Engagement Dress

So when I made my Birthday Dress, which was the Retro Butterick pattern B5748 one my good friends Alicia saw it and asked if I could make her a Engagement dress of similar design.
Of course I said yes, but was stricken with worry about the outcome, as I am definitely not a professional sewer haha...
But I gave it a crack..

She also happens to have a teeny waist and giant boobs so I knew it would be a little more tricky than mine to fit.. but the style would suit her to a tee..It wasn't so bad in the end, as I only had to slightly adjust the shoulders for the bodice to fit her correctly.

Alicia had a similar fabric choice to mine, as she liked the polka dots look:) She also wanted a more defined sweetheart cut for the neckline.
Here is a look at the dress not long before completion (just the hem/final fitting to go)
I also made her a clutch with some scraps whilst waiting to meet her in between fittings.
It was super cute and fairly easy to make, using this great tutorial from Elm Street Life.

 

 

...here are the final product pictures:) Alicia wore the dress with pearls, a satin sash belt with flower adornment and a cute little fascinator she had made by Ruby Mae Millinery

Don't they look cute together? Haha what a poser:)

 

 

Was a great night!!! :)

Birthday Dress

Weeeee it was my 26th Birthday and I wanted to try make something for myself that was a bit rockabilly:)

I bought some blue and white polka dot fabric to go with my newly coloured hair..and started looking for a pattern.
I found this adorable Retro Butterick pattern B5748, which I plan to use many many times..

I slightly adjusted the front of the dress and decided to leave the bow off the front of the dress.
The size i originally cut out was way too big, so I had to do a fair bit of adjusting to fit my bust and match the sides in order for the zip to fit.... you can kindaaaaa not really see how much I'm holding it here, but not really? hahah

I also got my makeup/hair done rockabilly, to match the dress :) 
(You can see the change in neckline here, was rounded....)

and here is a couple of the finished product..

 

 

 

 

I got a lot of compliments on the day, and a stranger at the races even told me she loved my dress. So that was a big confidence booster :)

 

Then my friend Alicia asked if I would make her a similar dress for her engagement party.. and I told her I would be honoured... So we shall see how that goes :) EEEPP!!!!

 

New dress, New hair colour

After making my first skirt, I thought I would attempt a dress... but first I tried my hand at a few free Internet patterns to get used to my machine and my newly created sewing room  :)

Dog jumper..... kinda...... (was destroyed in minutes) and baby booties.... which were adorable  :)

So back to the dress...
The dress I decided to make was a Vogue V8723.. I decided to make this, because I loved the bottom of the dress and I had seen this extremely cute one on http://tessuti.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/pattern-review-vogue-8723-aka-forty.html

It stated it was "Very Easy" which I highly doubted..but still decided to give it a shot..

I decided to make the dress in a Mauve coloured linen, also the dress was going to be fully lined so I chose a grey coloured polyester acetate.

This dress had a lot of firsts, First dress, First piece with lining, First invisible zip, First Gathering and First darts!
I thought because the dress had so many firsts I would need one too!! I decided to dye my hair red, for something fun to do:)

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The hardest thing I found about this dress was the gathering, as the linen and the lining were quite thick, and the stitches kept snapping.. very frustrating, but rewarding when it was finally completed....

 

 

Let me know what you think :)

First actual sewing project

So after my first sewing attempt, I decided I needed some help..
So I joined up at The Sewing School. http://www.thesewingschool.net/

Run by Janet it is a great little place that has a positive attitude to learning, and a great group of girls with varied skill levels that love to sew and give advice :)

So after joining the first project I thought I would try was a Butterick Skirt, B5285.
I used a navy wool blend, as I wanted to wear this skirt fairly high waisted and for work.

So what the skirt taught me was this. People who have never sewn before don't realise how long it takes to sew one garment. Especially a new pattern.. even the cutting out of the pattern and material took me about 3 hours hahah.. but eventually I got around to the sewing of the skirt.

The skirt has pleats, which were easier than I first thought, but still a pain..
Also the zip was interesting to learn.. and difficult to remember.. The outcome to the skirt was below..

 

Not so bad, but not so good....
I think stitched the pleats too far down, so it sits a bit weird..

I think I have worn it once or twice, but have trouble pairing it with other items..What do you think?

First post, first item..

The first thing I ever tried to sew was this cute poor little guy...
I didn't really take into account anything apart from cutting the pattern and stuffing him with the excess material (nightmare) He is mismatched and terribly sewn, but he is currently sitting proud in my sewing room to remind me how far I will (eventually) come :)