Missoni dress - love it!

I have to admit when I bought this fabric I really wasn’t sure if I liked it but after making this dress today I love it.  The Missoni dress isn't finished, hems are still to finish off, but I just wanted to share it with you.

It’s a really easy fabric to work with & I am going to be going back to my fabric shop next week to buy some more.

If you want to see some real Missoni dresses go to:  http://www.missoni.com/

New dress - I think it looks a bit Missoni?

Today I’ve finished off sewing the two navy polo shirts I’ve just got some finishing off of the treads to do tonight.

I’ve also started on the simple dress, I think this dress has to be as simple as I can make it as the pattern on the fabric is quite busy! Its really quite Missoni!

Check out the real Missoni website: http://www.missoni.com/ ).

I’ve cut body & am going to add long sleeves.

I’ve just got this dress to sew up & a new pair of track pants & that is enough for today!

More polo shirts, a dress & track pants… all have to be finished by the end of this weekend

The grey fleece is now finished, I decided against putting on the logo, I just wasn’t sure if the logo was way too much (& just to glitzy - which so isn't me!).

This week I’ve made a good start at two more polo shirts this time in navy, they are very practical and not as see through as the white! I will finish these off over the weekend.

I’ve decided I need to work on a few more dresses so have found these two fabrics, the blue will be the lining and the knitted patterned fabric will be the fabric that you see, it will be a very simple dress, with long sleeves.

Along with finishing off the navy polo shirts and making the dress I also plan to make a pair of track pants, I really feel as though time is against me at the moment, Tuesday will be one month to Spring & the real start of the “Capsule Wardrobe Project”.
　
P.S. I have ordered some name tags and am planning on sewing these into every item I make this year, just for a little bit of fun, but will perhaps save the sewing in of these tags till most of the clothes are made & I’m ahead of things.

60s Party Dress with £5 of fabric & the Grey Fleece

My friend asked me if I could help & make her a 60s party dress, I said I'd love to. We headed off to the shops & found the perfect fabric. The dress is by no means finished but there is no doubt that this is a 60s dress, the hem is coming up, we’re adding a waist tie & perhaps a head or neck scarf. Its going to look great & not bad for only £5 of fabric!

Over the last few days I’ve also been making some headway with the fleece jacket, its very nearly finished just needs a few poppers on the front & I need to sew on my logo. Hope the weather in Spring stays a bit cold as the fleece is so warm, but then I guess it should be fine as it is for wearing outside on the golf course!

Tomorrow will sew some poppers onto the fleece & then back to making a few more polo shirts, as I need at least 3 more of these.

Not wanting to scare myself too much but I do have less than 5 weeks before I should be wearing my own clothes!!! EIK!

Break through - Polo Shirts

Now I know that polo shirts aren’t everyone’s thing but for me they’re an essential item in my capsule wardrobe, I wear them for both golf & for work. Today I’ve made up the polo shirt & its great. Fits wonderfully if a bit see through but as a style & a sewing project it’s a success.

As I said before I have managed to buy this fabric in navy as well so the next polo shirt will be made in navy.

I’ve made a little logo on my embroidery frame - but not sure if I like it so holding off sewing this on.

Will finish off the grey fleece tomorrow.

The Holy Grail in a fabric shop!… & Grey Fleece, Logo & Polo Shirts

Most of the sewing up of the grey fleece has now been done.  I just need to finish off the insides & front edges. Finally I will top stitch the edges of the fleece in white embroidery thread.

I’ve also sewn on a few more beads onto the logo for the fleece… I've nearly completed the "J" (did I not say I wasn’t going to touch beads again until I’d completed more clothes!?.. I think I‘m addicted).

Today I went to a fabric shop in my lunch hour & found the fabric equivalent for me of the holy grail. Ever since I’ve started this project, I’ve been looking for a nice cotton fabric to make polo shirts from for golf. Today I found the perfect fabric in white & navy (both colours will go with my grey trousers & grey fleece) & at £3.50 a meter its cheap too!

I’ve very quickly this evening cut out pieces of this fabric for a polo shirt, I will sew this up tomorrow. Test run polo shirts yea! :)

Grey fleece, logo & trousers

Today I've cut the fabric for the fleece, tomorrow I’m going to sew up the fleece using my over locker. This should be quite a quick process so will take a photo to show you the results after (I will also take a photo of the over locker because not everyone knows what they look like).

I've also started work on the logo which will go on the front of the fleece, the logo is quite big but I think the fleece will be able to take it!

I’ve nearly finished my first pair of trousers, all I need to do is the hem, I’m very happy with them.

Trousers

I’ve managed to get on really well with my trousers, I’ve made them using the same pattern that used for my track pants. I’ve just got stuck on putting the zip in but ignoring this fact they’re a good fit & the fabric is lovely & the best thing is I have enough fabric for at least two more pairs.

Tonight I’m going to be cutting out a pattern for a fleece jacket for golf & I am going to sew some logos (using beads & embroidery thread), which I will use for going out tops & golf gear.

Work Wear - little flowery cardy & Going Out Wear - little black dress... finished!

After my last “nightmare” post I’ve sorted my head out & decided that I have to put some dates in place, start of Spring has been way too vague, so I will start to wear my Spring Capsule Wardrobe on 1^st March, following with my Summer Capsule Wardrobe 3 months later 1^st June & so on.

Inspired I’ve finished off the little black dress today, finishing the hems on both the dress & the lining along with sewing the flowers on.

