Cherry Blossoms in Autumn

Here's my latest dress in tribute to cherry blossom season in Japan. As the other side of the world gears up for Spring, there's a chill in the air here as we head into Autumn and the summer dresses get packed away. I'm desperately clinging onto the warmth of summer before I spend the next 6 months in jeans and jumpers. I know some people love the winter months - wrapping up in woollens, boots and coats but give me a pretty summer frock, blue skies and sunshine any day.

I bought this pretty cherry blossom print cotton on my last visit to Japan and paired it with New Look 6002. The pattern comes with 3 different bodice and waistband variations. I made View B with a plain waistband.

I had previously used View C for the bodice of my Flamingo Frankenpattern dress. Even though I had made this before I still did a toile as I wanted to make sure the skirt fitted properly and I was using a different view for the bodice. I sewed the size 10 and amazingly the only adjustment I had to make was a small tuck on each side of the back neckline to stop some gaping. I don't know if this has ever happened before but it's a cause for celebration as too many fitting issues does my head in - Hoorah!

The skirt has pleats at the front which I wasn't too sure about but it's actually quite flattering and it certainly makes it very comfortable to wear. The pattern has instructions for lining the bodice and waistband but I also lined the skirt. I love the scalloped neckline too and it was joy to sew as it just came together really easily.

Well, it may not be Spring here, and I may not be in Japan, but I can put on my cherry blossom dress and pretend!

Dolores Meets Delphine

Hi folks - life has been so hectic lately I've hardly had time to sew let alone blog, but last week-end I had a day off and I got stuck into some sewing and boy, did it feel good. I don't know about you but I get really grumpy when I can't sew.

Anyway, today I'm posting about two garments I made earlier this year - Zoe's fabulous Dolores Batwing pattern and the cute A-line Delphine skirt from Tilly's Love at First Stitch book.

This is my second Dolores top and I love it, it's so comfortable to wear and super easy to make. It was my first time working with such slippery fabric, a stretch polyester spandex in red with cute white bows that I picked up from Spotlight. It was a little fiddly to work with but it all came together and I'm very happy with the result.

My top actually started out as a Dolores dress but that fabric was clinging on for dear life to all the wrong places so I happily took scissors to hand and shortened it into a top, but that's OK 'cos it goes perfectly with my Delphine Skirt.

Firstly, I traced off the pattern from the book but that was pretty painless. I made a size 3 and reduced the waist slightly to make it sit a bit higher on the waist (it seems to sit quite low on all the photos I've seen). This pattern also came together really easily apart from my sewing machine not being too happy with the thickness of the denim but I got there in the end. It was a bit too plain for my liking so I added the red buttons to brighten it up and I'm loving it, I'll definitely be making more of these.

Two lovely indie patterns that are easy to sew and are great wardrobe basics - thanks Zoe and Tilly!

Mexican Hearts

I just can't seem to get enough of McCalls 6346 - I'm on peasant style overload now - but it's such a cute look and I've now got this pattern down to a fine art, I can practically make it in my sleep.

This time I made the dress using View A. I cut a size 8 grading to size 10 at the hips. For some reason the back was still a little big and I needed to take off 1.5cm from each side. I also made a small swayback adjustment which is fairly usual for me.

The bodice is made from a bright and bold Alexander Henry Corazone print cotton and I used a stretch drill in black for the skirt. I did need to take in the side seams of the skirt a little further and lengthen the darts to get it really fitted.

I'm pleased with the end result, I love the bodice fabric and think it works really well with the black skirt and even though I've made this pattern a few times now, each variation has it's own character and looks quite different.

For my previous takes on McCalls 6346 see my Crazy Cat Peasant Blouse and my Bandana Blouse. But that's it - peasants be gone - I'm going cold turkey on McCalls 6346 (for now, anyway!)

Bandana Blouse

Ah bandanas - remember them? I know they're still around but the eighties really was the bandana decade -  the perfect accessory for all that big hair!

Some wore it well, others not so (I'll let you be the judge of that)

Of course I tried to emulate some of my idols back in the day but my bandana wearing days are long gone - until now that is! The bandana has made a reappearance in my wardrobe only this time in the form of a blouse.

I used the same dress pattern (McCalls 6346) that I had adapted for my Crazy Cat Peasant Blouse.

I picked this fabric up in Tokyo last year. It came as 2 fat quarters, each with 2 squares of different designs. I used one design for the front and back.

I then made contrasting sleeves using the other design. I like the red flowers wrapping around the puffed sleeves.

This top is a really easy make, the shirring and elastic takes a bit of time but it's a great pattern and I do love a pretty peasant blouse.

Soundtrack: Down in Mexico by The Coasters ("he wears a red bandana, plays a blues pianna" - what a rhyme!)