First dress of 2013

That self drafted loose top just won't go away and now I have a new feature for it with...

... THE ENCASED ELASTIC!!!

Lol I'm so happy with this little detail, I used to wear belts with this kind of dresses but the skirt  would go up while I walked and the belted part would be super hot and rather uncomfortable in summer whereas my elastic keeps everything in place and it's like I'm not even feeling it's there :)

The fabric is quilting cotton given to me by my mama for Christmas, it's a much darker shade of purple in reality and I adore its irregular lines print. I put a slit and orange button at the back because I wanted to and that's that.

 

Burda peplum top at last!

Always the trendsetter I'm finally making THAT peplum top you've seen everywhere for the last 4 months or so! Except that I couldn't be bothered to trace all the pieces -don't ask me why- and therefore used sleeves from another project and drafted a half circle skirt for the peplum.

I must say this design is really lovely, for once I have absolutely nothing to reproach it with. I chose simple black cotton, there's a handpicked zipper at the back and I put some daisy embellishment around the neckline, sleeves' hem and peplum hem:

Since the daisies were plain white I had to stitch a yellow bead in the centre of each flower to make them pop and give them that sweet 60's vibe :) I'd love to make another top with this design, maybe something striped but I'm worried about the peplum part, would the stripes look okay on a half circle? Also I wanted to make the dress version out of some flowery crepe chirimen but the yardage was too narrow, I would have needed a wider fabric to accomodate a 55cm long half circle skirt :( yes, my life is hard like that!
I also wanted to show you a dress I made for my bff last week, I only had 2 working days to draft it, adjust it, trace it and sew it AND it's lined AND it has facings (I hate theeeeeem) so pheeew, I was happy to see the result^^:

Sorry to some lovely readers who commented on my previous project, the romantic Japanese dress, I mistakenly erased your comments but they were much appreciated, thanks!

Romantic Japanese dress

It's a mix of T and Y from the first Stylish dress book, I made a size 9 with size 11 armholes and sleeves and I added ties on the sides -basically it's a longer version of my Halloween top. The fabric is this adorable cotton bought at Nomura Tailor again and I used plain black cotton for the front yokes and the ties. Be warned that I've topped myself with the lame pics, but I've just had a bout of terrible allergy and I have Rudolph the Reindeer nose so there was no way I'd show my face from such a close distance:

 I'm not hiding in shame of the infinite number of silly stuff that litter my living room, no!

Yup those nosy workers are still opposite my house so backyard it is.

 Awww that fabric is adorable, don't you wish you were under that umbrella^^?

Summer shorts

A quick, gratifying project to fight the heat, some simple Pochée shorts made with textured cotton fabric bought at Nomura Tailor. The print is awesome of course, with black, navy, pink and red flowers on an off white background, the waist is elasticized and I used red bias tape for the hem.

Pic edited -ie my feet have disappeared- because my cat was eating some poor lizard right in the middle of my photoshoot, the nerve!

Favorite shirtdress ever!

Hum, did I really need ANOTHER dress? And more importantly did I really need another dress out of black background and bright print fabric? Well, yes I did^^ You see I only had one sleeveless shirtdress and I made it last December so it was high time I had a new one! I used this Burda shirt for the bodice part and added a simple dirndl skirt. I worked on the cross grain of the fabric because the print looked better this way and the dress closes in the front with 3 metal buttons from a previous project and some discreet snaps on the skirt part.

Lol sorry for these utterly beautiful backgrounds but there's a construction site right opposite my house at the moment and it's full of nasty "workers" who won't mind their own business and work but spend their time spying on people so I have to take pics in the backyard where I got bitten by an army of enraged mosquitoes BTW :(

Multiple (fashion) personalities disorder

I obviously suffer from this condition since the garments I sew can vary so much from one day to the other! For the past 4 months I've been making and wearing:
- loose tops/dresses with a childish quality
- classic retro dresses with tiny bodices and full skirts
- rather modernish jackets with too cool tees, jeans and big golden jewellery
- and now I'm into gypsy maxi skirts/dresses!
I made this yesterday, it took me 1 hour because it's a simple A-line design with elasticized waist:

The fabric is super soft cotton baptiste with a dark exotic print, I have enough left to try a simple tank top to turn the skirt into a dress. Also I realize that I should really get rid of that -once- black top, I bought it when I was 17 and it's been through all possible weight variations and washing machines and as a revenge I guess it's decided to show the world my boobies and fat rolls^^ whyyyyyyyyyy

Polka dot dress with scallops

So basically I made something scalloped 10,000 years after everyone, who knows I may try a peter pan collar in 2015^^ I used my usual loose kimono sleeved design, I lengthened it and made a scalloped hem to give the dress extra cuteness.

I sewed it to go to what was supposed to be some friends' wedding announcement, my bff and I were super excited because we would finally be able to wear super glamour cocktail dresses, drink our a**** off and eat WEDDING CAKE but said friends invited their families and closest pals just to celebrate renovating their house decoration. Lol can you imagine the disappointment on our faces when we understood^^