Graduation Dress!

So today I had my graduation ceremony!! What a brilliant day!

And this is the dress I wore:

I was originally going to wear one I had spotted in Monsoon, but it wasn't really anything special or particularly well fitted. So I thought that since I had the time I'd make one. 



It's based on the Simplicity Project Runway pattern 2588. I really like it because it's smart but a bit different, particularly the sleeveless version which I opted for. I chose the fitted skirt rather than the bigger skirt because I thought it would be smarter for the occasion. 

It has been so comfortable to wear today and I've had a few compliments on it, which was lovely. I wore a thin black belt with it to highlight the waist of the dress. It also has pockets which came in very useful today! 



To anyone who is graduating soon here are two tips: safety pins and hair grips are essential! One to hold your gown in place, the other to keep the hat on your head!

Alterations

So I altered my first shop-bought item today! Two items in fact.

I've never altered anything I've bought before because I've been too scared of ruining it, but today I went for it. I tried on a maxi dress I have from Topshop this morning which has an elasticated back, but it was too big and was falling down a bit - really not ideal what with it being strapless! So I got the sewing machine out and took in the sides. It worked brilliantly and now my pretty maxi dress fits again! Although it does still need taking up (extremely rare for me at 5ft 10 - not sure who this dress actually fitted!) but that needed red thread finding and the sewing machine rethreaded...So that's for another day.

I also bought another top in Topshop the other day in a sort of flowery tapestry print. It was a couple of sizes too big but they had sold out on the internet and I really love it! So I bought it anyway because it looked easy enough to take in...and now I finally have! It's a much better fit now.

Next to do is take up my dress from Monsoon. This one's really nice, in a nice sort of berry colour and a flattering fit but it's a really awkward length, just below the knee. I'm just hoping this goes as well as my other alterations.

Almost Finished

I seem to have managed to end up with quite a few different projects on the go at once...oops. 

This is the one that is nearest finished though! 

Although it clearly needs to meet an iron...

It's made using the Lisette pattern K2246, which I got free with Sew magazine. It is the pattern for the larger sizes unfortunately, but I just made the seams bigger than I usually would and it is a pretty good fit so that didn't matter too much. 

I wanted a sleeveless dress so I haven't done either types of the sleeves and instead I'm going to finish the arm hole where they should have been attached. I started off doing this as a hem, folding it over twice. This didn't work very well though because it is curved, and so was bunching. I'm going to use bias tape instead because I've used it before for arm holes and it gave a really neat finish. 



I really want one of these! Then I can make my own binding tape in pretty fabric.



So spot the obvious thing that's missing from this dress...buttons! At the moment it would NOT be decent to wear! So the main reason that this dress is unfinished is because I need to learn how to put button holes in. I have a setting on my sewing machine that does them, so I just need to sit down and work out how to use it. I also need to buy some buttons. I'm torn between plain ones or maybe more quirky ones. Since it's such a plain dress at the moment I'm leaning towards cuter or quirky buttons. I saw some gold ones in the shape of dragonflies recently, which I quite liked.

It's not that far off being finished though, unlike some of my other sewing projects!

Dresses, Dresses and Dresses

It's not exactly a common hobby, but I love dressmaking. I enjoy actually making the dresses, but I also love the end product - a pretty dress that fits perfectly (most of the time!) and for far cheaper than you'd ever get on the highstreet. I love finding great material for a bargain price. I went into a lovely shop recently FULL of such pretty fabrics but didn't buy anything. There were no obvious prices anywhere and the Christmasy fabric cut offs in the 'bargain' bin were £8 per metre... To me that's just not the idea! I also try to always use patterns more than once to get the best value out of them, because they can be the most expensive element. I realise this is probably starting to sound fairly stingey, but to me the low cost is half the point and appeal.

I was recently doing the yearly brutal clear-out of my wardrobe and realised that half of it seems to be taken up with dresses I have made. Until now I hadn't ever really counted just how many I've made over the past couple of years. It's a lot!

So a run through of dresses I've made so far....




Firstly there's the ones I made using the Simplicity pattern 4119. I made 2 of these dresses - one for day and another for evening. 

I used different fabrics and shortened the dress for going out. I've worn the turquoise and gold dress a lot and really like the colour of it.

I've also made two dresses using the Cynthia Rowley pattern 2443. I love this one because it's a flattering fit and has pockets!

Another pattern I've used twice is Cynthia Rowley pattern 2250, which is one of my favourites. 

I've made one of these with the straps in a flowery fabric that's perfect for summer days, and another strapless one in plain blue.

I did make two dresses using the Lisette pattern 2209, but one didn't come out so well. I used a viscose fabric and I think I must have had it distorted when I cut the pieces out because it turned out uneven. It was such a pretty fabric too, such a shame. I'm going to turn it into a skirt though so it's not entirely wasted!

This is the one that came out well, although I think it needs taken in slightly at the side.

Then we get to the dresses I made my own patterns for. 

First is the dress with a gathered waist, 3/4 sleeves and a low back. I made two of these again, one for day and one for going out. The stripey dress looks much better with the skinny brown belt I wear round the waist with it. The purple and silver material was in a sale at a market and so was so cheap!

 Next we have two that are basically based on the same pattern but turned out very different.

For this red one I used a jersey material for the lining and lace over the top. I didn't attach the lining to the lace at the bottom which gives it a layered/tiered effect.

I have worn this stripey dress loads, and I've also made exactly the same one in green. It's a great day dress and again looks best with a skinny brown belt round the waist.

Finally we have all the skirts I've made. Again I made my own patterns for these.

I love this maxi skirt, but it does need taking in a bit now to sit as a higher-waisted one. I also made the crop top using my own pattern too. I want to make more of these for summer.

I made the left two of these skirts based on my own patterns using viscose materials. The one on the left is lined because while making it I realised the material was pretty transparent! I sewed the red ribbon round to highlight the waist and it fastens with a zip. The middle skirt has an elasticated waist and I love it. The one on the right is a skirt I actually bought, but it was sort of a puffball shape so I altered it and much prefer it now.

So that is pretty much the total of what I have made so far!