Japanese Fabric Dress Pattern Hack

God that titles a bit ropey isn't it? But to explain, the dress is a heavily hacked Tilly and the Buttons Lilou bodice, and by heavily hacked I mean heavily!

As you can see I took the bodice and tried to wrangle it into being a tie front. Its not a bad job but I did have visions of me looking a bit more buxom in it. Boobs squished together that sort of thing. 

But I think for maximum boob squish The knot would have to be a bit lower. 

Ideally I would have made a toile but what can I say I'm not that kind of girl so instead it judge that the knot would need to be in the *ahem* nipple region to preserve my modesty best. So I put the knot in line with the bust dart because that points the the *ahem* nipple region anyway. 

Naturally because of the knot I do have to go bra less. Which is a bit of a nightmare. I did buy some of those sticky boob things but they are a bit of a pain to get on and for some reason I always end up with wonky boobs. 

* for those who haven't heard of sticky boob things, it a thing shaped a bit like a rabbit and you stick The bottom bit to your boob and then hoist it up and stick the top bit to your chest. The theory is you can wear strapless and backless and still have perky bosoms BUT I think they are designed for a slightly smaller bust and I wouldn't recoomend them for anyone over a B cup. Plus peeling sticky stuff off your boobs is the next level of hell as far as I'm concerned*

The fabric was a gift from my friend and ex work colleague Lewis. OMG that boy was an absolute babe! He used to really brighten my shifts at work and we always had a good chat. To the point where we ended up having to work on separate ends of the shop. And then he left.........traitor. 

Anyway he went to Japan on holiday and was kind enough to bring this back for me. He thought I'd like the colours and the print and I thought he'd like the bow front because its a bit saucy.

The skirt is a lovely full gathered one and makes me feel a bit like a princess. Its really wrinkled in the picture above because aside from Lil dude school stuff I've sort of given up on ironing. 

All in all I do really like it. And it will be nice for the warmer weather we are having. Even if no one else is going to see it. 

So in other news!

- We are still on lockdown....... So yeah. Again I've been trying to keep busy. Its nice spending so much time with lil dude but he's gone to his Dads for a week now and I'm worried that I'll fall into a pit of despair. God that's a bit dramatic isn't it? But in all seriousness having him here has been keeping me sane and giving me something to focus on.

- But John [my lovely boyfriend] and my Mum have been brain storming ideas on how to keep me busy and I have a pile of sewing projects to be getting on with. Its nice to have people who really care about you. My sister and her husband have also suggested we have a video chat Harry Potter quiz at some point so I'm looking forward to that.

- I'm getting on nicely with my knitted blanket and I've started the decreases.

- Dinnerladies is on netflix and I'm chuffed to bits because I love Victoria Wood. 

So yeah that's about it really. I hope your all keeping safe and I hope my blog posts are giving you a bit of light relief from the news. Even if 80% of this one was me talking about boobs. 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

African Wax Print Dress

Hey hows things?

I've managed to sneak a quick half hours blogging mainly down to some kind people letting us have access to their disney+ account (you guys know who you are and i bloody love you)

Which is a very welcome break, yesterday little man needed to be constantly occupied and was feeling very frustrated with whats going on. Technically its the Easter holidays which would typically mean lots of fun days out and seeing his cousins. But at the minute its just a lot of playing in the garden and trying to find things to keep him happy.

But onto the dress. I'm going to apologise in advance for the fact my feet are in these pictures. As i have previously mentioned my Dad took my most recent set of pictures and opted to tell me I should have worn shoes AFTER we had done every single outfit. And to be honest he didn't look like he had the strength to re shoot all the outfits again.

The fabric is a BEAUTIFUL african wax print cotton that my pen friend Jeanette sent me after me and my ex split up in an effort to cheer me up. Its a beautiful thick cotton that presses nicely and drapes beautifully. 

I actually think its one of the most beautiful cottons I've ever seen.

Being a wax print cotton meant that cutting out was a logistical nightmare, but this girl loves a challenge. I chose simplicity K1418 as the pattern because its a princess seamed bodice and I feel like that gives me a bit more control of where the pattern ends up on my bust. For example I knew I wanted the fan detail front and centre and that I wanted the keep the pattern central on the front of the skirt as well.

The skirt is just gathered which I find works nicely for border prints because you don't have to worry about curves extra. 

Length wise I left it a bit longer than normal because I've been going without tights in the summer. Which is a pretty big deal for me as a I hate my legs. I did worry it might be a bit too long but I wear it constantly so I think it might be just right!!!!

In fact I've worn it that much that I've had to do repair jobs on both of the straps!!! 

The bodice is lined with a plain yellow cotton so the inside is nice and clean and the zip is one of my better attempts. 

I even did my best to mirror the pattern on the back as well. 

As a quick thing, I don't tend to go for traditional pattern matching where the print is seamless through a seam because well who has the time? [apart from well everyone right now......] 

Instead I tend to go for the more laid back, lets how the pattern is mirrored or a least lines up sort of vibe.

In other news......

- well lock down is still happening so that's a thing......

- lil dude is still doing a combination of school work and fun stuff, today he wrote part of his story for school, wrote a song and identified some gemstones I had ordered online.

- I've been re reading the Harry Potter series and I'm currently on the Order of the Phoenix. Something about reading a book I enjoyed so much as a child is making me feel very relaxed during these different times. I had forgotten how wonderful it can be to fall back into the world of Harry Potter. Its like a warm hug or greeting an old friend. 

- I picked some flowers from our garden and have them on the window sill and they are making me smile every time I see them. Fresh flowers are one of my weaknesses.

- Sewing wise I haven't got much done. But lil dude goes to his dads for the second half of the Easter holidays next week so I'm envisioning a lot of free time on my hands and I'm hoping that sewing will save my sanity. And hopefully stop me pining for little dude too much.

- I have been knitting quite a bit though, mainly the mindless kind that I can just pick up and put down without too much bother.

This last photo is one of my dads best, He had asked me if this dress had pockets and I said no and this was the face I pulled which obviously he had to immortalise! FYI I do wish I had put pockets in!!!!!!

Much Love

Stay safe guys!!!

Frankie 

xxxxxx