Emma's bridesmaid dress.

I made this dress for my friend Emma in September for a wedding. She was a bridesmaid and had just been told to buy a burgundy dress and that was it. I really wanted a bit of practice at making something for someone else, so I offered to make it for her as an excuse :-)

I did have more photos of this dress but I seem to have lost a memory card! The fabric and lining are both silk and it took about a week to complete.



It's actually the same pattern as one I made for myself (as a brithday present) Emma and I are a similar size so I was lucky that I could try it on when she wasn't around.

The pattern is Burda 7488 for anyone wishing to make one, I just omitted the contrast fabric from the bottom and instead used one piece.

Birthday Frock

I decided on Fri (22nd) that as I was going out that night I had better make myself a new dress! I found this lovely Paul Smith fabric and some yellow silk and spent the whole day up in my room throwing around pieces of fabric and paper.



By 6.15pm on Friday I finally gave up and realised it wasn't going to happen that night. So Saturday, complete with monster hangover, I put the rest of the dress together. This is the result, a classic style dress (that looks lovely on, but unfortunately no professional photographer was around today to take a picture of me in it!) with a silk lining and big bow at the front.

I think I actually love it.

Summer Dresses

Remember back in May I posted a photo of a model in a magazine and said I was going to copy the dress? Looky here to recap. Well here's the dress, I finally got around to posting up the photograph (courtesy of Helen Tinner Photography)



Also Helen shot a better photo of me in the floral dress I blogged about last May



And the tulip dress I was in the middle of making in June

Tulips

Just thought I'd give a quick update on what I've been making as its been a while! I got out of the creative zone and into the work zone for a bit, but I'm back now and this is coming along nicely. It's the bodice part of a dress I'm making for my NCFE course, and will be exhibited at the Connaught Centre in Hove on the 27th and 28th June.

This last week I've been sewing like a little pixie attempting to get my shirt dress design finished (the one described in an earlier post). It's pretty much there, I've made the calico version but there are a few changes I need to make before starting on the final piece.

Tomorrow I'll be back on the knitting as I'm taking a little solo break to St Ives to get the creative juices flowing properly again. So expect more pictures soon!

*Edit* See completed dress picture here

Full Flared Floral Frock

I had this lovely fabric from my pattern cutting tutor and thought I'd attempt the party dress again but with much more flare. I also lengthened the original design and made the middle panel slightly wider - this was actually a mistake because I thought the fabric could do with more ease, but it turned out that it was just right if I rouched it.

*Edit* See here for a better pic!

Sunshine.. A strapless dress, and a matching bikini

Its been ages since I wrote anything on here - I was about to embark on my aran cardigan, which I assumed would be a massive project yet in fact took only 3 months! I don't have a picture handy right now yet I still feel compelled to write this, so I'll carry on and add it later.

Recently it's been hotting up and I've had an overwhelming urge to create all things floaty and floral. The dressmaking and pattern cutting courses I've been doing since September have got me totally hooked and now I'm in there I can't get out!

A few weeks ago I found this pic online and thought I'd try and make something similar...



So I ended up with this :-)



I'm pretty chuffed with it, it's the first thing I've made without a pattern, and it fits just perfect! I just need to sort out the net petticoat underneath so it flares out a bit more.

So then I got carried away with the scraps left over and made an itsy bitsy bikini ready for my trip to Cyprus - its done quite well! Here it is catching a few rays on my Mum's balcony:

Probably the best fitting bikini I've ever had! Though the fabric isn't really stretchy enough for swimming. I'm scared to attempt anything with jersey fabric at the moment so I think that'll be something to get to grips with when I get home.