Yo yo YO. I hope everyone is well on this grimy Monday afternoon. I'm in full holiday mode now, which is lovely. I woke up this morning at my usual time, remembered that I didn't have to go to work, remembered about the super-boring meeting I'd be missing as a result, and did a dance of happiness in bed. Hurrah! Over the weekend, Nic and I went for a long walk, saw some friends and had our own little mini-Christmas complete with gift exchange and Christmas dinner. It's been really lovely. I managed to fit in some sewing, as well, which was great. My sewing machine has now been packed away until the new year, so I squeezed in as much as I could before I packed it away. I made a dress on Saturday evening and even though it's skipping the FO queue (I have a lovely dress that I finished and photographed weeks ago, patiently waiting its turn on the blog) I'm going to show it to you today because I love it so much. I'll blog that other little dress at some point soon, scout's honour.
So, this dress. On Saturday morning, Nic and I had a little mooch around Leamington. I had an itch to make a new dress, but didn't have anything in my (by now very limited - I need to do some fabric shopping) stash that was doing it for me. Leamington has four fabric shops, not counting the sari shops in the old town, so I was fairly sure I'd find something. I had that annoying thing where I had something unspecific in mind, but specific enough that nothing I saw was quite right. I was frowning at the bolts in Harlequin when Nic picked up a piece of fabric from the remnant box, and it was just perfect. This is why I take him fabric shopping, I swear. The man has skills.
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The remnant was £12.70 for 3.5 metres. Bargain! The fabric is a medium-weight cotton lawn with a lovely drape to it, and there was more than enough to do anything I wanted with it. The fabric reminded me very much of this rose print cotton that Dolly Dagger have used on their Scarlett dress:
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I've admired that dress for ages but, as ever, I'm very cheap. It's £149 and, while it's undoubtedly a beautiful frock I'm unsure what the quality would be like. I bought the gingham version of this dress on sale a few years ago and it's nice enough, but even on sale I don't think it was worth the money. I had to adjust it a fair bit to get it to fit, and even then the neck-line is too low for me to be able to wear it without a camisole underneath. Still, I love the shape and the style and luckily, I knew just what would work to get the same effect. After pairing the By Hand London Anna dress bodice with a circle skirt earlier in the year for the Distant Sun dress, I knew I was onto a winner. So that's what I did.
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Nah, seriously though. I know that's not all that fascinating, but that's my process, dudes. Here's the dress, anyway.
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Yeah. This may actually be my favourite thing I've ever made. I'm wearing it today for a fairly relaxed day. We're going out for dinner later with some friends to a small pub, so I decided not to wear a petticoat with it today, but it does look fab with one. The skirt is so swishy! I love circle skirts and they're ridonculously easy to draft, and so much fun to wear. Check it out:
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Seriously, I love it so much. The whole time I was sewing it, I was like, "hm, yeah, this will be pretty nice, it's hard to go wrong with a floral dress" and then I put it on and was like "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME I NEVER WANT TO TAKE IT OFF CAN I WEAR IT TO BED." It's kind of magical how much fabric can change from the bolt to the garment.
And, I finally got a photo of my back that I don't totally hate. This truly is a magical day.
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The reds and greens in this dress work well in this festive season, but I think the poppies are springy enough that this dress will work into the spring and summer, as well. So that's good - I'm a fan of clothes that can cross seasons. A man did stop me in a shop earlier to tell me how festive I looked, and when I looked confused, he pointed to my shoes! But, yeah, I would wear these in the summer as well, I guess.
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So, the weather has turned really mild and, while I wasn't cold at all in this dress (with a cardigan and jacket) it is horribly grimy and drizzly. Luckily for me, my lovely friend Lauren gave me an amazing umbrella for my birthday so I was able to take it out for a spin...
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The umbrella is from the V&A and it's made me swear off cheap umbrellas for life. It's so beautiful, light and sturdy and just all-round awesome.
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Anyway, that's the craic with me. I think this might be my favourite thing I've made so far, and that's saying something. I can't believe I almost passed this fabric by - I think the moral of the story is that I always need to bring Nic fabric shopping with me. He has excellent taste.
