A wedding dress with a difference

Back in September I was given the opportunity, thanks to a recommendation from an existing customer, to make a dress for a lovely lady to wear on her wedding day. Not your traditional bridal gown but a dress that she could wear many times again in the future and that suited her down to a T.

After much deliberation over fabrics she settled on a dark teal satin with a light stretch to it, and we tailored the style of the dress accordingly. She didn't want anything too complicated but wanted to focus on what she saw as her 'good points' so we decided on a crossover top with a wide waistband and slightly more than a-line skirt:

The 'V' at the front was mirrored on the back, and both the top of the zip and the little 'keyholes' details on the sleeve were finished with the most fabulous buttons (which I can't take credit for, she spend some time in Duttons for Buttons picking out what she wanted, but I did love them).

It was a joy to work with someone who was so excited by the garment as it took shape, and I had a text from her after the wedding saying she'd had many compliments on her dress, which was good to know (and gives you a warm feeling inside when you know you've got it right). I know she was planning to wear it again for a family event the week after so hopefully she got more then too!

 

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!!

Making triangle from straight pieces...

Ok, a change from the dressmaking now to show you progress and final pics from a pendant commission I've been working on.

The brief? A 'simple' inverted triangle with a hanging loop at the top. Sounds easy, and in a way it is, but there are a lot of stages involved nonetheless.

I started with a flat strip of silver and filed a v-shape in the centre (unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this so you'll have to use your imagination) then folded the resulting piece up to create the bottom half of the triangle:

Once this was soldered to secure it, I then filed the tops of the two prongs so that they lay flush with the piece going across the top and soldered the top bar in place:

The protuding ends were filed back flush to form a perfect triangle before all the faces were emeried smooth:

I then attached a small ring to the top of the triangle for the jump ring to go through, and polished the whole pendant up. The result is indeed a simple but beautiful pendant:

(although try as I might I couldn't get it to lie flat and not look wonky while photographing it in the box!)

Simple skirt

I finished a couple of bits last week but didn't have much time due to family visits to put photos up, so here is the first item: a simple 'a-line' cord skirt, with side zip and belt loops along the waistband, commissioned to match a pair of winter boots (what better reason than shoes?).

Although it looks simple it's still pleasing to know that it's exactly what was ordered...

...and now I'm wondering whether I want one for myself, especially as there is a lovely teal coloured needle cord in Fletchers at the moment!