Finding time for sewing – reflecting on Me Made May – my Nina Lee Kew dress

I really enjoyed Me Made May 2019. I didn’t put load of pressure on myself to share a photo every day, because let’s face it, some days you really don’t feel like it, can’t be bothered, or on the odd occasion, I totally forgot. That said I DID wear handmade items every day in May and on a few occasional I was able to wear 2 if not 3 handmade garments in one outfit (& that’s not taking into account my handmade jewellery)! Until I started the challenge this year I hadn’t quite realised I’d be able to wear handmade everyday day, so easily.

This is me, wearing 3 handmade garments in one outfit, with my almost finished coco top made from the leftover fabric from my Agnes top, at the sewing belle.

The whole challenge has made me think about my handmade garments more, what works well together, what I didn’t wear, what did I wished I had in my wardrobe. As I went through the month I kept note in my phone to help me form a bit of a plan for my future makes to fill gaps in my wardrobe. I also got back into sewing (not that I ever got out of sewing) but it’s sometimes hard to find the time and space for it (both mentally and physically). However a friend of mine, Natalie, took up sewing in March this year and has already make more garments in the last few months than I have in the past few years. She’s a full time teacher, but makes time for her sewing, mainly by attending classes and drop in sessions. It was chatting to Natalie (and my desire to conquer using an over locker) that made me attend a workshop at the Sewing Belle, to make my Agnes top back in April and since then I have done another workshop to make a Nina Lee Kew Dress and popped along to their sewing clinics, to finish my dress and start another! I’ve also been working on my Zadie dress.

I think by doing the occasional workshop and attending regular drop in sessions I’m being for more productive. I’m not spending huge amounts more time sewing than I would at home, but it is much more absorbing with far less distractions in a dedicated space with help on hand. Elaine who runs the workshops and sewing sessions is the ideal level of help, she checks in on everyone, so you feel supported without being bombarded, but equally if you’re happy in your own little world of sewing she’ll leave you to get on, though never far away it you do need a little help.

I finished my Kew dress, last Sunday while watching the Wimbledon men’s final (double excitement) it had just been waiting for me to adjust a strap & add some poppers! This has ended up as a very wearable toile, I realised in the making that I’d gone for a size too small on the bodice so I let out the side seams and lengthen the straps slightly, though it has resulted in the bust darts being too high. I made the bodice part have a faux button band, sewing buttons on the front but the closure is actually poppers, as I didn’t want the button holes too close to the edge of the fabric, where I’d had to make adjustments, which I think has worked well and you can’t really tell when the dress in on.

I learnt how to sew buttons on with a sewing machine, something I’d never attempted before!

I also had fun and added a few contrasting fabric, on the button band facing and I added pockets (obviously)! I didn’t add the cold shoulders as I thought I’d find them annoying. All in all it’s not perfect, however it is wearable, it was really straight forward to construct & I’ve learnt a few things along the way!

I have already cut out another Kew dress, the tea dress version, in some stash fabric and if this one goes well I’ll make another in lightweight denim.

Make Nine 2019

I always like perusing everyone’s “makenine” instagram posts, in the past it has inspired additions to my favourites or even my queue on Ravelry. However I have never listed 9 makes for myself before. I don’t like the idea of putting that pressure on myself, creating a wonderful list of complicated inspiring garments that, let’s face it, I would have to spend every spare minute making to complete in a year.

However, I have decided to make a list this year to help keep my focus. 2018 was a year of knitting what I fancied, not finishing things before starting other projects, which has left me with a fair few WIP’s.

I am using my #makenine2019 as an opportunity to create a list of aims, made up for of WIP’s, knits I have already bought the yarn for, 2 sewing projects I have already bought the fabric for and a few projects I have been intending to do but as yet haven’t. AND do you know what, if I don’t do them all, it’s fine! No one will die, it won’t be the end of the world and I can make them in 2020 instead! However wouldn’t it be nice if I did complete them all….

I have detailed them here as a reminder to myself (or if you’re interested) and so I can keep track of things.

(Top 3 left to right)
1. Crochet – this will be a new one for me, I haven’t ever crocheted a garment before, but I do love the look of this & it’s been a topic of discussion at Knit group!
Pattern is Granny Rocks Jumper by Iron Lamb
2. Socks! I have a pair to finish, and yarn for at least three more. I want to learn new technique and get the perfect fit!
3. My Maan shawl by Natasja Hornby an on going WIP, started in October 2017 that I really would like to finish!

