Striped Dress

One day I'll stop posting princess seam dresses made using the pattern form the GBSB book. But today is not that day.

I know I know, at this point I'm even boring myself! But seriously how CUTE is this dress!

So yes the pattern is the princess seam bodice and box pleat skirt from the second GBSB book, but as per usual I've added a waistband in.

You can find this dress in other fabrics here, here, here.

It all started with this striped cotton that I was given by the lady at the car boot. At a guess I'd say there was about a metre and a half? If that? I had to do some proper tetris cutting to get all of the pieces out of it. 

The waistband is some mesh type fabric that the lady also gave me, I made sure to press the seam allowances on the skirt and bodice away from the mesh as its slightly see through. The neck and armholes are faced and then top stitched in place. The zip is recycled from one of lil mans old hoodies but it does means I have to put the dress over my head rather than step into it.

There was no way I was going to be able to match my seams due to the shortage of fabric so I just did my best to keep the lines straight. 

It was a super quick make I think it maybe took an evening? I even hemmed it by machine to save time, I did opt to use one of the fancy looking stitches on my machine though instead of using a plain straight stitch and I've got to say I quite like the effect.

All in all I love this dress! Its super cute and flirty for the summer, although I do wonder if its a bit short? I wore it to my mums over me made may and she mentioned that she could see my bum at one point and not to bend at the waist when putting Lil man in his car seat. Looking at these pictures it doesn't look too short? So maybe I just need to be more ladylike in general???

in other news!!

: good god its hot! I spent more of the day with a rather attractive pink sweaty tinge to my face!

: My sister sent me a copy of "the handmaidens tale" by Margret Attwood! Basically since the series started on channel four me and my sister have been having weekly discussions about the episodes and stuff [we even tweeted Attwood to ask a question but she didn't reply :( ], anyways I had asked to borrow her copy of the book when she had finished re reading it and well she only went and got me one of my own! I've already started reading it and have brought a stack on post its so I can make notes! Shes my favourite person to discuss books with and its like sitting in my English lit classes all over again! 

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

P.S Happy Fathers day to all the days out there! The biological ones, the step ones, the adopted ones and the mums who are doing the jobs of fathers! 

xx 

The £2.25 Dress

The titles a lie actually. I brought 3m of this fabric for £2.25 but I've only used a metre and a halfish so technically the dress cost even less!

The fabric came from abakhans just after Christmas, when I spent a blissful morning wandering around by myself spending my Christmas money and generally basking in the glory of having 5 minutes to myself! It was on the sale rail for a whopping 75p a metre so I brought 3 with the intention of making a maxi dress for an up and coming wedding in Spain [I actually wish I'd brought more but at the time I couldn't decide if it was really fricking hideous or absolutely fabulous!]Anyway lo and behold they changed the date of the wedding and Rikki's work wouldn't change his holidays which means we'll only be able to make the after party that's being held in England. 

To be honest I did still toy with the idea of making a maxi dress but I only really wear maxi dresses abroad so I figured a nice going out dress would be better and would get more wear. 

So then I thought about one of my favourite going out dresses and set about trying to make a better version!

The bodice is the same princess seam bodice from the second great British sewing bee book that I always use, but this time I added a waistband and some long ties so I could give myself a clinched in look. The skirt is just a very simple circle skirt cut to my measurements. I chose a circle skirt because nothing quite falls the same way, I have a theory that a circle skirt can make any bodice look instantly classy.

The biggest issue I had was placing the pattern. Its a very large and vivid jewelled print? It kind of reminds me of Elizabeth Taylor just because that girl liked her diamonds! I knew a princess seam bodice would be easiest for getting nice symmetry in the front so I just worked out where the pattern centre line was and folded on that line and then cut everything out VERY carefully. I'm really pleased with the front but the back is a little bit wonky.

With the fabric being a fairly thin Poly peachskin? I opted to line the bodice just to give a bit more body. I top stitched the neckline to keep everything in place. 

The circle skirt was a BRUTE! I have never had so many problems hemming a circle skirt in my life. In the end I cut some bias binding from a dashwood studios fat quarter and used that the bind the hem. In the end I actually think it worked out better because 1. It stopped me swearing at it and 2. It gives the hem a bit of body and makes it hang nicely.

I'm still considering this for the after party with purple shoes and I have some purple fabric that might make a nice Chanel style jacket? and then I'm toying with the idea of one of those rockabilly petticoats just to introduce more colour! Plus you know poofiness is life. 

Its actually one of three dresses I'm considering, all of which are homemade!

Eurgh my hair is a mess it is in dire need of a good cut but me and my hairdresser are having scheduling conflicts!

Here's me demonstrating how long the ties are. The idea being you can wear them at the front/back or wrap them around yourself Obi style. Although I'm not sure how much room that would leave for food/frolicking. 

So a grand success I actually really love it and I can't wait to find an occasion to wear it too!

The only thing I'd do differently is the position of that second green jewel on the skirt! I wish it was lined up with the one on the waistband. especially after I spent so long lining up the one on the waistband.

