A second, very different, bridesmaid dress

At the end of May I blogged about the first of two of bridesmaid dresses with a difference that I had been commissioned to make, for a wedding in June (see here for that post).

The second dress is now done, and looking absolutely stunning, and it's this dress that I want to share with you today. It uses the same mushroom Italian lace with gold threads, this time in carefully placed gathered panels down the front and back of the dress. The main body of the dress is ivory polyester/cotton with tiny silver flecks woven in, and lined with poplin, and the whole dress is finished off with a 7mm chocolate ribbon under the bust:

I have to say that this does look gorgeous on the girl it's for, with the added bonus that when she twirls round the lace panels float up to horizontal (yes, this has been tested during fittings!) Apparently the two sisters are both convinced that their dress is better than the other one's, which I think is a sign that both dresses have been a success! (So long as they don't ask me to choose which I prefer!)

Repeating oneself...in a good way!

I suppose the best way to be sure that you're doing something right is to be asked to do exactly the same thing again. Back in January I made a smart red cotton dress for a customer who does quite a bit of public speaking. I knew she loved it and was getting quite a bit of wear out of it, but I was delighted when she came back to me earlier in the month and asked me to make her another one, this time in navy.

It's almost exactly the same as her previous one: a 'klona' cotton dress with a net underskirt to give the skirt structure...

The only difference is that this time the lining is navy with white spots (the previous was white with red spots that matched the outer layer)

And another delight - when she came for her final fitting and tried it on she ordered another dress. I'm clearly doing something right, must make sure I keep it up!!

A bit more de-stashing (finally!)

Something I've made for me this time, as part of my ongoing sewing-from-stash - a project which I started with enthusiasm at the start of the year but got a little bit side-tracked from in March and April!

Even though it's quite a simple pattern and was reasonably quick to make up (cut & sewn in a day) this dress is quite a big step as it's:
a) a pattern I made about 3 years ago,
b) fabric I've had in my stash for about the same length of time, bought for this pattern, complete with zip and thread which had been kept together.
c) a summer dress, that I've managed to make in time for our (theoretical) summer.

And, voila! One sleeveless summer dress...

It's made from cotton shirting and lined with polycotton poplin. There's a hip-length back zip (invisible of course) so it can just be stepped in to & done up (none of this 'over your head' malarkey) and the bottom of the lining is trimmed with cream lace edging that just peeks out to give it the look of a petticoat underneath.

Now I just have to hope for enough sunshine this year to get some wear out of it!!