(Middle 3 left to right)
4. Sewing; I have wanted to make a Moneta dress by Colette Patterns, for ages, I didn’t find time in 2018 despite buying (and washing) the fabric.
5. My Arboreal jumper by Jennifer Steingass was started on holiday back in February 2018, I knitted the colour work yoke and it have been hibernating ever since, for no other reason than getting distracted by other projects, though I did pick it up again over Christmas.
6. Another sewing project; as soon as Tilly & the Button released the Zadie dress I knew I wanted to make it, the style of the dress tends to suit my body shape well, though at the time my sewing ability was a little wobbly. So 2019 will be the year to tackle this.

(Bottom 3 left to right)
7. My summer wardrobe is missing a lighter weight, v-neck, 3/4 length sleeve cardigan (in a lovely berry-ish shade), ravelry searches have failed to reveal the ideal cardigan, so I may well make design my own.
8. Diesis by Alice Caetano, I fell in love with this jumper on the PomPom stand at Yarndale in 2017 and bought the magazine based on this design alone. However I’m yet to start and I’m I keep wondering whether I’ll get enough wear out of it, I imagine it’ll be very toastie.
9. Glenfiddich by Annamária Ötvös I bought this pattern for my Mum to knit me a cable cardigan for Christmas 2017, I’ve always found cables a bit frustrating. However since my Mum didn’t get on with the pattern and ended up knitting a different cardigan. I thought this would be the perfect time to bite the bullet and get to grip with cables. It is such a lovely cardigan, and one I can image getting a lot of wear out of. I have already have the yarn too!

I am quite sure I will veer of this path a little, I have given myself a get out of jail free card on number 8.  I have already been um-ing & ah-ing over this pattern for a while. I’m sure I’ll change my mind more than once about these projects throughout 2019. I will be interested to see how much of a detour I take when I look back this time next year!

Here’s to a creative and productive 2019.
Thanks for reading.
Steph

Dresses for weddings…

I decided back in March, as I had 3 wedding to attend this year, I could make a dress & knit a cardigan and wear the outfit to all 3 weddings, simple! I selected the fabric and bought it on a fabric trip to Birmingham &  Guthrie and Ghani with the lovely Jem Weston who was shopping for her actual wedding top fabric (Jem’s wedding being wedding no.2 for me this year)  – you can read Jem’s post about the fabric trip here.  Jem’s friend Rosie also bought lovely fabric to make a dress for Jem’s wedding (looking forward to seeing the finished dress). Obviously I then headed to Knit Nottingham to select a lovely summery yarn to go with the gorgeous fabric.

I had already decided which dress I wanted to make, having made a Lilou dress (from Love and first Stitch by Tilly and the Buttons) for a previous wedding a couple of years ago I knew I wanted to make a sleeveless dress but I also didn’t want to cover up the lovely flower print with pleats so decided to make the skirt gathered and also add pockets so I used the bottom half of the Emery dress by Christine Haynes, which I’d also made and wore to a wedding 2 years ago.

I knew I needed to do a bit more work on the fit of the lilou bodice as my first dress wasn’t perfect, doesn’t look too bad here, but I re-tried it on and it’s not great. Too roomy over the bust and sat awkwardly over the shoulders so I made a few small tweaks to the pattern and cut a smaller size. I had help from Jem and Rosie (different Rosie) at our knit group’s spin off  sewing gathering, getting the darts fitting my shape better. I made these adjustments, whether they were the right things to do or not I’m not sure….
– Graded from size 3 at shoulders to size 4 at the waist and curved the side seems.
– Took 2.5cm out of the bodice length (I have a short torso, I did this to the first dress too).
– curved the darts inwards on the back.
– extended the back darts by 2cm.
– cut down the arm holes by 0.5cm.
– Trimmed 1cm off the back pieces graded from sides to center back.

I was feeling apprehensive about the over all fit, so decided to buy some cheep polycotton from the market and did a full (wearable) toile. I’m glad I did, it didn’t turn out too badly, it fitted and looked ok. The fabric felt cheap and a bit crinkly, however it did resolve an issue, which was that it wasn’t so much that it didn’t fit me ,more that I just didn’t like the fit, if that that makes sense; I realised I wasn’t a fan of the strap positioning, they come in too much on the shoulders highlighting that fleshy underarm bit and exposing my bra straps at the sides (I don’t think it helped that I think the finished dress is actually a touch too small). Please bare in mind that these photos were taken at the end of a long day (at wedding no 1 –  my Boyfriend’s bothers wedding), complete with frizzy rained on hair, (I was literally about to crash into bed and then thought…quick get a photo of the dress – as you do – and stuck my feet back into my shoes – these were the best ones …. second photo was just to show off the pockets & the lilac lining)!

