Frocktober dress

 

It's Frocktober - a great excuse to make and wear pretty frocks (dresses) all in the name of a great cause. I've been so busy with life in general that I've only just realized that it's Frocktober and that there's 13 days left in October to sew up my Frocktober dress. 1970s Style 3321 is my pattern of choice. I've chosen this style for 2 reasons: a) it's a relatively straight forward pattern (no difficult or complicated issues to deal with) and b) I can wear it again to the Auckland Retro Fair in early November. I've been through the fabric stash and found 2 possibilities. Decisions, decisions!

 

Anway Mr B's shirt will have to wait a bit while I get the Frocktober dress underway. A little bit of selfish sewing always soothes my sewing soul.

modern vintage frocks

I'd been thinking about making myself a couple of modern vintage styled frocks. Then I came across these 2 patterns at the Spotlight sale. Finally I'm on my way to doing some happy personal sewing!

divine dresses

I've just discovered Eley Kishimoto dresses (featured in NZ Herald Viva 10/11/2010). They're stocked here in New Zealand at the Children of Vision boutique in Karangahape Road, Auckland. I love the idea of dresses in bold prints and this London based label is well known for it's lavish use of pattern and colour. My favourite is this geometric chevron print dress (pictured) in a bold red and white silk with black yoke and sleeves. A very bold contrast statement indeed! At $665, this dress is set to challenge my dress allowance so I'm going to have to consider making an inspired version of my own. The best thing about this style dress is that it still looks good with a cardi when it gets cooler and can be worn as a tunic too.

the 'undie cover' nightie

I had to take a break from my caftan sewing as the slippery, slidey chiffon was wearing my sewing nerves thin. So I thought I'd make something fun instead and digging through the fabric collection I came across this cotton voile print. I can't honestly remember buying it and I obviously didn't look too closely at the print. Let's face it, where would one wear such a fabric? In a moment of inspiration I thought I'd make a long length nightie. I've nickednamed this the "undie cover nightie" in honour of the undergarments printed on the fabric.

trapeze dress done twice

with warm weather in mind, I made these 2 trapeze dresses today using New Look 6700 and two very bright, colourful poly cotton prints from my fabric pile. These dresses were completed in just one afternoon of sewing (from start to finish). Luckily I read the reviews of this pattern first before sewing, as there's a ridiculous amount of ease allowance with this pattern. I cut two dress sizes down without compromising the dress style. I'm still undecided about the drawstring ribbon and bow - reminds me a little bit of vintage nighties. Still it was an uncomplicated, fun sew! 

border print dress

it took just over 2 hours to make this dress yesterday and I'm really pleased that it's finished. I realised as soon as I had it laid out to cut, that this fabric was going to give me problems. The design was printed uneven and wobbley (I hadn't noticed this when I bought it) so it was a challenge to even line up the border print at the bottom. You can see that I sacrificed the design symmetry at the neckline to keep the lower part of the dress looking somewhat even.  Got there in the end and I'm very happy with the result. It's my version of the muu muu dress although it's 3/4s in length and not very full. Just perfect for tropical weather!