New job, new skirt...

I haven't posted anything for a while, so I thought it was about time I showed you what I've been up to!

I'm working on some cravats for my sister's wedding, although I don't have any photographs of those yet. I need a stylistic opinion from my sister before I can complete them. I have to say that they are quite possibly the fiddliest thing I have ever made, and I'm having to do them in stages so that they don't make me cross-eyed and drive me crazy. Still, I'm seeing my sister in a week's time, so as soon as she's seen how they'll fit together I can finish them off.

You may have gathered from the title of the post that I have a new job! As of Tuesday I'm going to be working with my partner, as a part-time web content manager. I'll still be working at the bookshop until my notice period is up, so I'm just about to embark on a very busy four weeks! If you don't hear from me, please don't panic. I'll be checking my journal and my email as often as I can, and I'll be able to catch up with everything properly at the beginning of September.

This is the skirt that I've made to wear on my first day at work:

I have a bet with Paul that nobody will even notice that it has Yoda all over it until at least lunchtime. He thinks all the geeks my new colleagues will notice straight away. We'll see... ;)

It's made from cotton flannel and fully lined, so it's not really a summer skirt. I'll be working in an air-conditioned office though, so I'm sure it'll be okay.

Star Wars Skirt!

This one's a commission for Madamequeeny - she saw the fabric on the website, and couldn't resist!

The print goes in all directions so it's inevitable that something's going to be upside down. I decided it was probably safest to make sure that Darth Vader was the right way up though!

Here is also a sneaky peek at one of the next projects I'm going to be making for myself. The Bambi duvet cover arrived this morning, and the printed front is backed with plain brown cotton. That makes it perfect for this dress with contrasting trim, I think.

Erin would be proud.

Rosealare's Toile...

I wouldn't normally show you the toiles that I make when I'm doing a dress for someone who I can't have fittings with in person. They're just plain, and not finished, so they don't look like anything much. They're an absolutely vital stage in the dressmaking process though, so I thought I'd show one to you for a change.

(Please excuse the photos. The viewfinder screen and the flash seem to be playing up now. Grr.)

The pattern is Butterick 5028, and the finished article is going to be made with Rosealare's knitting fabric!. It's Liberty cotton lawn, and it's gorgeously soft.

Rosealare has sent her measurements to me, and I've made the toile in the closest pattern size, with a few minor alterations such as raising the V at the back so that her bra strap doesn't show. The dark stitching around the neck, hem and armholes is to show where the finished edges of the garments will be. This gives a better feel for the fit of the shoulders and the neckline.

The next stage is for me to post the toile to Rosealare, and then she can try it on and tell me all the different ways that it doesn't fit! This is the scary part, as the customer needs to believe that the finished garment really will fit perfectly, and that the whole point of the toile is to make the necessary changes so that can happen. It's very easy to be demoralised when you try on a toile which doesn't fit, and panic that everything's going to be horrible. This is why I don't enjoy doing postal fittings very much - it's difficult to reassure someone when you're a long distance apart, and can't just pop in a pin and show them the difference in a mirror straight away.

Usually the toile needs to go back and forth between us a couple of times, until the fit is absolutely spot on. At that point I will take my scissors to the final fabric, and be sure that the finished article will fit properly.

There's a postal strike on at the moment, so I'm not sure how long it'll take for Rosealare and I to go back and forth with the postal stages of the project. I can't wait to get the fiddly fitting bits done though, and show you the finished knitting dress!

Camouflaged Elephants and Summer Goth

I was very sad when I put the elephant dress on Ebay. I keep making these lovely dresses, imagining I am the sort of person who can waft about in them, but I work in a bookshop and at a sewing machine, and enormous dresses just get in the way. Also, I am not very ladylike, and I am forever fiddling with hems and petticoats, and dresses generally make me feel very uncomfortable.

I liked the idea of the elephants hiding behind the camouflage, and I really like the split front design of that dress, so I decided to use the leftover fabric to make a variant on my elasticated skirt pattern.

When there's someone slightly more rounded than my mannequin inside the skirt, the split front hangs straight and you can see the elephants in the middle. The two layers are joined at the side seams.

(I really need a new camera. I've put new batteries in this one, and it still keeps refusing to focus properly and switching itself off at random. Grrr.)

Can there be such a thing as casual summer goth?

Rainbowskye asked me to make her another long black crushed velvet skirt, but I didn't have any crushed velvet hiding away in the stash. What I did find though was enough black velour to make yet another simple elasticated skirt.



I have a little black velvet strappy top which will go perfectly with this for the summer, and the lace makes it almost smart enough to wear to parties. :)

More Space...

Remember the space bolero?

Now it has a matching skirt.

The waistband is bomber-jacket elastic, simply zig-zagged to the top of the skirt. The hem is bound, partly because I wanted it to match the bolero and partly because I couldn't find any other form of navy trimming which was actually nice.

I like elasticated waistbands, because my waist size varies by up to four inches depending on my health (long story), and this way I know that I'll be able to wear it whenever I like.

The Turtle Dress is Finished!

Yes, the turtle dress is done, and even after a trip through the wash, my hands are still blue from working with it all morning. This one's going to have to be washed on its own for a while I think - this is quite common with over dyed batik fabrics.

The dress is pinned in quite a lot on my dress form, but you can see the lovely shape of the princess seams, and the fullness of the skirt.

You can also see the octopus buttons - aren't they cute?

This dress is going for a trip to Canada, and I have been promised photographs of the turtles enjoying the mountain views!

Oh no, not another one!

This is my fifth completed version of Butterick B4790.

The fabric is Katie Jump Rope, bought from Cia's Palette.
I live in the UK, and I've found it surprisingly easy to buy fabric from the US. It costs $11 shipping for 6 yards of fabric in a flat rate envelope, which by a fabulous coincidence is just enough to make one of these dresses with a little bit left over. :)

Here's the finished article...

...and here's the work in progess.

1) 2)


1) The recipient of this dress has diabetes, and she wears an insulin pump. For her convenience, I've added a little pocket to the inside of the dress, for the pump to sit in.
(Yes, this photo was taken before I'd ironed the dress!)

2) These pretty floral buttons came from John lewis.
The button on the back of the dress is a four-hole white one, which came from the depths of my inherited button tins.