Having deciding that the Lilou dress wasn’t for me or my lovely posh fabric, I didn’t have the time to make a toile of an entirely new bodice, before wedding 1 hence wearing the polycotton toile, which wasn’t so bad.  Also doing this meant I didn’t have to rush to finish knitting my cardigan as it didn’t go with the fabric I’d used. Instead I had a look though my existing hand knits and found a navy lace cotton wrap cardigan I’d knitted to wear at yet another friends wedding about 5 years ago (YES there’s a definitely theme here). I haven’t worn the cardigan much since as it slips off my shoulders A LOT, so decided to address this and I unpicked the edging, resewing it back on, making a shorter edge. I also added some ribbon in  between the shoulder seams inside, to help stop it slouching off any more. This worked well and with the wedding being pre-heat wave at the start of June I wore it all day (this will be a test to see if my boyfriend reads my blog, he’s not a fan of having his photo taken, I happen to think this is a lovely photo – despite my mad/unruly hair).

I also made a necklace to match. Based on a workshop I designed for work; Mandala Pendant.

I felt the lilou dress making was a useful exercise. I often find dressmaking incredibly frustrating (unlike knitting which I find incredibly relaxing). This is because I had delusions about making my own dresses, that it would mean they would fit beautifully, and that is sort of true, but not without a huge amount of work and I don’t have enough of an understanding or experience yet to know how to adapt patterns to fit me well.  I’m an odd, short pear shape (which is fine). I often increase from shoulders to waist by 1 size and then waist to hip another size, I have a short torso and a bust size smaller than most patterns cater for – that’s a lot of adapting.  I’m not confident enough to do a small bust adjustment yet and so have managed to adjust darts and side seams enough to take out the volume needed.  I realise this will come with practice and experience (and a lot of patience) but I do find it exasperating sometimes – if anyone has words of wisdom on this subject or similar experiences I’d love to hear them!

My new dress for Jem’s wedding is almost complete now and fitting quite well (whooh, *happy dance/prance*), so I will write a post about that soon too.

Thanks for reading.
Steph

 

Me Made May 2016 – round up!

This has been a great challenge, I set myself a few goals, some of which I’ve achieved, others I haven’t. However this challenge has got me sewing again (the fear has subsided) it has also made me re-assess my wardrobe.

It wasn’t my intention to necessarily post a picture every day on IG (@nettynot) but I got into it, I enjoyed seeing everyone else so much that I thought why not (this is a little collage). It didn’t feel like a chore but I did put a little more thought into some of my outfits and I now know some of the areas of my wardrobe I need to improve. I want to make some more everyday dresses and skirts as well as more versatile and flattering cardigans.  I hope when I do this next year I’ll have less duplicate outfits and will feel/look less awkward being photographed (we’ll see).

On old cardigan, the first garment I ever knitted – at least 8 years ago, has had a lot more wear recently as a result of MMMay16, a dark pinky-red colour it goes with loads of things and I love the brightness. It’s in a acrylic mohair yarn it’s very warm (too warm a lot of the time) but a slight breeze and it’s too cold as it’s such a loose knit. There’s a lot that I don’t like about this cardigan, I sewed the seams too firmly, they look neat, but the arm holes are too sung and it looks very strange when buttoned up and the sleeves are too short (but wearable with the cuffs folders back). But I’m still proud of it and I’m glad it got some more wear, though it’s likely to be worn less now the challenge is over and I’ll soon have another knitted cardigan….

I have made good progress on my cross pockets cardigan, though it’s not finished yet, it is much closer; sleeves to finish and then a little bit of sewing up, a block and it’s done. I have set myself a new target, I want to be able to wear it on 18^th June which is worldwide Knit in Public day. I have also got carried away and been inspired by all the lovely knit wear that popped up on IG over May and I have just bought myself another Andi Satterlund pattern, Vianne. It’s lovely and this time a DK weight yarn which it a bit more appropriate for summer. I can’t wait to cast it on which has been me more incentive to get a wiggle on with my cross pockets.

