A dress for amy

This is a little dress that I made on a whim last night for the daughter of one of my colleagues, it is made with a free pattern from the lovely Oliver + S website (available via THIS link) who make sewing patterns for children and is called the Popover dress!

I used some lovely pink micro-dot Jacquard poplin and some Alexander Henry 'Birdseed' print in the pink colourway, both of which I bought from my favourite fabric shop Fabrics Galore in Clapham/Battersea.

I think my favourite part is the jumbo Ric-Rac trim though - I'm a sucker for a bit of contrast trimming :-)

Scarf Refashion Tutorial

Picture from The Glamourai

The ever talented and glamorous Glamourai has posted THIS amazing tutorial on how to create a dress from 2 vintage silk scarves like the picture above - AMAZING!!

I'm definitely going to pop to my local charity shop for a couple of these to make up - thank you Glamourai!

My Alice dress

This is probably the easiest dress I have ever made - it is quite simply just a vest and a large rectangle of cotton shirting that I had in my stash sewn together with a waist length piece of elastic to give it shape and gather it together.

The idea was not my own however - it was devised by the lovely Hattie of the Little Red Roost blog, although mine differs slightly from hers because I didn't apply a frill around the neckline and straps as she did.

Here is the link to the tutorial :

http://littleredroost.blogspot.com/2010/05/alice-dress.html

AND - because you can pick up vests like mine for around £3 in H&M, this dress will cost you next to nothing and can be used with any light to medium weight fabric!

Summer Wardbrobe challenge!

I recently bought a copy of Heather Ross's new book Weekend Sewing.

I love this book, the simple and beautiful designs which are also printed patterns at the back and front of the book, really appeal to my idea of comfort sewing side (ie - not having to think about the drafting myself - laaaaaazy!) and are so inspiring, easy to adapt to your own style and enable you to easily add your own design details.

Heather launched a Weekend Sewing design challenge just after the launch of the book, and although I missed the deadline, it really inspired me to set a challenge of my own to design a completely handmade summer holiday wardrobe!

So far I have made 2 shirring sundresses, one in White cotton with big blue polka dots, and one in Navy blue jersey and last night I made a pretty cotton poplin top which I adapted from a 1970's dress pattern to suit the style I had in mind, it actually turned out exactly as i wanted it to - pretty unusual because there is usually some alteration to be made :)

I hope to post up a design sheet like the ones that Heather gave as a template to illustrate my ideas and give me a goal to work to!

I will post piccies as soon as i get a chance to photograph my bits and as soon as it stops raining....grrrrr the british weather!

Weekend sewing - things I have made recently!

I have been pretty busy with work recently so have let the blog go a bit......but i now have a couple of days off in which to craft my socks off :)

So - over the last week or so i have made the following items..... for my best friend Lara who is giving birth as i write this (so exciting!) I have made a little denim bib which is bound with a light chambray, and a baby kimono from Weekend sewing by Heather Ross - in Chambray with bright orange binding and ties.

I have also made myself a green clutch bag - which is based on a pattern from the latest Burda World of Fashion magazine, having a few problems with figuring out a suitable closure for it though, I dont want everything falling out!

The favourite thing I have made so far is a lovely shirred sundress which I downloaded from the Weekend blog by Heather Ross, the Mendocino Sundress.

I plan on making a few more of these as tops for the summer, they are so easy to make and look so pretty!

Photos to follow soon, the camera is out of action at the moment....