Danger, frou frou, danger!

 

These biscuits, despite what it says on the packet, do not make you thin. False advertising people. Watch out.

Oh, be still my beating frou frou

The vintage gods are smiling on me today. I got the most wonderful parcel from my mum and it had this 1950s fabric from nana in it:

I'm in love! I'm not sure if it's clear in the photo, but this is linen which is heavily embroidered with a divine silver/white thread. I can't even imagine how much this would cost to buy now...

But, most importantly, my nana gave it to me because she knows that I'll love it and treasure it.

She bought it intending to make a coat from it. I think that's what I'll do with it too. I'm dreaming of a cropped and fitted jacket with a 50s feel. Ooo, and I'll have to track down a divine lining. Ooo, and I'll have to learn how to make proper, handmade buttonholes. And the buttons I'll have to find, drool...

It might be a long time coming though. I'll wait until I have a new machine and I might even take in a class or two first so there isn't a repeat of the sack dress.

Actually, I'm starting to picture myself in a deep, dark cave, clinging to the material and whispering to it "my preeeeeecious, we loves you my preeeeeeeeeecious".

Baby frou frou deliciousness

 

Much like a builder's house is never finished, a children's clothesmaker's kid never has clothes made for them... or so it is in my house.

I started making the hoodies for Remy originally, but, many, many hoodies later, this is only his second one.

 

Jules, the most frou frou man in the world.

Yay! My darling Jules has a new job! Sighs of relief and exclamations of joy all around.

To celebrate, I cooked him one of his favourites: cheese souffle:


And for dessert, double chocolate muffins:


BTW, this is Jules' serving - as it's his special day, he got to have as much icecream as he wanted...

It's the end of the road for the vintage and not so frou frou dress...

The end has come for the sack dress. I tried it on for a second time, took photos, recoiled in horror when viewing said photos, and decided that that was it; I can't make this dress. (I had originally planned on posting the photos, but I just can't. Vanity and sanity have prevailed.).

It would be too easy for me to give up on the vintage patterns, so I refuse to! This is going to be my next attempt:

Yes, I agree, very ambitious of me, but I'm going to do it anyway. More to follow!

My frou frou has been stolen!

The sack dress, as I rather unaffectionately call it, has sucked up and spat out my sewing mojo.

Remy has needed a good sunhat for ages and I tried to make one today but, hummph, it looks horrid so far (Jules doesn't agree; he thinks it's cute. Mind you, he generally does have very good taste...). I'll finish it tomorrow anyway because I can't bear to have another unfinished thing sitting in my sewing room. Luckily, we had already bought a sunhat from the lovely Lies over at Anemone, and we'll get it sometime this week, yay!

I've attempted to fix the sack dress and I'm some of the way there. So far I've removed the extra 4 inches of width I added to make it big enough for me (strange how my measurements were significantly different to the pattern, yet the altered size was waaaaaaaay too big... any idea why from those other sewers out there?), added darts under the bust, removed some length from the back, and I've given the 'bib' a lower neckline because the high neckline makes me look shorter and kind of like I'm entirely made of boob.

I just have to figure out how to make the back fit me properly. It's still wrinkly around the small of my back. I might have to do some more research on what to do.

I've been toying with the idea that if I have to change the pattern so much to suit me and fit me, then maybe I'd be better to choose a different pattern. I really don't want to touch that vintage fabric until I'm confident that I'm going to make something fab.

My first vintage and very frou frou dress ever

Like a lot of crafty creative types, I've been crafting (sewing, knitting, painting, beading... a huge variety of things) since I was a tiny dot. I remember making tiny, knitted jumpers for barbie dolls, clothes for me, and things for my parents like this pot holder:

(What happened with those lines of stitching at the top? Did I run out of wool and just couldn't be bothered getting more to finish the last line? Or was I trying to get as much out of one piece of wool as I could, so it's actually an achievement that it stretched as far as it did?).

I also have a whole heap of creative bods in my family, some of whom make a living from it, others who do it for fun. Not many of us have had formal training.

I have learnt practically all I know from my mother and my nana (my father's mother), and I've learnt a lot from trying stuff out for myself.

Before Christmas, I was sewing madly for van Rose, my clothes business, and decided to reward myself after the Christmas rush with some clothes for myself. I was given a heap of stunning vintage patterns by my nana. I've chosen this one to start:

In the past I've been gung ho in my approach to clothes for myself, and more often than not it hasn't really paid off with dresses. I think being short (I'm about 5 ft 2) makes a huge difference when making dresses whether I want it to or not!

I've found some delicious vintage material (the spotty one) and some new quilting cotton for this dress, so this time I can't afford to mess up.


I've also been exploring the interwebs of late and have discovered a treasure trove of sewing sites and blogs, so I've picked up ideas that I think will improve my dress. One of the ideas is to make a 'muslin' - a kind of practice dress - to figure out any changes that need to be made before starting on the good fabric. Genius!

I picked up about 10 metres of material ages ago from the Super Secret Secondhand Shop for next to nothing but only decided recently that I don't like it. Ta da! Material to make my muslin.

The measurements on the pattern are too small for me by about 4 inches in the bust, waist and hips, so I added about that amount in the middle of the front and back pieces before I cut out the material.

This is the making of the front:



I think in the final dress I'd like to line the 'bib' on the back. I like clothes to be 'closed units' - I'm not big on being able to see the workings.

I whipped up the back (pretty standard - gap for a zip and two long darts to shape the small of the back) and tried on the dress:


Eek! I've created a massive SACK.

More to follow on how I resolve this, um, BIG problem. When I figure out how to that is.