I have also started a sewing class; because I can already sew and I know how to use a pattern I have struggled to find a course that aimed at my level, I can find loads of beginner classes so had temporarily given up my search then came across all things creative and found a class perfect for me. I can take along whatever project I want to work on and there’s a very knowledgeable tutor on hand to help you along the way. So I have been working on my Mini blouse, each week, a fair bit of progress has been made but it’s not quite there yet, one more week and I think it’ll be finished – this course has been great for me, it’s rebuilt my sewing confidence. There was a definite moment while working on this that had I been doing this at home on my own I’m sure the whole thing would have gone in the bin, but with help on hand, it wasn’t a problem and I just got on with it.

I was saving my mini blouse to work on at me sewing class which is once a week, however as the sewing bug bit I felt the need to do some more sewing at home too. I had spotted several nice Sorbetto tops on IG so thought I’d investigate. I downloaded the pattern and made one straight away. Fortunately I already had enough fabric in my stash to make a couple of these. My practice one it a little large and also too short (I always have to shorten everyone by approximately 1’’ as I have a high waist and short torso) so I automatically did this, however it wasn’t needed. The second one I made I did a size smaller and longer version which fitted much better, I’m also keen to do more.

I have also fixed a skirt that was too big for me and completely refashion a once loved dress (I’ll post about the dress separately).

I turned my unfinished Coco dress (which I’d deemed unflattering) into a top so that I could wear it, photographed on a lovely day up in Cumbria earlier in the month with a newly fished necklace too. I have tackled a few jewellery other items too, thought I got too carried away by sewing to do as much as I anticipated, but I don’t really mind about that, I was also aware of the over ambitious challenges I set myself.

I have also bought some lovely light weight denim fabric to make an Emery dress (which I can then wear any colour knitted cardigans over & it will work). I have had the pattern for a while and have been really inspired by the many variations I’ve seen on people’s blogs and on IG that I thought it was about time to get one with it. I had previously bought some ruby red polka dotty fabric for this pattern, it was only cheap so I thought this could  be my toile and just hope it’s wearable too (I hate putting all that effort into a toile to not be able to make use of it). So once Mini is finished this is my next project as well as making some simple skirts from my fabric stash.

I’m full of enthusiasm and inspiration which is wonderful and just what I needed. I just wish there were more hours in the day.

Thanks for reading and feel free to post your blog link below if you also joined in – I’ve loved seeing everyone’s outfits!

Me Made May 2016

In May 2014 I was in awe of all the wonderful Me Made May photos popping up on Instagram, at the time I was very much of the opinion of “wow, I’d love to do that… but I don’t have enough handmade items, or the time to do it!” Then May 2015 came round and I there were lots more lovely handmade and inspiring outfits cropping up. However last year I thought, this time next year, maybe I’d join in…!

The knitters and sewers at Knit In Notts have spoken about it a few times with no real commitment being stated so when I saw that Jem Weston had shared her pledge on Instagram (@jemweston) last week it gave me the kick up the bum to also join in!

This is my pledge – stated over on  “So Zo…What do you know?” blog (the creator of the MMM challenge).

 ‘I, Steph Gibbs (nettynot.wordpress.com @nettynot on Instagram), sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’16. I endeavour to wear a handmade garment, each day for the duration of May 2016, as well as finish some UFO’s!’

I feel I need to remind myself that a challenge, which Me Made May is, should test me, if it’s too easy it’s not a challenge. I do not own enough items to wear a different handmade item every day, however I’m already looking forward to being more creative with my outfits. I intend to include garments that I’ve customised in some way too, as that’s always a useful skill and a nice way to rescue clothing or make then your own. I also hope that this challenge will make me more productive and think about how I’m using my time in the evenings, so I can be more efficient and finish some UFO’s.

I’m going to address a few different areas of my handmade wardrobe for this challenge….

Sewing – I’m going to look at all the handmade garments in my wardrobe, mostly skirts, that just require slight adjustments to make them wearable again.

Knitting – I’m going to wear more of my hand knitted garments, I have several that I don’t make the most of, which is madness when I think about the amount of time spent making them.

Jewellery – Almost all of my jewellery I have made myself (occupational hazard) and have so many necklaces and bracelets, yet I always wear the same few on rotation. So I’m going to wear more of the vast array I have (& maybe cull the items that I’m not going to wear again – it is the right time for a Spring clean after all).

