Saturday, December 3, 2011

Summer is where?

If I look a little tense it may be due to the weather.  The spell of early summer has been broken by chill westerly winds and heavy rains.  I wore my new dress to a Christmas lunch with my real life sewing friends from the Australian Sewing Guild and asked Sharon from Petite and Sewing to take a blog photo.  Much better than asking a reluctant DD or grumpy husbie.  The backdrop is the Parramatta River, just near the Sydney Olympic site.

The first thing I need to say is McCalls 6163 - a faux-wrap dress with raglan sleeves and rouching into the side seam - is a great pattern.  The pattern calls for a zip into the side seam - don't bother as it is not needed for the majority of stretch fabrics.  Next time I make this dress I will pinch in the pattern slightly at the neckline to bring the collar lower and allow it to sit better.  Otherwise I am happy with the fit and feel that it flatters my increasingly lumpy figure.

Next?  I really really do want to make up the Donna Karan jacket, but I'm headed for Paris, London and Spain in early January so should focus on a travel wardrobe - black ponte pants, black dress, two infinity scarves, overcoat (?) and finish a nearly done animal print, faux suede trench jacket. 

Happy sewing!

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24 comments:

  1. RebeccaDecember 3, 2011 at 10:46 PM

    Lovely Dress! Very flattering. I really like how the print sort of spirals down.

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  2. CarolynDecember 3, 2011 at 10:47 PM

    Very classy! Your dress is lovely and the longer sleeves are well suited to a cooler day.
    Wow, London, Paris Spain?? JEALOUS!! How completely fabulous!

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  3. LoriDecember 3, 2011 at 11:17 PM

    Very pretty dress, have fun making your travel wardrobe. Sounds like an incredible trip.

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  4. CarolDecember 4, 2011 at 12:03 AM

    Gorgeous dress! There is snow down to 900m in Tasmania today so I understand about the lack of summer. Only a few days ago I was in a cotton summer dress! A travel wardrobe of black and white is great. You can add a few touches of colour and get great mileage out of a few pieces. I made a red, black and white travel wardrobe for a month long OS trip last year and it was perfect.

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  5. kbencoDecember 4, 2011 at 2:33 AM

    Summer is up here :)
    Your dress looks very smart. Maybe the cold weather is around to help you get into the wintery sewing? It sounds like a great trip!

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  6. JacquieDecember 4, 2011 at 2:46 AM

    I think Perth has borrowed your summer for a few days, it is boiling here. A happy medium would be good wouldn't it. Lovely dress and not long to go to your fabulous holiday!

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  7. wendyDecember 4, 2011 at 5:09 AM

    it looks wonderful! i love the diagonal print in this style :)

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  8. IreneDecember 4, 2011 at 6:15 AM

    The dress looks wonderful! Good luck with the travel wardrobe - that sounds like an amazing trip.

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  9. Marie-NoëlleDecember 4, 2011 at 6:41 AM

    Nice dress. Can't wait to see the animal print faux suede trench jacket in the real life.

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  10. MaryDecember 4, 2011 at 8:37 AM

    Lovely dress-and how wonderful to be able to travel to Europe. Travel wardrobes are satisfying because they are so useful and full of expectations. Have fun!

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  11. velosewsDecember 4, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    That's a lovely dress Gail. Have a lovely time in Europe.

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  12. AudreyDecember 4, 2011 at 3:33 PM

    It is a lovely dress. I like the way your print sort of goes on the diagonal. I made the pattern too and really liked the way it turned out.

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  13. SueDecember 4, 2011 at 4:41 PM

    Fab dress! Enjoy your trip it sounds great! Summer is gone from here too - 19C and overcast :(

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  14. katherine hDecember 4, 2011 at 11:03 PM

    That fabric is so very current! I just ripped a picture out of one of my Vogues that looked remarkable similar...so obviously, I love it!

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  15. AllisonCDecember 5, 2011 at 4:21 AM

    Thank you for pointing out this pattern, it is lovely and your version looks great. Good job it has sleeves for your weather - at least Europe will seem less of a shock when you get there! Have a great trip.

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  16. gwensewsDecember 5, 2011 at 5:37 AM

    That's a pretty dress. Love the print. As always, you did a beautiful job of sewing.

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  17. SharonDecember 5, 2011 at 4:22 PM

    Great dress, even better in person.

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  18. Gay McDonellDecember 7, 2011 at 5:53 PM

    Summer is NOT here either!! Great dress.

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  19. CennettaDecember 8, 2011 at 8:18 AM

    Gail, Beautiful pretty. Thanks for the tip on the zipper. I recently pick this one up and do plan to make.

    I can imagine how excited you are about your upcoming trip to Paris. Looking forward to seeing your wardrobe.

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  20. JeanDecember 10, 2011 at 6:33 AM

    Wonderful dress -- great style and fit. Your travel and associated wardrobe plans sound fabulous!

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  21. Anne-MarieDecember 11, 2011 at 6:00 AM

    Gail, you will have time to sew all those items before you go? This is amazing. The dress looks very flattering as you said. Your picture is small though ;-), I wish I could blow it bigger and see the rushing. This is a pattern I never noticed. It seams so interesting. The print is a great choice. As for the weather, you have a faux summer and we have a faux winter without any snow... I hope we both get the right weather soon.

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  22. DianaDecember 19, 2011 at 6:19 AM

    A beautiful dress on a pretty lady. I love it.

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  23. JacquieJanuary 3, 2012 at 7:24 AM

    Not long now.... Europe is beckoning ... Have a wonderful time.

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  24. JeanJanuary 9, 2012 at 8:34 PM

    Love the cute little cartoon... hope you had a great Christmas! Enjoy!

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