Purple Japanese Rooibos

I actually finished this dress in December but I'm only just getting around to posting about it now. I seem to be on a Colette roll at the moment. This is my first Rooibos and I used a purple Japanese print cotton that I bought in Tokyo a few years ago.

I cut a size 4 but had to take it in quite a lot - it's not nearly as fitted as the website photo would have you believe. I also had a go at doing a full bust adjustment for the first time. Luckily the Colette website has a Rooibos sewalong which includes instructions on how to do this and it worked! Woohoo!

I really like the contrasting collar detail and I think I've ended up with a cute little shift dress. The fit is a little boxier than I would ideally like but now they I've put in the zip I don't see how I can take it in any further.

I also made it quite a bit shorter which luckily was my intention as that's all I had enough fabric for!

This is my third Colette pattern and so far I've been really pleased with all of them, the instructions are easy to follow and I really like their designs. I wonder which one I'll try next?

Ahoy there, Julia!

Huge credit goes to Julia Bobbin who totally inspired me to make this dress, I've always loved her version of Colette's Parfait and when I found this fabric on my trip to Goldhawk Road last year I knew I'd found the perfect pairing. I love the way Julia played with the stripe directions and so I just had to have a go myself.

I made a toile first and hurrah! - size 4, straight out of the box - no fitting changes, which was a huge relief given that it took an age to cut the fabric out so I could get the stripe placement just right. Thankfully I had just enough fabric apart from the facings so I just used some plain white cotton for those instead.

Now, if you try this at home bear in mind that cutting some of the skirt pieces on the bias resulted in it being too big when I came to attach it to the bodice. It was an easy fix but something which I hadn't expected.

The only other modifications I made were shortening the length a few cms and shortening the straps slightly. I also tapered in the side seams a bit so it wasn't so flared. I only sewed one button on the straps and instead of the second button, I just sewed a few stitches to keep it in place. I figured I wouldn't be using the straps to do it up anyway so this would keep it nice and secure (without the extra work!)

This is my first Parfait - yes, I know, I'm so late to the party that this pattern is almost vintage by now! But so what, it's such a cute summer dress that it was worth the wait. I love the button details and the cute little pockets. The bodice gathering is really sweet too and overall it's a really nice, flattering cut.

Thanks for the inspiration, Julia! 

Tutti Frutti Ceylon

My first Colette pattern sewing experience. Yes, I'm rather slow to the party but better late than never.  I've been wanting to sew this for ages but I was waiting for the right fabric to come along and it was worth the wait. I picked up this strawberry and cherry 1930's print cotton in Tokyo and I absolutely love it.

This is a lovely pattern and came together more easily than I expected. I think all the pieces scared me off a bit at first and all those buttons! I went for smaller ones than suggested and also added an extra one at the top to balance it out a bit more.

I cut a size 4 bodice, tapered the midriff to a size 6 at the hips and cut a size 6 skirt.  The skirt was still a little wide for me so I took it in further at the sides quite a bit and also shortened the length.

I thought the full sleeves would swamp my small frame so I used the capped sleeves from New Look 6069 and finished the underarm with bias binding. Lauren from Lladybird has a great tutorial for this - thanks Lauren!

My muslin showed that the back bodice was way too big so I had to make a 4cm swayback adjustment.
Thanks to the Colette Handbook for instructions on how to do this.

And now for another "hands on hips" pose

Can't wait to make up my next Colette pattern - I've a few to catch up on!

Soundtrack: Tutti Frutti - Little Richard