There’s a few specific things that I’d like to do during May and this challenge (I am aware I’m being a little ambitious, but if I commit them to computer screen, they’re more likely to get done) and it’s not as though once May is over I’m not allowed to keep challenging myself, right?!

Mimi
I have already cut out all the pattern pieces (about 6 months ago) to make the Mimi blouse from Tilly and the Buttons – Love at first stitch book, I have suitable fabric that already washed n ready to go. I intend to complete this by the end of May!

Cross Pockets
I have brought the problematic Cross Pockets Cardigan out of hibernation and ripped it back to the waist ready to re-knit and hopefully fix the issues I had – I want to complete this by the end of May too!

Coco
I stared a dress version of Coco last summer, however when it got to the trying on stage I realised it just wasn’t going to be a flattering fit. Disappointed and slightly annoyed with it, it has sat in a cupboard out of sight ever since. However that’s no reason why I can’t turn it into another Coco top, which again I’d like to achieve before the end of May.

Mending/Fixing
As well as fixing and adjusting any handmade items in my wardrobe that don’t fit I also intend to tackle my pie of broken jewellery/not quite finished jewellery.

I’m not a huge fan of a selfie (also I’m pretty rubbish at photographing myself) however I do endeavour to record at least some of my MMM16 progress over on Instagram (@nettynot) if you’d like to follow.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Lilou Dress

I have recently got into what I would call ‘proper’ dressmaking, actually following a pattern and making considered decisions, rather than just making things up and keeping my fingers crossed. I think my problem was I was getting a bit over whelmed and found the idea of adjusting a pattern very daunting. However with the wealth of information on the internet from blog and helpful hints on Pinterest it’s far less intimidating.

The pattern I choose was the Lilou Dress from Tilly and Buttons – Love at first Stitch book, I thought the style should suit me and having previously sewn a Coco top, the Megan dress and the Margot pyjamas, steadily building up my confidence I thought I’d be alright having a go at the most complex pattern (though not actually too difficult) from the book.

Not knowing how well the bodice would fit I very sensibly made a toile (something I’ve never really bothered with before – rookie error I know). I measured myself, in case I’d changed since my last project, my measurements came out as bust 34’’, waist 29.5’’ and Hips 39.5’’, not quite fitting a single size (as usual). So I initially made one adjustment on the bodice and made the side seams go from size 3 under the arms out to a size 4 on the waist. The skirt pattern I cut out at a size 4 (closest size for my hip measurement).

I completed the bodice, including adding a lining (I wanted the practice), in some floral fabric I inherited from my Gran in a similar weight to my dress fabric. The first bodice was a terrible fit – well it just didn’t fit. I was determined not to get put off even though I was a little frustrated as I’d checked the measurements and everything seemed to go well. It was a little loose on the waist, the back was baggy, there was way too much space across my bust, the straps stuck out and it was too long. I started thinking about how to address each issue. I’ve read about FBA (full bust adjustment) and SBA (small bust adjustment) when I first attempted the hawthorn dress (which I got too overwhelmed by and couldn’t face tackling at the time – it is currently hibernating). So I took a deep breath and starting googling SBA. I came across this great blog post Hungry Zombie Couture – My Cup Does Not Runneth Over I was relieved to find these wonderfully wise words, as I believe the lack of information and “just reverse a FBA” is what put me off tackling previous patterns. So taking on the advice of Shannon before getting too involved in my adjustment, I tried decreasing the depth of my bust dart; I traced off another bodice pattern this time all at size 3, making the waist smaller, then decreased the bust darts by 2cm but kept them the same length, I also shortened it by 2cm and tapered the straps towards the shoulders by 5mm. I also trimmed a little fabric off the bottom of the arm holes as they’d been a little sung. I tried it on at this point without the lining and found the fit on the waist and bust much better, there was still extra space in the back so I just added an extra 5cm in the length of the back darts and that did the job, I then made the lining and attached it so that I could make sure it all worked together and it did – phew!

I hadn’t done a toile of the skirt, I knew I’d easily be able to adjust it if necessary, however I did have to retrace the pattern as I’d changed the waist size to a 3, so I needed the top of the skirt to also be a size 3. I also lengthened the skirt by about 5cm so it hit my knee and I’d feel comfortable wearing it without tights in the summer.

