Jersey dress with an interesting collar

I seem to have had a cluster of customers commissioning garments to replace old favourites which have worn out, which is always quite a nice task. After all, I make clothes to be worn not to sit in a wardrobe out of sight, so to make something that the customer knows she'll wear is lovely!

Today's blog is to share one of these commissions, what looks like a simple jersey dress but with a collar/neckline that looks almost like you're wearing a shrug over the top of a strapless dress:

The customer ordered two, one in a bright red viscose jersey and one in this beautiful patterned cotton jersey. I know she was pleased with how they've come out, and I hope she enjoys wearing them!

New cloak design?

Another 'coming soon', this time a full-length cloak option rather than a one-off!

I was recently asked to make a full-length faux leather cloak for a semi-local gentleman. Faux-leather is something I've not worked with for ages, but having done so I think it makes a really nice cloak so I've decided to add it to the list of materials I offer my cloaks in!

I need to finalise pricing of them (and review how much they'll cost to post, as they're quite heavy) but they should be available in my online shop by the end of the month. In the meantime, here are a couple of shots of the one I've just made as a little preview...

And, if you'd like to order one before they appear in my online shop then just drop me an email

Mother of the Bride

The brief for this dress was for a Mother of the Bride's dress with a difference, something that she felt comfortable in and felt was her while still being more special than something she'd chose for any other wedding she was going to (after all, your daughter's wedding is pretty special).

The colour scheme was already decided as she had a jacket she really liked and wanted to wear, and she was quite keen to browse fabrics herself so she took herself off to Fletchers Fabrics to see what they had in stock before I started ordering in samples. Luckily she found something that she fell in love with so we went with that (the staff in Fletcher's are great so between my list of fabric type suggestions and their knowledge she found something that was perfect).

The final dress was an embroidered georgette over matching crepe, with an under-bust band in contrasting crepe. The 'hankerchief' hem was something she particularly wanted and I think it adds a little something to the dress.

We added purple and silver beads to the bottom section of the skirt to add colour and interest to the dress (the silver was to match her shoes)...

And the outfit was topped off with some little flower hair-grips made from the contrast crepe, to which she'll be adding some cream bought ones.

All in all, a lovely outfit that I think suits her perfectly!