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Occasionally it seems that world is in pure chaos with nothing making sense, but that doesn't matter as long as I can sew. Sewing is a form of art, or at the very least creativity, and a form of expression. A great outlet for the tension of everyday life. Also you can make cute things. The craft revolution is truly taking place, old skills are being revived by a new generation, but with a seriously modern twist.

I've made Mario pillow cases, a giraffe print background, and turned duvet covers into summer dresses. I enjoy making something unique, special, and me- then I like wearing it and watching it fall to pieces or not fit properly. Then I enjoy (slightly less) fixing it.

One day I shall have a room filled with glorious fabrics and boxes of notions, and on that day I will have found my nirvana. But until then this blog will exist as my virtual haberdashery and sewing room. Hopefully you'll enjoy looking at my creations as much as I enjoy looking at other blogs, and you'll be inspire to make something of your own.

Saturday 19 February 2011

Dress de fleur

I can't decide whether this was a triumph or disaster, but rest assured I shall meet them both the same.  Using a pattern from the internet :
http://www.ralphpink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/1950s-pleat-front-dress.pdf
for a potentially awesome full length 50s style dress, that looked simple but came with no instructions and mismarked pattern pieces, and a old duvet cover I bought in a charity shop for £1.75 I have made a dress de fleur.  I picked apart the duvet cover and had the largest pieces of flowery pink fabric EVER, laid over the pattern pieces, pinned, and cut them.  The front and back skirt pieces looked remarkable similar and although I had tried to keep track I did mix them up several times. 


As I said the pattern came with no instructions, it is actually a fairly simple cut, dart, sew but a few sentences to explain exactly which bit went where would have helped especially as I'm pretty sure the back skirt piece was marked as the front and vice versa, the front top piece was marked cut one when you really need two, and it didn't say which way around the front top piece was supposed to go.  If I were a more experience, less silly, sewer I might have been able to work that last one out (I did work out the first two) but I'm not so I didn't and the dress was made with backwards pieces.

It didn't tell you why the front top pieces were longer than the back pieces either, or how to fasten it all up but I worked out to put a zipper in the side as I got stuck in it when I tried to put it on without. Also it only came in one size, and I had to hope it would fit- it is online as a pdf which you can only print out fullsize with photoshop, so my friend managed to turn it into a paint document and I printed it out that way but there were no measurements on the pieces.

Having said all that I remain impressed that I managed to make anything remotely resembling a dress.  But I really think Ill have to turn the top pieces around, improve the facings (which go in the inside of the neck and armholes to tidy the edge and refuse to lie flat despite my burning the dress to iron them down >.<), and somehow find an extra inch of fabric to make it slightly easier to get in and out of and breathe whilst wearing it!

Still I think I pretty much rock it! Of course.  Now I'm not suggesting you say I look like Grace Kelly, just that you think it. :)


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