Rylee Dress Photoshoot

So after finishing the Rylee dress on Monday, I borrowed Bogface Chucklebum from her mum.... actually who am I kidding, her mum came along as well, we'll take any chance to hang out and do silly things. So we headed out to find a backdrop to suit our alternative style dress and model..... and turned up at Nulkaba Cemetry!

That's when I let her loose to pose, and we came up with these

Needless to say, she loved the dress, and had a ball being our model

This is a super simple to sew and super comfy to wear little dress, and it's available in sizes 2-12. I made the size 12 and found it quite true to size. The pattern will be available around the second week in November from Addie K patterns


Dixie

Finished Rylee Dress and Wonder Woman?

So I finished hemming the Rylee dress on Monday Evening. I had a bit of difficulty with the neckline, as the fabric didn't want to play nice, and I am not so used to working on clothes for small people, but I think I managed to get it to turn out ok......

After finishing the hemming, I remembered I was supposed to be helping out at a Halloween evening for the kids at my church this Friday.... and that everyone was supposed to come dressed as a super hero........

When I was first told that I couldn't come up with any female super heroes other than Wonder woman.

And I still cant. I've googled, but all the others are either obscure, or are actually villains, or gender bent versions of the male super heroes, which really isn't my thing. So wonder woman it is.I figured I could go for a more 1950's pinup style wonder woman, so that I might actually be able to wear the clothes again, something similar to these

So I had a look through (some) of my stash for blue and red fabrics. I realized I had enough of the Blue Polka Dot fabric left after making my Summer Slip to make a (slightly shorter than my usual) Circle Skirt, and having the polka dots would probably negate the need to add the stars (which will also make it more wearable later) So after I hemmed the Rylee dress I got started on the skirt and got it mostly finished, just need to add a ruffle to the hem and it will be done.

As for the Top, I am still a little undecided. I have some plain red satin scraps I could whip a little bustier out of, or i could make a cute summery top from some leftover red and white polka dots, or even some cute cherry print. I am just not sure if using a print will confuse the outfit? I plan on making the gold belt, tiara and cuffs, so I think that will make it pretty obvious what the costume is supposed to be, but I am still undecided.

Also, I'd like to make a petticoat to go with this shorter skirt, as mine are all quite long....

Oh well, I have til Friday Afternoon.......

Dixie O'Dare

Addie K's Rylee Dress

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to be selected as a pattern tester for a lovely, quick to sew girl's dress, called the Rylee Dress, by Addie K 

Now as I don't have any children yet, let alone any daughters, I had to borrow my mini-me (aka Bogface Chucklebum) from my bestie to sew the dress for. Good thing she doesn't mind loaning me her children.

This is a photo from over a year ago of Bogface Chucklebum and I at Steamfest in Maitland dressed in co-coordinating outfits (pay no attention to the time stamp, lol)

Such a mini-me, could totally be my daughter or little sister :P

Any way, This pattern calls for 2 coordinating kit fabrics to be used. I searched through my stash of fabric and I just couldn't find inspiration. This is a girl who loves zombies, vampires and all things a little scary, so pastels just weren't going to cut it. So, I headed out Saturday morning to hit the op-shops in town, hoping to find something (the nearest fabric store is a 45min drive away and I'm on a strict budget since getting back from the honeymoon) and....

JACKPOT!!!! 

I found 3m of black Panne Velvet for $5 at Salvos. Absolute score! I figured it would look great with the contrast panel made of some of the glittery black and gold rose knit fabric I had at home.

So then I pinned

And Cut

And Sewed

It still needs hemming, and I'm not decided yet as to whether I'll add some embellishments or not.

With the weather here being so hot, I've checked to forecast for the coolest day this week, and booked in Wednesday afternoon to borrow Bogface for a photoshoot. The results should be pretty awesome. Or Hilarious......