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Blue African Wax Print Cotton Dress

Its no secret that I'm a fan of an African wax print cotton. I mean seriously digging through the bargain pre cut bins at Abakhans is my happy place!

Anyway I think this piece was about a metre and a half and it had more of the awesome sparkles that Abakhan seem to be featuring in their wax cottons! Its another panelesque print so some careful planning was used when trying to work out how to cut out the bodice.

Anyway because I am the most boring person in the world I basically decided to make a copy of this dress. Yes I know I'm dull but its my favourite dress to wear at the moment and if it ain't broke don't fix it.

So its the same princess seam bodice and box pleat skirt [both from the second GBSB book] as before in fact the only thing I forgot to do was put the slit in the front of the bodice. But now I'm wondering if forgetting was actually a stroke of luck because my centre pattern down the front is actually pretty bang on.

The back is less bang on but the pattern wasn't printed on grain so it was a bit of a struggle. And the skirt isn't central either which is because I stupidly lined up the bottom of the skirt and not the top, like a muppet! Its not something that'll bother me too much but its annoying that I made mistakes because I was tired!

Yeah the back is super crumpled, I wore this dress all yesterday and didn't get around to taking pictures till the whole thing was a crumpled mess. So I decided to leave it, Get up early and iron the dress in the morning and take pictures today.......Who was I kidding? Get up early to iron? no you can have the crumpled version thank you very much.

 By the way I did an invisible zip which went in really nicely. And everything matched up on the waistband too [Insert smug face here]  

So yeah I grand success even if I did screw up on a few things. I love the colour and how the pattern placement turned out.

In other news....

Its less than a month this my birthday! YAY!

But today I feel pretty grouchy to be honest, I'm hoping its just a touch of PMS but all I want to do is sit and watch Disney in my jammies and maybe have a lil cry? however that's looking pretty unlikely seen as lil man is on super awful whingey form today. Yay...... I might try and do some yoga later and let go a bit, but I'm not sure if it will help, Ideally I'd eat a bar of cadburys whilst reading a sewing magazine but its raining and nothing depresses me more than a walk to the shops in the rain!

And so we don't end on a completely sucky note, I tried lil mans new school uniform on him yesterday and he looks ADORABLE!!! I mean I'm not saying my kids the cutest in the world but its going to be a pretty close race! [totally regretting calling him a whinge bag before, he's sitting good as gold doing a puzzle right now]

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Purple Princess Seam Dress

Sometimes I look at what I make and I think oooh another lilou bodice/princess seam bodice with some skirt variation, aren't I the most exciting sewer ever [Insert copious amounts of sarcasm here]

 And then I'm like well that's my style I like that stuff and if it ain't broke don't fix it!

But even I was a bit bored by this dress, it sat waiting to be cut, then it sat waiting to be sewn, then it sat waiting to be hemmed and now its been waiting a good 2 weeks to be blogged.

So without further ado here's a princess seamed bodice with a gathered skirt made up in a poly silk of some form.

The back is pulling like a mother, I'm assuming this means my fit is off but this doesn't happen in my other versions?

Its the Princess seam bodice I always use, good old great British sewing bee book 2! Genuinely starting to think that this might be the only book I need ever!

The front fit on the other hand is pretty bang on. the skirt was hemmed by hand and the bodice is lined in the same fabric, and I did a pretty tidy invisible zip. Pretty much felt like a sewing superstar when that little swine when in! 

All in all I'm pretty pleased, I mean don't get me wrong its a cute dress, It's just a bit dull, I think if maybe the pattern was a bit more complicated it might work better? or of there was a print of some sort?

I dunno, its cute and if I go out to dinner I will definitely wear it. But its not real day wear is it? Its more night out sort of wear, or at least pub dinner!

So I think my next make might have to be a bit more fun?

or Ill bore myself to sleep and you guys as well!!!

In other news,

Lil Man is still on his summer holidays so I'm getting hardly anything done.

He's eating us out of house and home.

I'm getting there with the hexagon cushion I've been making and I'm hoping to have it finished within the next few days, Its EPP so its pretty hard going, especially on the old fingers [If you'd like to learn how to tack a hexagon there's a visual tutorial on my new you tube channel {shameless plug!} and you can now subscribe using the button on the right hand side of this page!]

Also let me now if there's anything you'd like me to make a video about and I'll do my best to oblige [disclaimer : no singing or hardcore nudity]

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

African Wax Print Dress

This is one of those dresses when you finish it and you just can't help but smile cos its just so cracking!

The fabric was this African wax print cotton from abakhan fabrics. Its a panel print which is always a bit of a mind boggler when it comes to cutting out, and it was a pre cut but for less than £4.00 you can't really moan can you? Well you could but its considered rude..... [sorry about the naff quality of this picture it was taken on my phone moments before I started cutting out.]

If your thinking of using a wax cotton I'd definitely recommend it. Don't be put of by how it feels in the shop. [which is pretty similar to card to be honest] when you've washed it, it will soften up to like a quilting cotton type weight? I think its a great option for beginners actually because it handles and presses so nicely! 