I decided to treat myself to an invisible Zipper foot – it’s amazing! It made adding the zip so easy, I don’t know why I haven’t bought one sooner (well actually I do it was £19.95 – it made a nice Birthday present to myself).
Once I fitted the zip (before I finished attaching the lining) I tried the dress on and discovered that it was overall a bit big *huge Sigh*! I unpicked the zip and trimmed 1cm off each side of the back edge (including the edge of the lining) and reattached the zip – it did the job and fitted *relaxed sigh*! I hastily finished everything off, including leaving a raw seam in the back and a crude hem as it got to 10pm the evening before I needed to wear it to a friend’s wedding. No one noticed and I can now sort that out while not having a deadline looming over me.

Eek – looking at this makes me realise just how pasty I am, I’m almost blending into the white pebble dash here, I’d also like to point out that these were not the shoes I wore to the wedding, I wore posh navy shoes. The brown summer flats were all I had with me when I got my Mum to take the photo.
I was impressed with how neatly the darts and pleats met at the waist and having never lined a garment before I quite enjoyed discovering how easily it all went together. Overall it has definitely been a great learning curve, as frustrated as I got at points I kept my cool and persevered (including the point when I got the lining stuck in the zip at the final trying on stage – eek). Even though I now have a pattern I could re-use I’m sure about the idea of making this dress again, there’s still a few, minor, fit issues. Although having said that I have decided to make the toile (which isn’t too bad really) into a finished dress with a gathered skirt, I might as well, especially given how much time I’d have spent working on it.

I realise this is yet another lengthy blog post, however when searching for people who’d written about their Lilou dresses I wanted to know more, what exactly they adjusted and why, I decided it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to give a blow by blow account of my journey with this pattern and show that it’s doable for even a relatively novice dressmaker (& if I do ever make it again I’ll have a record of what I did). I’m eager to do more sewing now, I need to practice my button holes, maybe the Mimi blouse would be a good warm up and even give me the confidence to attempt the Hawthorn dress again.

Thanks for reading, I’d welcome any hints & tips to help with my dressmaking adventures!

Made a dress in a Day

So the past few weeks have been rather busy, busy in a perfect kind of way for someone who can’t sit still for too long without knitting or a sewing needle in my hand. I will try my hand at most things crafty so I’m always keeping my eye out for courses & new opportunities to try things.

So when some of the girls I worked with mentioned they’d bought a ‘make a dress in a day’ workshop through groupon, I looked it up & was delighted to discover it was at the wonderful Textiles workshop in Sherwood, a place I have done many workshops in the past. So I bought a place & got booked on.

I imagine putting together a workshop like this for a reasonable number of people (I think there were 12 of us), to complete in 6 hours is quite a challenge, nevertheless it was organised well & the few complete beginners on the class got to grips with everything really well. I must admit I’m far from a beginner (not wanting to big headed) but I’ve been sewing for as long as I can remember. I have made garments before & I’m always adapting things (see my previous posts) & I love a bit of patchwork. What I struggle with is how to adapt patterns so that they will fit
my shape. The last dress I made from a pattern, did not turn out well & it completely knocked my dressmaking confidence.

The dress we made in the workshop was a simple shift dress with a little shaping & darts on the bust. I chose a cheap polycotton to make my dress from, treating it as a practice run as I didn’t know whether the finished dress would actually suit me or not, or if I’d wear it, so being cautious I didn’t want to spend loads on the fabric.

I learnt how to adapt the pattern before cutting the fabric by shortening the torso, making the narrowest part of the dress actually sit on my waist (which if often a problem I have) & I also learnt how to make diamond darts in the back of the dress for a better fit.

I thoroughly enjoyed the class and I got out of it exactly what I wanted, which was confidence to have a go at other projects, which I’ve been shying away from for a while now.

Rebecca the class teacher was very patient and gave everyone the appropriate help & advice they needed. She also gave us peter pan collar patterns for a lovely added feature, which would give a great vintage feel & also make the dress look I little more finished (if you know what I mean).

The finished dress does look a little handmade, which I don’t mind, I do wish I have gone for a more wearable fabric, as I’m not sure bright blue is quite for me (in fairness I thought I was getting a darker turquoise fabric when I bought it online) though I do like the flash of contrasting colour I added with the bias binding. However I do want to make this dress again in a softer lovely patterned fabric, with a peter pan collar, worn with a skinny belt I think this would make a great outfit. I have certainly gained a bit more confidence with my dress making abilities. I’m itching to get going with more projects 🙂

One of my next projects will definitely be a dress I bought a vintage pattern for a while ago, it’s a princess style dress that I’d love to make in some great fabric I inheriting from my Grandma’s stash.