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So, this dress. On Saturday morning, Nic and I had a little mooch around Leamington. I had an itch to make a new dress, but didn't have anything in my (by now very limited - I need to do some fabric shopping) stash that was doing it for me. Leamington has four fabric shops, not counting the sari shops in the old town, so I was fairly sure I'd find something. I had that annoying thing where I had something unspecific in mind, but specific enough that nothing I saw was quite right. I was frowning at the bolts in Harlequin when Nic picked up a piece of fabric from the remnant box, and it was just perfect. This is why I take him fabric shopping, I swear. The man has skills.
Poppies by Belleboo Fabrics
The remnant was £12.70 for 3.5 metres. Bargain! The fabric is a medium-weight cotton lawn with a lovely drape to it, and there was more than enough to do anything I wanted with it. The fabric reminded me very much of this rose print cotton that Dolly Dagger have used on their Scarlett dress:
Dolly Dagger Scarlett dress - and doesn't the model remind you of our own beautiful Marie?
I've admired that dress for ages but, as ever, I'm very cheap. It's £149 and, while it's undoubtedly a beautiful frock I'm unsure what the quality would be like. I bought the gingham version of this dress on sale a few years ago and it's nice enough, but even on sale I don't think it was worth the money. I had to adjust it a fair bit to get it to fit, and even then the neck-line is too low for me to be able to wear it without a camisole underneath. Still, I love the shape and the style and luckily, I knew just what would work to get the same effect. After pairing the By Hand London Anna dress bodice with a circle skirt earlier in the year for the Distant Sun dress, I knew I was onto a winner. So that's what I did.
Nah, seriously though. I know that's not all that fascinating, but that's my process, dudes. Here's the dress, anyway.
Comic Muse dress worn with Irregular Choice No Place Like Home heels
Yeah. This may actually be my favourite thing I've ever made. I'm wearing it today for a fairly relaxed day. We're going out for dinner later with some friends to a small pub, so I decided not to wear a petticoat with it today, but it does look fab with one. The skirt is so swishy! I love circle skirts and they're ridonculously easy to draft, and so much fun to wear. Check it out:
The front step was too narrow to do a full twirl, sadly.
Seriously, I love it so much. The whole time I was sewing it, I was like, "hm, yeah, this will be pretty nice, it's hard to go wrong with a floral dress" and then I put it on and was like "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME I NEVER WANT TO TAKE IT OFF CAN I WEAR IT TO BED." It's kind of magical how much fabric can change from the bolt to the garment.
And, I finally got a photo of my back that I don't totally hate. This truly is a magical day.
The neckline isn't lopsided. I'm leaning weirdly. Still, though, I don't hate this photo so progress.
The reds and greens in this dress work well in this festive season, but I think the poppies are springy enough that this dress will work into the spring and summer, as well. So that's good - I'm a fan of clothes that can cross seasons. A man did stop me in a shop earlier to tell me how festive I looked, and when I looked confused, he pointed to my shoes! But, yeah, I would wear these in the summer as well, I guess.
Shit. I'm goofy.
So, the weather has turned really mild and, while I wasn't cold at all in this dress (with a cardigan and jacket) it is horribly grimy and drizzly. Luckily for me, my lovely friend Lauren gave me an amazing umbrella for my birthday so I was able to take it out for a spin...
I love this jacket. It makes me feel like Jean-Luc Picard.
The umbrella is from the V&A and it's made me swear off cheap umbrellas for life. It's so beautiful, light and sturdy and just all-round awesome.
COME AT ME, RAIN
Anyway, that's the craic with me. I think this might be my favourite thing I've made so far, and that's saying something. I can't believe I almost passed this fabric by - I think the moral of the story is that I always need to bring Nic fabric shopping with me. He has excellent taste.
ACTION SHOT
Right, boys and girls, I'm off. I've a few things to do before we go out later and I won't get them done gabbing here all the live long day, will I? See you later.