Now for the cutting out. I decided a princess seam bodice was the best way to go because I thought the front seams would be less disruptive to the pattern than darts. So the bodice was cut with a centre fold running down the large pattern section and both the skirt pieces were cut with the fabric folded the other way! and then the waistband was cut from the middle part where the skirt pieces had been cut.

I'm chuffed to death with the pattern on the bodice but I wish I'd centred the pattern on the skirt pieces. I'm not sure if I had enough fabric to, but it would have been a nice touch.

The bodice is the princess seam bodice from the second GBSB book and the skirt is the box pleat skirt from the same book. This fabric loves to pleat by the way! Its like "yeah! fold me and iron me and I'll be the neatest lil pleat you ever did see!" I also used the waistband from the box pleat skirt because I've had issues with the bodice being too short before now.

It was quite nice to realise that the box pleat skirt and the bodice fit together without any alterations. I don't know if its a fluke just for me. But if it isn't it might have been nice if they'd mentioned it in the book. A girl likes to have options ya know.

I did add a slit detail to the front of the bodice just to keep things a bit different. This might actually be my favourite part it add s a classy bit of boobage without being like "HELLO PLEASE STARE AT MY VERY NEARLY EXPOSED BREASTS!" 

Its not the neatest slit in the world [god that sounds filthy!] but it was my first one ever so I can't really complain. 

The bodice and waistband are both lined. I actually finished the inside of the lining by hand which is pretty standard for me. What wasn't standard was me sewing my unpicker lid into the lining! I was stood after finishing, feeling like the queen of Sheba in my new frock having a quick bodice feel [which is kind of like groping yourself to check for excess fabric] and then was like OMG what that in my back? and then I realised! Damm near peed my pants laughing! Luckily for me the zip had been a swine to get my needle though so my stitches were pretty big and I managed to squeeze it out! 

If you want a giggle there's a cracking selfie of me on instagram giggling away when I just realised what I'd done!

Anyway disaster averted! I did a concealed zip at the back seam... well at least I tried. And the hem is a teeny weeny 1cm because of the length.

Anyway! Thoughts?

Love this dress, in fact no! I LOVE THIS DRESS! I feels all kinds of sassy! 

Love the box pleat skirt its pretty darn flattering.

Lengths good!

Looks cute with black tights and a black cardi which is a winner.

Its just one of those projects that turned out exactly as I wanted!

Although the zip could be better and so could the keyhole.

The fits pretty smack on as well, but to be honest seen as I've made this bodice so many times now I'd be a bit ashamed if I screwed up the fit!

Much Love

A proper chuffed 

Frankie

xxx

African Wax Cotton Princess Seamed Dress

There's not really a huge amount to say about this dress. I used one of the fabrics from my shopping trip to abakhans . This one is an African wax cotton print with sparkles on it.

I brought it because...... well sparkles!

Actually there was another one I liked but some of the colours had ran so I got this one instead.

I used the princess seamed bodice from the second gbsb book , added a lace waistband because I'm still having issues with the length of this bodice and the skirt is just a simple gather. I'm not 100% on this waistband to be honest it was about 3 inches longer but I decided to completely unpick the zip and the bodice so I could shorten it. [you may have seen my blurry selfie on instagram where I was contemplating altering it.]

I loved the lace waistband I did in this dress so I'm not sure why I don't love this one as much?

I do love the ombre tones in this fabric, and Its nice to have a print with some colour in it but also with some black and grey too. I didn't really bother with pattern matching as there wasn't enough fabric. Instead I just tried to make sure that the black and greys were roughly in the same place.

I used a beige zip with this because that's what was to hand, Its not great but it'll do. As it goes I'm pretty sure this zip is cursed. I put it in no bother, then unpicked it because of the waistband, put it back in no bother , put the dress on, took these pictures and then suddenly the whole thing was off its bloody runners. I used the f word, the c word and the b word but I got it back on and fixed the issues took me half an hour and three pinterest tutorials though.

I hate it when I have snags making a project. Because it makes me hate the dress a little bit. I guess its like when your horribly sick after drinking a lot and then your like "NOOOOOOO alcohol is the devil" and avoid it for months and then you see it and your like "Oh hey buddy, your kinda cute! " So yeah I hope I wear this dress and don't just avoid it because it holds bad zip memories.

Length is good, It has a teeny tiny hem because I really had to use every inch of this fabric. Hence why the waistband is lace and not material. I think there was about a metre and a half? If that? It was a struggle to squeeze the pieces out anyway. I have another wax cotton and there's about the same amount, I think for that though I might try a slightly shorter length and try and get a waistband out of it too.

Finishing wise, there's neck and armhole facing and both of those are top stitched. The waistband is top stitched down with the seams away from the lace. I did a double row of stitching on the seams and pinked them. 

The cottons got fantastic structure, I thought it might be uncomfortable because its so stiff but it actually works really nicely and gives the skirt a nice amount of volume!

All in all I'm very pleased even if I did have issues with the blooming zip! I think I like the waistband, I like that's its see through. I think its because I have a soft spot for the crop top and skirt trend but I don't have the confidence to wear it, this feels like my little cheating way of doing it.

Not much other news to report to be honest. I feel like in in a pretty good sewing groove so all is well.

Much Love

Frankie

xxx