - does fit, does comfortably zip up and I can move around in it. And I wear cardigans ALL the time - if I wear this, that back mess is going to be covered up. I'll look like this:
I rarely leave home without one of these Hell Bunny cardigans. I want them to bring them out in every colour. Get on that, Hell Bunny R&D people. Come on.
So, you know. This is kind of a fail. It's not one I can really bring myself to feel bad about though because I can wear the dress (as long as I don't put on any weight or try to do anything too vigorous in it!) and I enjoyed sewing it. I really like the skirt and I will definitely use this in combination with some of my favourite bodices. The skirt finish is lovely too. The hem facing is very enjoyable to sew and, while I'm usually fairly meh about pockets, I like the shape of these and the topstitching finish.
This is also a (very slightly) different silhouette for me, and I do like the a-line skirt. I'm also keen to sew with some more printed denim because it's comfortable to wear and enjoyable to sew with.
I've just realised that I wore this dress with that plastic heart ring I bought in Antoine et Lilli a few years ago. This outfit is just SO PARISIAN.
So anyway. That's the Belladone dress - not totally for me. I was able to eat two different kinds of cake in it though, so it's definitely not a complete howler.
Right. A large glass of Sauvignon Blanc is calling my name. Later!