Princess Gail

There's nothing like a ball to stir up the inner princess in every girl.  Last night I finally had the chance to show off my ball outfit and think I scrubbed up pretty well.  Excluding earrings and hairdo, the total cost of my princessery was $85!  Danced the night away and it felt wonderful!!

The skirt is based on Burda 12/2008 125 with adjustments to change the design from double fronted to centre fold.  I used horsehair stiffening in the hemline to emphasise the fishtail hem line.

I changed my mind a dozen times about the blouse as I wanted something practical that I would wear again.  The Japanese fabric origami patterns intrigued me but they are very fabric hungry and I wasn't sure that silk would hold the structures well enough.  Husbie and DD  also convinced me that the design should be quite simple to highlight the skirt. 

In the end I opted for an olive green silk wrap blouse which I created from a Vintage Vogue dress pattern from the 1980s.  I created the cap sleeve by cutting a half circle on the centre fold.

I've also completed a version of Simplicity 3503 which I'll show you in my next post.

Frocked up

Ok it's not a frock, but it IS frocked up.  This is a sneak peak at the bottom half of my ball outfit.  It is made from beautiful embroidered taffeta silk that I bought on-line for $15 a metre. I bought it on a whim with no particular expectation or project in mind. I remember the elation I felt on opening the package - it was so much more beautiful than the e-shop picture.

When I started thinking about my ball outfit my thoughts went immediately to Allesandra Rich and her beautiful, structured lace and silk dresses. But looking on net-a-porter, I saw a beautiful $1000 + fishtail skirt and I knew immediately that this was a practical solution.  I haven't been to a ball since I was 25 and I'm not likely to go to many more, so investing in good lace was not very sensible.

I used Burda 12/2008 125 as my base pattern.  This is a double fronted evening skirt with a fishtail hem.  To redraft as a plain skirt, all I needed to do was to make the centre-front line a centre-fold on both the skirt and the waist band and voila!  You'll have to wait until after November 12 for wearing photos, but it is a very good fit.  The next photo shows the embroidery in more detail and the degree of pattern matching I was able to achieve. No mean feat with only 2 metres of fabric.  I'm yet to complete the hem - still deciding if I need horsehair stiffening or just stiff interfacing to accentuate the fishtail.

The last photo shows you where I'm going with the top half.

Beware of Ottobre Magazine

In Australia, the notion of a 'standing subscription' would be considered a dodgy business practice at best.  Not so in Finland.

I purchased two copies of Ottobre magazine having seen some great back issues.  The issues duly arrived and personally I thought the designs were really dated and uninspired.  So I did not bother to renew my subscription. Lo and behold I received the next issue - worse than ever in terms of patterns and styles - and an invoice for 15.9 euros.  I wrote to Ottobre in protest but was told to read the fine print.

Given my overall lack of satisfaction with my Finnish friends, I am posting this as a warning to all current and potential subscribers.  If you don't want future issues you need to send then notification in writing.  Otherwise you'll receive lots of threatening notices to pay.  But perhaps you'd do better not to subscribe in first place.

Frocktober No 2

I'm loving 'Frocktober'.  Frock No.2 is my Tracy Reece dress Vogue 1224.  The fabric was bought for $6 from a charity store.  Originally intended a cheap test fabric, it was only when I started sewing I realised what I gem I had.  1970s silky woven jersey, very reminiscent of early Dianne Von Furstenberg.  It behaved like a dream under the needles.

Tracy Reece's design is very flattering when you get it right.  I don't know what it is about Vogue's young designers - the designs are beautiful and clever, but their drafting skills are a little under par.  I am only 5 foot 2 inches and added more than two inches to the top half and another two inches to the hemline.  Without the adjustment it would have gathered under the bust and come up very short.

 Overall I'm happy as I have a dress that I can wear to the office under a jacket or more casually with sandals.

Next up I'm making my outfit for the ball in November.  It was to be a frock but I'm opting for the practicality of long embroidered duponi silk skirt and a silk cowl neck and back blouse.  At least I know that I will wear the blouse again.  So watch this space.

Frocktober off to a good start

October is a month of dress-making for me - literally making dresses.  I've started the spring season with my version of the Vena Cava dress Vogue 1258.  I've used a very soft, drapey knit jersey - a rare quality find from Spotlight. A little too drapey on reflection as the weight of the front ties drags the neckline to dangerous depths.

