FANCY FROCKS - FROCKTAILS EDITION2016: VOGUE 8827

Hello All! Starting this post with a big THANK YOU to the gorgeous Renay, Kat & Lib for their wonderful organisation of the Melbourne frocktails event! It was my first, and such a joy to be around all the other Melbourne based seamstresses! It was a fabric feeling cocktail drinking frenzy - and I loved every second of it! 

For my dress - I channelled one of my fellow blogger fashion icon of mine - Heather Lou: Closet Case Files. I saw this dress a few years ago and pinned it with the intention of creating a similar look.. at some point! I just couldn't find the right occassion. What better occassion than frocktails to make a frivolous frock and flower crown!!?

I made up Vogue 8827 - which I have since heard is now out of print! I nabbed it about 2 years ago in one of the amazing $1.99 sales - so I am feeling pretty smug about that right about now! You may still find it in your local spotlight or similar. I used VIEW C, which is the maxi length with the wrap around waist tie and one sided shawl collar.

It took me a bit of umming and ahhing to create the shawl collar and the facings, as I have never used a Vogue pattern before. I am much more used to the gentle hand holding from independant designers. But I am glad I kept up and persevered as I love the finished piece. It was probably one of my more time consuming projects, I stopped several times to have a bit of time to think about those steps before picking it up again so I didn't rush it.

I used french seams for the entire piece, wanting to keep it as floaty as possible and maintain the gorgeous drape of the fabric. And a little ironing accident resulted in the sleeves being a bit shorter than originally drafted. However, I think I would have shorted them anyway regardless of the ironing incident! The fabric was a polyester crepe I picked up at Spotlight after christmas (probably the only thing in the entire store that wasn't on sale), but I loved the print and drape so into the cart it went!

I went a bit fancy and lengthened the belt (the pattern piece indicates to cut three, and I cut and joined four pieces). I also angled the edge for a bit more of a fancy finish. I used some dainty little stitches to secure the faces in place, but I think I will need to add a few extra stitches as it still billowed around at times.

I also made a flower crown.Because. Well. Flower Crown - enough said. I had no plans to do this until Megan Neilsen put up her video tutorial which was excellent and easy to follow. It was a very cheap make as well! I got the wire and tape for about $7- each from spotlight and just picked up a $5- posy from my local florist on the morning of frocktails. I'm not going to cover how to make it - because the tutorial is the bees knees and I've linked to it - so check that out! Much more eloquent than I could ever be!

The little details!

Pattern: Vogue 8827 ($1.99 sale pattern)

Fabric: Polyester Crepe from Spotlight ($16- pm, 3m -total: $48)

Notions: Just some thread from the stash - no closures for this pattern! Woo.

Flower Crown: tape, wire ($16-), Posy ($5-) total: $21

Total Costs: $71 - not a bad cost actually - AND I already have plans to wear it to a lovely friends 30th birthday this weekend... So its not just a frivolous dress after all!

Other bits: Shoes - wittner (linked before - no longer online).

For your perving pleasure: Heather Lou,  A challenging Sew,  SallieOh!

Stay tuned for any updates regarding Frocktails over on Kat's blog - all the whimsical things! And thank you to my lovely photographer - Karzi, for another impromptu snap session before running out the door for the evening!

..xx..

You are my SUNSHINE :) - Saltspring goodness.

Today's post is all about the SALTSPRING. I know. This dress pattern was huge HIT amid the blogosphere last summer.... and that is when I purchased the pattern and looked on enviously at all the others popping up. It's also when I took the trip down to Joy's fabric in Geelong to meet up with three other gorgeous sewists! That would be Rachel from Boodog and me, Anna from Blogless Anna and Renay from the Long and Winding Bobbin - all three are blogging and sewing geniuses!

The Saltspring is a dress pattern with tie shoulders, elastic gathered waist and two lengths - I can not pass up a maxi, and despite eating a large amount of fabric, went with this option!

The fabric was a lovely light cotton, and easy to sew with, it is so bright it just screams SUMMER. I wore it to work this week, and one of my colleagues felt it was a SUNSHINE dress! 

Turning the shoulder straps through can be a bit fiddly, and I am not too happy with them dangling. For my next version I would definitely make some set in straps so as not to worry with the tying. The skirt is a flattering A-line shape with in-seam pockets, and I love having pockets in a dress! There is a lapped zipper in the back, which I found a bit tricky, with the two layers of fabric from the self lined bodice, and hence is a bit of a mess! The instructions were fantastic, and I'm sure my next zipper will be a little on the neater side...!!

The only other change I would make, besides the straps, for my next version, would be to add a few cm's to the hem. Prior to hemming, I popped the dress on, and it was sitting at allllmost the right length. I simply overlocked and turned once, to maintain as much length as possible. But this makes it the perfect dress to wear with a pair of haviana's!

What is on your sewing table this week? I am gearing up to tackle the finlayson sweater by thread theory in time for my Dad's birthday in January.

Merry Christmas xx