Bali 50's style

Update 8th October: I have entered this dress in week 2 of the Project Sewn competition. You can vote here.

As you can see from this post I am not in the midst of a cold Melbourne winter, I am in fact in balmy Bali on a family holiday. My sister had a significant birthday (fifty, ouch) and invited family and friends to join her in Bali. Of course we jumped at the chance to join her celebrate. We have had a fantastic time here on the beaches, in the pool and just generally relaxing. Perhaps a few too many G&T's and Nasi Gorengs but I'll worry about that when I return home.

About a week before we came over I noticed I had a little summer dress cut out in my UFO box (unfinished objects). I had cut it out almost a year ago and didn't bother to get started on it. After all the sewing I've been doing for the School fete lately I wanted to do something for myself and something quick. This was the perfect project.

The fabric is a gorgeous Liberty of London Tana lawn from Tessuti Fabrics called Red Stefan. It is 100% cotton and a bit pricey but once you start sewing with it and wearing it as I have now found out you won't be at all worried about the price of it. It is soft and beautiful to sew.

I used a Burdastyle pattern 50's Halter Dress edition 07/2012 style #133. This dress pattern was first published in burda Modern (now burda style magazine) back in 1950. The instructions are a little tricky to follow but if you are not a complete beginner you will figure it out pretty easily by looking at the picture provided. The trickiest part being the insertion of the piping into the band on the bodice. It's actually quite easy to do but the instructions use too many complicated words which just confuse you. Remember just follow the picture! I only had 1.5mtrs and not the required 2 mtrs  so I altered the skirt to be just slightly narrower than a full circle. It worked just fine.

I used the smallest size but due to my depressingly small bust  and I still had to shave a few mm's off the upper bust line. It still needs a bit of filling out which was fixed by using a very padded bra. Who needs a boob job!

The bodice is lined in the same manner as the outer bodice which I really loved. It has a real 50's look about it with the pointy boobs and small waist. The halter really accentuates this too and I love the piping detail. 

I hadn't quite finished it before we boarded the plane to Bali so I grabbed the needle and thread and packed in in my suitcase. I figured it would be a perfect dress for Bali. All I need to do was hem and hand stitch the lining in which I finished in our outdoor lounge area in the villa. It was such a different sewing experience, bikini on and needle and thread in hand!

Highly recommended pattern and fabric.

This trip also happened to coincide with mine and Tony's anniversary of 14 years together which we celebrated at the Rock Bar in the beautiful Ayanya Resort. It was gorgeous watching the sun go down and sipping Lychee Martinis and the dress looked perfect!

Flaming Red, Tessuti Awards 2013 entry

This is my entry for the Tessuti Awards 2013.

The brief was to create a knee length (or just above) dress that's all about the WOW and NOW factor. Something that would fabulous at a red carpet event, swanky cocktail party, the races or a fancy formal wedding. You must use either their Flame Red fabric which is a french taffeta or the Phantom Black, a dobby spot which is also a French fabric. The prizes are amazing, a flight valued at $2500 is first prize and an overlocker is second. I was not sure if I wanted to enter as there are so many amazing and creative sewers out there and last years entry's were incredible.

I happened to be in the store about a month ago and was discussing with the ladies there how I wasn't going to enter this year however with a little persuasion they convinced me to give it a go. I had a dress in mind that would be perfect for Tafetta. It was a Chloe dress I'd seen on the S/S 2013 runway shows. Lots of ruffles and tucks, perfect.

I designed my own pattern by draping first and then transferring onto a muslin. After alot of frustrating attempts at draping the bodice, I finally got it right (I think). I fully lined the bodice and skirt and also used the bustier techniques which I had previously practiced following Gerties instructions on the Bombshell dress lesson. 

I also boned the bustier which makes the bodice stay up really well. I added a belt to the waist to give it a bit more shape as I thought it was a bit frumpy looking. It did the trick. I added a big red button to the back of the belt.

It's not perfect by a long shot, but I'm very happy with how it looks.

I have my nephews wedding coming up soon so I don't have to worry about figuring out what to wear now.

Thanks to my partner Tone for taking some fabulous shots and making me look better than I really am.

Also, thanks for the champagne, I really enjoyed that after a hard day modelling!

boning the bodice

Draping the tucks

Funked up Capelet

This is a denim Capelet I drafted and made a few months back. I was inspired by the Burberry capelets I have seen in the mags and online.

I haven't drafted many patterns in the past few years so it was a nice easy project to get my head back into it. I used Pattern making for Fashion design by Helen Armstrong as a guide. There are instructions on how to draft a cape so I started with that and then modified drastically!
I had some cheap denim from Darn Cheap Fabrics so decided I'd use it incase it was a disaster. I also made a muslin up to make sure it was the right fit and was careful to transfer all the markings with tailor tacks.

It looked a bit boring so I thought I'd funk it up a bit and added some jean studs. I also found some skull satin for lining (which I was going to make some boxer shorts out of for my son)....still plenty left!

I added some shoulder pads as it seem to sink a bit into my shoulders without them. It's probably a touch too short but it will do this time.
I was hoping to share with you the pattern but my computer skills are limited when it comes to drafting.

I might clean up my original draft and upload at a later date.

I

in the making

Burberry