  

I’ve also finished off the little flowery top/ cardy.
 
I love both items and am looking forward to wearing them.
My next mini project will be my grey trousers, these will be the most important item in my Spring Capsule Wardrobe so have to look good & wear well.

Nightmare

I had a bit of a sleepless night last night, worrying that I might not be able to make enough clothes by the start of Spring to cover my normal daily life.

Today I’ve added pink netting to the flowers for the little black dress, this will be my last bit of unnecessary time taking decoration but I do like what I‘ve made.

I need to be full steam ahead from tomorrow , so cutting fabric (prob over the weekend) for some grey trousers.  My biggest fear is not being able to make a decent pair of trousers as I really live in trousers at work & on the golf course… so I have to get these right!

Spring Work wear - shirt/ cardy (little flowery top) & some flowers

I’ve been feeling tired tonight but have got on with a few things, I’ve pinned the ribbon onto the work wear flowery top, so I am ready for sewing this tomorrow night.

I’ve also made some little fabric flowers to go on the little black dress, I’m also going to add a bit of pink netting to this to make them look a bit more 3D.

Lastly I've blacked & bolded up the outside of one of the logos I was working on (the one on the left in the photo below), I think this this looks much better & will end up on my next pair of track pants.

Over the weekend I found my tailoring book, am going to start reading up on it tonight! Its by the publishers Apple & is worth a read if you’re thinking about making a jacket, as it has lots of tips & great pictures so you can really see what is being written about.

More updates tomorrow….

Spring Going Out - little black dress under dress finished… & labels

Wasn’t going to blog today but here’s a quick one so I can have tomorrow off. Today I’ve sewn the pink under dress for the little black dress, it’s a very simple sleeveless dress made out of pink lining fabric so the dress can be warn without a vest top & leggings/ trousers.




I’ve also started on another little logo for my next pair of track pants, try as I might I have to have clothes with labels/logos even if they are only my own!

On Monday I will finish off the little black going out dress (linings & a bit more decoration) & will finish off the little flowery work top.

I'm wearing one of my little grey jackets out tonight, such a nice feeling wearing things you've made yourself!

x

Spring Going Out - little black dress… waist tie, pink under dress & fabric roses

I’ve been working on a few things over the last two days, firstly I’ve produced a waist tie for the little black dress which simply consists of the black dress fabric folded over & hemmed, I’m also going to add some loops to hang the tie through on the dress.

Secondly I’ve sewn along some lengths of dress fabric with a rolled hem stitch on my over locker, this produces a finished edge which I’m going to use like ribbons to make fabric roses to put on the shoulders of the dress.

Lastly I’ve bought some pink lining fabric, which matches the netting fabric. I’m going to use this lining fabric to make a sleeveless under-dress, so the pink fabric will show through the black dress fabric on the body, leaving bare arms showing under the dress fabric.

Over the next few days I have fabric roses to make, along with the under-dress and loops for the waist tie. I will let you know how I get on when I’ve finished these.

Spring Going Out - little black dress… pink beads & tired ramblings

Tonight I’m tired, today has been my first day back at work after the Christmas/New Year break & having to get up early this morning has now really caught up with me. I have however managed to sew some beads onto the little black dress I started over the weekend. The dress looks sharp & I’m quite sure I will have achieving one of my goals in looking like I’m wearing a dress that no one else is.

 

Tonight I’ve also been thinking about why I started this project and have come to the conclusion that really it wasn’t just to “make clothes”.  I want to be able to find a style for myself, for a long time now I’ve been a confused shopper. I love so many very different stores from Top Shop to Ted Baker, from All Saints to Miss Selfridge, from Gap to Pringle, which I guess many of you will probably be able to say, BUT now I’m making my own clothes I can take the bits I want from each of the brands and merge them into one, so eventually I will find MY STYLE.

Another good reason making your own clothes is that they will inevitably last longer than those run up in 10 seconds by someone working in a conveyer belt type of clothing factory.

So this will mean that in the end I will be using less energy, fabric, resources etc to clothe myself then making myself environmentally friendly (not really something I’ve ever thought about but let’s call it a by product of the process)!

Thinking about making your own clothes yet!?!….

PS - I’m not thinking about making anything other than clothes. I love my classic Ted Baker handbags & the will continue to carry my life in for years to come & the beautiful Ted Baker purse which sits in my bag every day will not be replaced for years, but when I do need a new purse or handbag I will be going to the shops!

 

Spring Going Out - little black dress with a twist

We spent New Year’s Eve in the new club Public on the King’s Road in London, we had a great night. When I arrived I found myself looking around the dance floor at what everyone was wearing & I realised that all the birds were in dresses.  I NEED MORE DRESSES!

So in hang over recovery mode yesterday I decided that I would make a little black dress with a pink twist, while lying in my messy state I remembered that I had just recently bought the fabric I need for this dress.

A few days ago I went back to my fabric shop to buy some more of the fleece I had made my grey track suit bottoms from because I want to make another pair but when I was there I saw some black animal skin patterned fabric which I had to buy.

Today I got up feeling like I needed to get on & make… so I’ve made a simple dress with French seams (because the fabric is pretty much see through) & gathered bits on the shoulders of the sleeves.

     

I’m also going to add some beads & some pink netting to make this a bit more of a fun dress (also I want the dress to go with my new bright pink nail varnish!).

I’ve had enough of sewing for today, I need to get out & have a walk & some fresh air. 

Let me know what you think of the dress (I know it looks v long a the moment but it will shorten when I've added a hem).