Hey YO. It's Friday afternoon and I'm on HOLIDAY, which is awesome. It's also very much needed, I have had a super-intense week at work and I am ready for the break. I still need to pack, but I have narrowed down the important choices of which dresses I am actually going to bring, so the hard work is really all done.
Anyway, yeah, it's been a busy week. I think I was still spending some of it getting over last Saturday's major excitement. I loved the polka dot fabric I bought on the Goldhawk Road so much though that I sat down to sew it up on Sunday afternoon. It's the funny thing about sewing, but the dress itself only took a few hours but the skirt took absolutely FOREVER because it's a circle skirt, and I hemmed it by hand, and I put horsehair braid into the hem too. But it's all good because I've had a lot on my mind this week and I find hand-sewing genuinely restful and therapeutic.
So the story with this dress is that I love my red polka dot Vivien of Holloway dress a LOT, and my royal blue anchor print Vivien of Holloway dress an equal amount, but I wanted to somehow combine this into a royal blue polka dot dress with a circle skirt. Oh this story is gripping, is it not?! Anyway, it turns out that the perfect royal blue polka dot fabric is surprisingly difficult to find. I mean, I probably could have bought some online but I was afraid of it turning out crap, so I decided to hold out until I could touch it. Luckily Goldhawk Road came up trumps, hence the lack of waiting!
So, here it is...
![Shepherd's Bush Sweetheart dress]()
Soooo... ANOTHER polka dot dress. I did briefly consider making this a closer replica to the Vivien of Holloway dresses and I have some boning in my sewing box. But I opted to go for comfort and the ability to wear a proper bra. These things are important to me! So what I did was take the bodice from my by now much beloved Elisalex dress and altered the neckline to make it a sweetheart. I did this using the highly scientific method of holding the pattern piece up against the Vivien of Holloway dress and cutting a bit off! If I'm being totally honest, my preference would be for the neckline to have ended up slightly higher. It's not immodest, but I am pretty uncomfortable with too much cleavage and, being a shortarse, anyone taller than me (everyone) has a decent view of my rack.
![Shepherd's Bush Sweetheart dress]()
I bought three metres of the fabric which was more than enough for a circle skirt. As I had about half a metre left over I decided to self line the bodice, which makes it look all neat inside! The skirt is long enough for me to wear a petticoat underneath it, but as this isn't always practical I used horsehair braid in the hem to give it a bit of shape. It's fiddly as shit to sew in, but I love how it makes the skirt look.
![Shepherd's Bush Sweetheart dress]()
Anyway, that's basically all there is to say about this make - it was straightforward and fun to sew, and the hand-sewing was a nice bit of escapism in a busy week. Also, this colour combination always encourages me to wear these shoes - which, tied jointly with my Vivienne Westwood Melissa cherry shoes, are my favourite shoes. Wearing red sequined shoes always lifts my spirits!
Now, it's Friday evening. I'm away to get into the holiday spirit. Have a good weekend everyone!
Anyway, yeah, it's been a busy week. I think I was still spending some of it getting over last Saturday's major excitement. I loved the polka dot fabric I bought on the Goldhawk Road so much though that I sat down to sew it up on Sunday afternoon. It's the funny thing about sewing, but the dress itself only took a few hours but the skirt took absolutely FOREVER because it's a circle skirt, and I hemmed it by hand, and I put horsehair braid into the hem too. But it's all good because I've had a lot on my mind this week and I find hand-sewing genuinely restful and therapeutic.
So the story with this dress is that I love my red polka dot Vivien of Holloway dress a LOT, and my royal blue anchor print Vivien of Holloway dress an equal amount, but I wanted to somehow combine this into a royal blue polka dot dress with a circle skirt. Oh this story is gripping, is it not?! Anyway, it turns out that the perfect royal blue polka dot fabric is surprisingly difficult to find. I mean, I probably could have bought some online but I was afraid of it turning out crap, so I decided to hold out until I could touch it. Luckily Goldhawk Road came up trumps, hence the lack of waiting!
So, here it is...
Shepherd's Bush Sweetheart dress and Irregular Choice No Place Like Home shoes
I bought three metres of the fabric which was more than enough for a circle skirt. As I had about half a metre left over I decided to self line the bodice, which makes it look all neat inside! The skirt is long enough for me to wear a petticoat underneath it, but as this isn't always practical I used horsehair braid in the hem to give it a bit of shape. It's fiddly as shit to sew in, but I love how it makes the skirt look.
Anyway, that's basically all there is to say about this make - it was straightforward and fun to sew, and the hand-sewing was a nice bit of escapism in a busy week. Also, this colour combination always encourages me to wear these shoes - which, tied jointly with my Vivienne Westwood Melissa cherry shoes, are my favourite shoes. Wearing red sequined shoes always lifts my spirits!
Now, it's Friday evening. I'm away to get into the holiday spirit. Have a good weekend everyone!