Final bridesmaid dress

Sorry for the long absence - I have emerged from under a pile of packing boxes to show you my finished dress.  I am moving into temporary serviced apartments on Friday and then head off to the UK on Wednesday for 2 weeks so I will post pictures of the dresses being worn when I get back and do full reviews on all the patterns.  

I am missing sewing, but everything is packed up now so I have been trying to keep up with all your blogs instead - it gives me my sewing fix even though I have not had much time to add any intelligent (or unintelligent, like usual, for that matter) comments.  I'll be in the serviced apartments for 2-3 months while the new place is being renovated and I am taking some sewing stuff with me.  It was hard deciding what to take, in the end I've packed my machine, serger, a selection of summery fabrics, this years BWOF's and essential notions - we'll see how I do.

Scarily small pile

Anyway you don't want to hear all that, you want to see a dress right?  

Close up of the hem treatment.  

This took ages just pinning everything on the dressform and then stitching the pleats in place.  I experimented with gathering, like the childrens dresses but the effect was too girly, I am happy with how it turned out.  

Now I just have to make sure that 2 weeks staying with my dad and his cheese toastie maker won't make the dress magically shrink!  

Bridesmaid dress progress

Well our visitors have left and my sewing room is almost back to normal, although my husband is back to working 18 hour days, I'm slowly clearing the apartment in preparation for our move and it feels very empty - I really miss our guests, we had a lot of fun with them. But there is still lots to do on the dresses to keep me busy. The remaining ones are almost there. Here is the baby's dress, which just needs hemming and a bit of hand finishing inside.

And here is my dress which needs the sash hand sewn onto the bodice and a hem, which will be similar to the 3 year olds so the dress will be cocktail length when it's done.

Did anyone see the new offerings from Vogue, it's rare this happens to me these days but I simply have to get this dress pattern.

This one, er maybe not......

Bridesmaid Dress #1 - Simplicity 3943

Thank you everyone for your advice on sewing for children - I had no idea how much I didn't know!  I was really worried that the dress was going to be too big and now it's finished it looks tiny!  But I have used all of your advice and flat measured the pattern, added deep hems and decent size seam allowances.

The only changes I may make if I have the time are to add a net ruffle to the underside of the long skirt to help it keep it's shape (this is in the pattern, but there seemed to be so much fabric on such a tiny waist that I left it off) and change the back ties from double layer to single layer fabric so that it's easier to tie a decent bow (again the pattern has single fabric, but of course I thought I knew better and that a double layer would be neater).

Anyway here it is, hard to take decent pictures just on a hanger, but you can see the idea.  2 to go.....

Bridesmaid Frocks

Here's what I am working on - not much to show you yet, but it's a big project with a fast approaching deadline and I need some accountability!

My very close friend in the UK is getting married at the beginning of May and asked me to be a bridesmaid. I offered to make my dress and the dresses for her baby daughter (yes she is doing things backwards!) and her 3 year old niece-in-law-to-be. Since then we have been emailing pattern ideas and mailing swatches of fabric back and forth across the oceans, made all our decisions and I figured I had plenty of time. I suddenly realised that we have visitors coming to stay for 10 days at the end of this month, then we are moving into a small serviced apartment mid April while the new place gets renovated and I have booked a flight to go back to the UK a week ahead of the wedding and actually I have very little time left.

Last night I made a decent start on my dress and I expect a few late nights ahead! Here are the plans, more details will follow soon;

My dress - a shortened, modified hem version of Vogue 2134 (now OOP) which I have sensibly made before

Baby dress, McCall's 5791

Niece dress, Simplicity 3943

Finding the girls' patterns was such fun. I have never made kids clothes before, does anyone know if the sizing is generally reliable or is it safest to do the whole flat pattern measuring thing?

The bride is wearing a lovely long ruby coloured strapless dress (no point trying to kid anyone wearing white lets face it) and has chosen a gold silk dupioni for the bridesmaid dresses, with ruby sashes for the girls - I will decide later whether to add anything to mine. You can see the fabric draped on my dressform here. I expect I will be heartily sick of it by the time these dresses are finished but right now I love it.

Expect regular progress reports or please give me a kick in the rear will you?

And last but most definitely not least a big thank you to my fellow BWOF addict, Sigrid who nominated me for the latest blog sisterhood award. Thank you! I need all my fabulous sewing sisters to keep me inspired!

Olive Outfit Over!

Firstly, the pattern giveaway results, nice and easy, only the Barbie patterns had 2 takers and there are two patterns so I will just split them - that way everyone gets something.  So, Sharon, Mel J, Cass H, Kathy and Cindy, please e mail me your mailing addresses to alchurchman AT gmail DOT com.

Here is the finished printed skirt I made to go with the olive BWOF top.  I started with a TNT a line skirt pattern - BWOF 03/2008 105 and made some modifications to suit the fabric.  As I was using a border print I eliminated the front panel seams (replacing them with darts in exactly the same way described by Summerset in her post of 2nd March) and I straightened the skirt a bit so I could match the straight border.  The skirt is lined with the same fabric I used for the top and I put the invisible zip in the stronger lining layer and handstitched the sheer fabric to the lining layer right next to the zipper.  I cut the lining shorter than the sheer layer - I like the effect and I knew there was no way I would be able to get both hems exactly the same length anyway! 

Skirt front

Skirt back

Me in the olive outfit!