There are a few things to remember if you are making this dress.
1) read the instructions
2) read the instructions and
3) read the instructions!

Seriously, this pattern is a pleasure to sew and cleverly crafted, but it is not an 'intuitive' pattern.  You need to follow the map or you will veer off the road very quickly.  The other thing to remember is that the neckline from the pattern is very very low. It isn't too much of a problem to adjust.  On advice from Alison who made the dress before me I took the neck up about two inches. 

If I were to make this pattern again (maybe... but with sleeves for winter) I would also take a little of the taper from the hip to knee.  As Erica Bunker warned Alison, the results are very "body conscious".  I certainly don't want the answer to the proverbial "does my bum look big in this?" question.

Frocktober no. 2 is the Tracy Reece dress Vogue 1224 in black and white jersey.  It is coming along nicely.  I can see that I need to seriously work on my blog photos.  My daughter takes them and the attitude is no care, no responsibility.  DD 1 who is away at university was much more accommodating.

At home with Julia

Sadly only my Aussie readers will get the joke about Julia our much maligned Prime Minister, Julia Gillard who has a perchant for while jackets with deep necklines.

The white jacket Butterick 5619 is my latest from my long spring/summer sewing list to be completed. I made it for the Jewish New Year as it is a Rosh Hashanah custom to wear white garments. The color white symbolizes purity and renewal and on Rosh Hashanah, we wish to make a fresh start and renew ourselves for the new year.

The jacket is unlined and I've used Hong Kong seam bindings and French seams on the sleelves.  The jacket is a great fit, but I'm not sure the flying saucer neckline is for me.  The lapels are so big that a gust of wind fly the tip of the lapel into my red lipstick.  I'll use the pattern again, but will change it to a more conventional neckline.  

The fabric for my jacket came from the Tessuti's roll sale. I shared a $10 roll with another buyer - there was just over 4 meters on the roll.  Not the greatest quality as it has a lot of spandex in the weave, but great for testing ideas.

 I've completed a new silk chiffon blouse Butterick 5561. I struggled with this garment as the pieces didn't seem to fit together in the way they were intended.  I found the pleat in the bottom of the sleeve made the sleeves tight and puffy, so I removed it and re-cut to achieve a straight (straightish?) line.  Overall, not a winner, but pretty and wearable, especially under a jacket.

Next up - I had a cutting binge recently.  I cut my jacket, two Vogue knit dresses and two t-shirts.  I also have an unfinished faux suede leopard print trench jacket perilously close to finishing. I made great progress, then the weather warmed up and I lost motivation to complete. Now it is a little cooler the sewing room poltergiest has stolen the upper sleeve piece.  I have searched everywhere.  I have contacted the company I bought the fabric from.  They have none left!! My solution - I think - will be to cut the upper sleeve from an old black sweater and add a matching sweater trim somewhere else on the garment. 

I am also very happy to announce that I was lucky enough to win Becky at Sew and So's fantastically generous gift voucher give away.  Becky makes lovely garments and is a great refashioner.

Finally, to my fellow Jewish sewers (are there any out there?) Le Shana Tova and to the rest of my friends happy sewing.  May this year be a sweet one.

Band wagoning

We've been a little late to jump onto the Vogue 1250 bandwagon down- under.  Now that Spring is here I'm keen to wear more dresses and man this is an easy dress to piece together.  I whipped this up in two hours from cutting board to hand finished hemline, just in time for my friend's 50th birthday party.  The fabric is a butter soft gold and black knit jersey from Tessuti.  I love it with my orange cardigan (the best mistake I ever made) and boots and can't wait to shed the outer layer and show my pedicured toes again!

My spring/summer sewing list is long and I have a stash in serious need of busting.  I've set out some of the priorities:

• 5 blouses for work (white, black & pale pink polka dots, gold silk, printed chiffons)
• 5 weekend t-shirts that can be dressed up (striped, red, fine striped, black, blue)
• 3 tunics/casual chic wear (from the linen stash)
• Dresses - I have 8 patterns (mostly DKNY and Tracy Reese) that I would like to make in no particular order.   
• A maxi dress (Simplicity 3503)
• New white pants
• A ball gown (I have a big event in mid-November thinking Alessandra Rich simple lines with contrasting lace)
• 3 lightweight summer jackets or suits

Now you can see why I don't make lists!