The Lazy Daisy Dress

I am having somewhat of a wardrobe crisis at the moment.  I need more dresses. Weird I know, because I sew right? So I should have loads, but I have been making a lot of separates lately and recently I have found whenever I go somewhere I really want to wear a dress, and I only have a couple that I am happy wearing. Also, ever since I cut my hair short, I feel like wearing dresses every day.  So...let April be the month of the dress!!

This is Simplicity 2444 that I also made here.

I called this "lazy" as due to all the work I did last time on the fit, all I had to do this time was cut and sew, no fussing around with fitting!  I love that!!

The fabric is a textured cotton sateen bought from Chic Fabrics on last year's trip to NYC. It is reasonably thick and so didn't require lining.  As is pretty normal for me, I used bias binding to face the armholes and neckline. No special techniques on the make, just super straight forward, no fancy seams or hemming and all on the machine - see, told you it was lazy!

Easter has come and gone and so Summer is supposed to be officially over.  We are still getting pretty warm days so hopefully I can wear this a few more times before winter sets in.

Next on the agenda some trans-seasonal pieces and to finalise (read: make) what I am wearing to Sewcietea next weekend!!

I heart NYC

The fabric I purchased on my recent trip to NYC. Mika of Savory Stitches bought the same fabric and I have the end of the roll she didn't buy!  I am pretty sure she is making a winter top, it will be interesting seeing it made for different season! 

There was only one yard left - just enough to eek out this sleeveless top, pattern New Look 6026.

The fabric is silk and has gorgeous tiny hearts all over it - super cute!

Please excuse the wrinkles, I wore the top all day, I think the creases are from the seatbelt!!

I wasn't the biggest fan of this pattern, I made the mistake of following the instructions which to me have a very cumbersome way to put together the arm facings. It required you to put the main arm pieces on, then sew the facings at the outside seam, then to hand stitch the facing down at the same time as tidying up the neck edges.  (sorry for the poor explanation)  I didn't hand sew, I attached the facing down with a neat top stitch.

If I make it again I will construct it my own way.

I really like the version that has the frill on the shoulder, sadly I didn't have enough fabric.

It was about 30 degrees (celcius) today and this was comfortable and cool to wear.  The silk was lovely to sew and very cooperative. I used french seams throughout, mostly because I wasn't sure how my overlocker would cope with the fabric and I didn't want to risk it chewing the fabric.

Other projects I have in the pipeline include a Banksia top (one of 3 planned), a dress and some capris. Plus I just successfully dyed some fabric this week, more on that soon!

It was calling me...

Ok, I left the Garment District and the Meet-Up with this feeling that I didn't do the district justice and my full undivided attention, no offence to the lovely ladies that I met on Saturday, it's just that I felt there were several stores that I neglected and that I simply must return.  So on the Monday (as Sunday it is closed) I did just that.

Spandex World

So much lovely trim to adore

I am not sure how one approaches these many stores with any sense of logic, however I just went from store to store popping my head in to see if they were of interest.  Many of them were fancy dress fabrics for weddings, formals and the like, so not really to my interest.  There were loads of fabulous trim shops, but for these I think I would prefer to have a project in mind. 

 

I was seeking some basic fabrics to make my summer wardrobe. I found success at A& J Fabrics which had lots of good basic cottons, drills and denims.  My purchases were the below stretch drills that will be perfect to make shorts/capris.

Of course I had to head back to Mood, as I only spent about an hour and a half there previously as just needed more time!  I met the lovely Noel who looked after me.

I bought the following fabrics:

From left:  Dusky pink wool (ok this is for winter, but was so soft I couldn't resist), coordinating light floral cotton voile, taupe rayon print

This is enough fabric for me at the moment and I shouldn't have to buy anything now for ages.  I can now fully plan my summer wardrobe and will start sewing this week. Don't you just love fabulous new textiles?? 

Now I just need to start saving to return to NYC next year to make my purchases for my winter wardrobe....I wish.

NYC Meet Up

I was lucky to be in NYC last weekend and was able to attend the meetup arranged by Ginger of GingerMakes.  There were eight of us in all, Kerry from Kestrel Makes and Finds all the way from Scotland, Mika, Ginger, Cindy, Janice, Marina, Kelli and of course me from Australia.

We started off on 39th at Parons which has a fabulous array of fabrics ranging from simple cottons, to wools, sateens, silks.  Many of the fabrics here are ex-fashion houses of Europe and so there was some lovely tempting options.  I chose to start slowly and wait to see what other treasures arose, grass is always greener you know! 

We then headed to Chic Fabrics where the stack of fabrics was overwhelming, somewhere under this pile is their cutting counter:



Kerry and I perusing the many options (I bought some of the black daisy print in my hand).  BTW - this is my hastily made Hazel (will blog this soon), hmmm...nice bra strap, must fix that!


photo courtesy of GingerMakes

We then headed across the road to Gray Line Linen where I could not resist a red polka dot print linen, and for me a bargain at $9.50/yd, linen is expensive in Australia and we seldom see prints.

All this shopping made us hungry, so a yummy pizza lunch was next on the agenda.



Then it was off to the much acclaimed Mood Fabrics.  Did it live up to the hype?  For me, MOST DEFINITELY, it was like my own personal heaven!  This place was amazing, first of all, check out the range of zips:



The infamous Swatch

The top floor is mostly wool and cashmere, the middle floor dress fabrics, cottons, silks, jersey etc and the bottom floor home decor.  I was pretty overwhelmed by all the choices and found it really hard to restrain myself from buying everything that was pretty.

I managed to restrain myself and only bought a Marc Jacobs cotton print and a gorgeous floral silk jersey.

From left to right: Janice, Marina, Kelli, Cindy, Ginger, Mika, Kerry, me.

Loving the Marc Jacobs print, I hope I bought enough

My purchases for the day:


Clockwise from top left:  Marc Jacobs eyelet cotton, Floral silk jersey, polka dot linen, heart print silk rayon, daisy print cotton.

I had such a fabulous day, these girls were lovely and it was nice to talk fabric and sewing for several hours and not get any rolling of the eyes or general signs of boredom that I might get from my IRL friends.  I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else makes, being there for the fabric purchase makes me feel like I have been a part of the process!