Paisley frock - New Look 6942

Each christmas, I like to make a new frock to wear to my families knees-up, something bright and breezy with plenty of room to accommodate all the yummy food thats on offer.

This years dress is made using fabric bought through TradeMe in New Look 6942 which is yet another of my St Vinnies purchases.

Although I love this frock and it gets heaps of compliments, its the fabric that "makes it". I doubt I'll use the pattern again - the under bust seams fall in the wrong place for me, the side seams swing to the front at the hem, and the facings kept flapping open at the neckline (hence the beads - the only way I could think of to nicely hold it closed without unpicking). And to be honest, as I've got so many other unused patterns I like more than this one, I can't justify spending the time correcting it.

As the saying goes, “You win some, you lose some.”

Going dotty – Burda 7253 (shortened)

Haere Mai! Welcome to 2015!
Here in Wellington (actually, most of New Zealand) we've been blessed with the most glorious weather since the start of the new year. Hence, lots of time outdoors and not much at the sewing machine. However, I do have a bit of catching-up to do with things made between this post and the last.

First up is another summery top for work. The fabric was a last minute purchase at Fabric-a-Brac I wanted to spend every cent of the $50 I took, so offered the last $3.60 to the vendor for this piece, which they happily accepted. (BTW, bought loads of lovely fabric and quite a bit of thread for my $50.) I normally don't look twice at viscose but couldn't pass up the cheery print and colours.

I managed to squeeze a shortened Burda 7253 and a tie belt out of the teeny tiny scrap with a bit of difficulty. The grain was completely up the wop and no amount of tugging and steaming could get it straight; eventually I crossed my fingers and cut, hoping no one would ever notice it was off grain because of the crazy circles.

Eliminating the back seam and zipper made it was super speedy to put together, yet it still slips easily over my head without them. I'd nearly settled on a black button, before deciding to have one last look in a precious box of my grandmothers buttons, where I found three darling little clear glass buttons. Because the buttons are purely for decoration (there's no buttonhole) I stitched them close together to look sort of like a brooch. Lastly, after a couple of wears, I added fabric belt loops to hold the belt in place.

This is my favourite of the three tops I made recently. It works just as well with a skirt as it does with jeans. Plus, it used pretty much every inch of fabric = nothing left to add to the scrap bag. Don't you love it when that happens!