Yellow pleated dress

Yellow is Jalisa's new favourite colour, so I was excited to find a white and yellow print to go with her white shoes. Finally the photos I have taken look good. Jalisa with wet hair does not a good picture make.

 

 I love this little dress and being a Burda pattern (#143 from 5/2005) I thought it would be a great pattern. It has been while since I completed this dress but I can still remember the frustration I felt sewing it.  Firstly it is much too short. Almost indecently short. Maybe some people would consider it indecently short as it is.

The designer has decided to have fold on facing. I wasn't thinking, but if you want a neat finish when sewing on straps, you really need sewn on facings to hide the ends of the straps. I decided to just go ahead do it as per the directions rather than recutting a new facing. Big mistake but I am pretty lazy!

Jalisa loves it and it is a good fit, apart from the length.

Red tee and face.



Who doesn't love reading sewing blogs that have fabulous photos. Carolyn's blog is so wonderful for this. So inspirational. Every now and then, I decide to take a photo somewhere in the yard to try to make something a little more interesting. You know, something other than standing in front of a brick wall. Spots are very limited because my husband and I are not gardeners. He hates trees and I can't keep plants alive when I try.

 

Today, like many other days, it did not work out. I thought that I would go out near our mango tree but realised as I was halfway down there that my neighbours are making the most of the breeze and sitting out on their deck. There is no way that I can take photos of myself, by myself when they are there.

 

So I go out the front and take a few photos. After a while, I realise that the people up the road are out on their deck taking turns to look my way. While they may or may not be looking at me, I am just paralysed. And my facce turns red Luckily I can count on my daughter to come out and take some photos with me so I don't feel so bashful.

 

 



 I made up Jalie 2905 (with the scooped neckline from 2906 - I think that is right) in a red cotton lycra on Friday. Felt great to be sewing again since I had been struck down with a vertigo causing virus that left me couch/bed bound for days (oh, and I should be marking tests and writing reports too!)

I had been wanting to try a twist neckline for sometime. Not sure if it looks twisted enough so that it looks like a deliberate design features, rather than being a poor seamstress! It will still be worn - I have been wearing it today at my daughter's school fete.

I need a hero

 

As I was thinking about writing this post, I had a song running through my head. A quick search and I realised it was from one of the shrek movies.

 

Isn't the fabric for the shirt super cute? I originally purchased it from the crafty mamas store but I do believe it would be found at the sister site. Well, having said that, I can only see another colourway now. The pattern is an old fave, Ottobre #21 from 2/2005.

 

 

 

Melbourne Cup day dress - school suitable

 

Most people at work dress up a little on Melbourne Cup day. We even have a hat competition and a lovely lunch. This year, I wanted to make a new dress but use fabric from my stash. While I may have a lot of stashed fabric, most of it is suitable for garments other than dresses. Nothing very bright or cheerful in there at the moment that is not otherwise earmarked (like the red wool crepe).

 

 The fabric is a sheer rayon polyester blend from John  Kaldor. I decided to underline in a midweight cotton as the pattern had a couple of seams where it would be difficult to use french seams.

The pattern is Burda #118 from 07/2007 http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.osinka.ru%2FZhurnaly%2F

I chose this pattern for a few reasons. One being the 'cut in' armhole at the back. Even with sewing the seam line towards the centre more, it is hardly noticable. The other feature was the A-line skirt, which I would would make fitting easier and be slightly more suitable for wearing to work.

The only slightly tricky part was the seams at the front. I had no idea what the instructions were saying so I just plodded along doing my own thing.

I had nicely set in the zipper and sewn the back seam when I realised I would have to unpick them so I could sew the facings on. The Slapdash Sewist has this tute which works well for facings as well. I remember learning this method from a New Look pattern in the 90s, and being the first way I learnt to sew facings/lining on a dress, this is the only method I have ever used.

I need to have a looksie for a fasinator tute. I want to make something up over the weekend for the competition.