Summer is usually the time to sew for me: no sweaty yarn hands, a lot of natural light and long days are perfect for some more ambitious projects. I've always been wanting to go a bit more into dress-making and recently I came accross Tilly Walnes's amazing book "Love at First Stitch" (see below) which is exactly my style. I can only recommend it if you are interested in slightly retro-looking patterns but with nicer fabrics.
Coincidentelly, I'm also at that age now where many of my friends are starting to get married and I thought I could combine my hobby with the necessity of having to come up with a new outfit every time for each wedding. Et voilà, my personal "One dress per wedding" sewing challenge was created!
My first project was Tilly's "Lilou" which is a wonderful 1950s-cut but more flattering than the old patterns. I still had some print fabric in my stash that I bought in South Africa earlier this year with exactly this type of dress in mind! Actually, I was considering having a dress made in South Africa because you can get things tailor made quite cheaply but I insisted on doing it myself. As the stubborn person I am, it only took me about two full weekends and some late nights to unpick the seams after realizing that the fabric of the bodice had stretched too much under the weight of the skirt *sigh*. I suppose those are the things you only learn by experience...
The only thing I skipped for now was the lining although that will be the next level of sewing skills I'll tackle. For now I've only experimented a little with a loose skirt lining to keep it from sliding up when I'm wearing tights but I've never done a full lining for a dress. Maybe a second "Lilou" will make its appearance for another wedding, who knows. The next wedding will be on September 8 so I only have couple of weeks to go but I already have something in mind. Keep on checking for updates!
Coincidentelly, I'm also at that age now where many of my friends are starting to get married and I thought I could combine my hobby with the necessity of having to come up with a new outfit every time for each wedding. Et voilà, my personal "One dress per wedding" sewing challenge was created!
My first project was Tilly's "Lilou" which is a wonderful 1950s-cut but more flattering than the old patterns. I still had some print fabric in my stash that I bought in South Africa earlier this year with exactly this type of dress in mind! Actually, I was considering having a dress made in South Africa because you can get things tailor made quite cheaply but I insisted on doing it myself. As the stubborn person I am, it only took me about two full weekends and some late nights to unpick the seams after realizing that the fabric of the bodice had stretched too much under the weight of the skirt *sigh*. I suppose those are the things you only learn by experience...
The only thing I skipped for now was the lining although that will be the next level of sewing skills I'll tackle. For now I've only experimented a little with a loose skirt lining to keep it from sliding up when I'm wearing tights but I've never done a full lining for a dress. Maybe a second "Lilou" will make its appearance for another wedding, who knows. The next wedding will be on September 8 so I only have couple of weeks to go but I already have something in mind. Keep on checking for updates!
Again, thank you to my friend/model Ilaria!
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