It took me about half an hour to pin, cut and sew to this point, so if you ever needed a new outfit for your little one in a hurry, this is a great pattern. Being to simple allows for so many options! 

Dixie

Summer Slip

So, as I mentioned last post, I have just finished sewing up my version of Spit up and Stilettos Summer Slip.

I started out with this lovely soft, silky blue polka dot fabric from my stash. I had a look through my collection of binding, however, I had nothing in any sort of blue colour. So I went the other way and chose a bright contrasting pink!

Then cut out the pattern (as this was before all the patterns were free, I adapted their Diana Cami Pattern):

Stay Stitched the top and sewed together the sides of the slip with WRONG sides together and cut away most of the seam allowance:

Then turned the seam inside out and sewed along again, creating a lovely neat french seam:

Started adding the binding:

Then finished it up with the same criss-cross pattern on the back that Lauren used on her blog.

Wore it last night as a nightie, and it was soooo comfy. Because the straps are crossed at the back, they don't fall down off your shoulders, which is a major plus for me!

I am absolutely loving these patterns :)

Also Wearing my Floral Elizabeth Dress at work today, Yay!

Dixie

FREE SEWING PATTERNS!!!

Good news everybody!!!

Spit up and Stilettos, the site I got the Pattern for this dress:

Has now decided to offer ALL of their Patterns for FREE!

Absolutely FREE!!!!

Yay!

I already have another Elizabeth dress cut out ready to sew, plus the pattern for the Emma Pants printed ready to go, AS WELL as just finishing making the Summer Slip with the help of their Sew-along on the blog (photos of which I shall post soon)

PLUS, along with the almost 20 patterns already on offer, Lauren from Spit up and Stilettos is also hoping to post 2 new patterns each month! I'm so excited, and ready to get creative. All these lovely patterns are sure to help me fill my wardrobe with mostly homemade clothes, as well as there being a few baby clothes patterns that I can stash away for the future.......

Dixie

Sew Retro Rose's Sew-along!

Oops, also forgot to mention, I'm participating in Sew Retro Rose's Swirl Dress sew along!

http://sewretrorose.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/announcing-sew-along.html

for this Pattern:

Its not starting til the 29th, so there is still time to get your pattern from Sew Retro Rose for only US$6! Beccie who runs Sew Retro Rose, is a fantastic woman, and a friend of mine, who has only been sewing a few years, but I think her skills have far surpassed my own! I'm expecting this sew-along to be very thorough and easy to follow for beginners, so anyone can join in! and in the end you'll have yourself a Fabulous new dress!

Dixie

Let's try this again.....

So I tried my hand at this blogging stuff well over a year ago, and after 5 posts, gave up (or got distracted, lol) I had hoped to make 1 garment a week so that I could slowly convert my wardrobe to mostly handmade, vintage style clothes. Unfortunately I have not achieved this yet. However I did get Married:

 

Of Course I made the Dress and The Jacket (including all this painstakingly hand beaded lace)

And I went to Europe on our Honeymoon:

And are only just now getting back into the swing of things at home (poor Hubby has been struck down with a chest infection) I did quickly whip up this dress last week (sorry for the bad photo):

The Pattern, for anyone interested, is the Elizabeth Dress from Spit up and Stilletos  http://www.spitupandstilettos.com/ a charming little site with sewing patterns for purchase as well as a blog with sew-alongs and yummy recipes. The Fabric is a fabulous Vintage Floral Rayon feel fabric that I picked up while at the 50's Fair at Rose Seidler House back in August. I'm hoping to make another one of these dresses in some leopard print cotton I have, as I wore this to church and all day Sunday, and it was very comfortable, plus it got me quite a few compliments!

While I don't think I have the discipline to commit to making 1 garment a week for a year, I will try again with this blog, and to post as much of my sewing capers, other bits of interest, and perhaps a few tutorials along the way. With Christmas coming up (way too soon, I'm so not ready!) My sewing will probably turn to toys and decorations, but who knows?

Dixie