Finally a little bit sewing for myself....

It's been a little while since my last post, sorry! I try to post at least once a week, but sometimes my time just doesn't allow it! I have been very busy sewing for Elsie George as well as a few alterations for my boss at my day job, but I finally managed to squeeze in a quick sew for myself!

This dress was completely unplanned, and came about after I was invited to dinner and drinks for my little brother's fiancée's 21st birthday. She recently bought herself a sewing machine and a lovely horn sewing cabinet, but hadn't had the motivation to use it yet. As I was too broke to buy her a present, I just went into my sewing room and filled a gift bag with fabric, zips, patterns, thread and needles/pins. I was a bit worried she wouldn't like it, but she loved it! 

Birthday Cake!!

And Birthday Smooches

I hijacked someone else's flash.....

My Husband and I stayed over at there house after dinner (we were up til nearly 3 am drinking and watching netflicks) As there house is so near to Spotlight, I mentioned I was going to go for a bit of a shop, and my little brother's fiancée decided to come with, and spend a bit of her birthday money.

Spotlight had some pretty decent sale prices, so I may have spent more than I should have......

I Bought 2 Butterick Patterns as they were on Special for $7 each. I got B6167 a lovely gathered shelf bust sundress by Gertie and B6067 which is another Gertie pattern, but for a retro style 1 piece swimsuit. I really, really wanted B5895 (Summer top and Capris) But they only had the smaller size pattern in stock, and I couldn't justify buying it when I would have to redraft the whole thing anyway.

Yarns were 40% off, so I got myself a few balls of cotton blend for more snoods. I purchased a few printed cottons, Including a cute Paddington Bear quilting cotton for $6 per meter, which I decided was totally not too over the top for me to make and wear a dress out of. Then, as we were trying to leave, we spotted a table of $2 a meter quilting cottons, the catch being you had to purchase the rest of the bolt (most didn't have a lot left) So I bought a few meters each of a sunflower print cotton, a scotty dog print cotton, some purple starburst-like print cotton and this lovely orange and pink floral. There was also some zebra print cotton, which I told my brother's fiance I would buy if she didn't. She said she didn't need it, then we got all the way to the counter and the lady measured it out before she changed her mind and took it from me. That was kinda my plan all along.....

Pattern and Fabric

Anyway, we got back to my Brother's place to find him and my husband playing with a welder in the kitchen (That's totally normal right?) So we disappeared into the sewing room. I began cutting out the above pattern and my Brother's Fiancée decided to make herself a tote bag out of a fairly heavy weight piece of Zebra print cotton she got from the remnant bin at Spotlight, lining it with some purple floral that I had given her in her birthday goodie bag. My Husband and I went home a little after sunset after I had finished cutting out all the pieces for my dress, and not long after we got home, I got a message showing me a beautiful new fully lined Zebra Print Tote Bag!

Well Naturally that made me want to work on my own project (not my work sewing which I really should have been working on) So I began construction of the bodice. So that I was at least getting a little bit of work done, every time I had to press seams for the dress bodice, I also made myself measure and press the hem on a skirt for Elsie George. By the Time I went to bed I had the bodice outer together, the bodice lining together and 2 straps, which I pinned to my mannequin. I also had all the skirt hems pressed, pinned and ready to sew.

After work the next day, I sewed the lining to the bodice outer, attaching the straps as I went (which I had to shorten a bit) Then I sewed together the skirt pieces (with in seam pockets at the sides) gathered them at the top and sewed them to the bodice. Then it was simply a matter of putting in a zip and sewing up the back seam and hem and it was done!

While it has turned out to be a very cute dress, the fit is a bit off. The gathered bust section is too small, even though I used the D cup pattern pieces. It just seems to be not wide enough and not deep enough at the edges. It was impossible to find a bra that I could wear with it that didn't show at the sides. Yet despite the front being too small, the bodice itself was too big around, which is weird, as I usually find if I make 2 sizes smaller than the pattern says to, the fit is pretty much perfect. This one just have way too much ease under the arms. I took some in from the back when I put the zip in, But I think I'm going to have to dodgily add darts to the side seams to make the fit better. Even with these fit issues, I still wore the dress to work the next day, and received many compliments on it. Hopefully I will get some better photos of the dress soon, it has been quite miserable and raining here lately.

I have also been working on making a few dog coats for my mum's Maltese Terrier, Mango. Part way through making the first one I decided to try it on Mabel. It was a bit long on her, but she didn't actually mind having it on, as long as I was giving her attention.

Another thing I have purchased lately were some lovely plastic bangles. While I can't afford Bakelite or even Fakelite for that matter, I can afford 20c plastic bangles from my local op-shop! Check out these beauties I scored, with colours for nearly every outfit, and a cute little wicker one to wear in summer with my straw hat!

So what are some other good projects to get back into the swing of sewing things? Also, has anyone else been making dog (or cat) clothing lately?

Dixie