The 'try again' dress

Back way in February I received a gift of some lovely Joel Dewberry fabric from the John Lewis sale, and it was all lined up for making a perfect 1950s 'housedress'. But then it turned out (mid cutting!) that I had far, far too little - note to self: planning is a good idea...

After a few months of gathering dust I finally got some inspiration from one of the patterns that came free with Sew Magazine, Project Runway 2588. Lots of people have made this one up, with some really exceptional results.

It turned out to be very straightforward (though that's not prevented some significant making faults - damn you zipper!). I misjudged the bodice size too, so it's got a little tendency to gape at the sides - though with some adjustments to the seam allowance I no longer look like the hunchback of Notre Dame...

I just love the neckline of this dress, it feels so elegant, and classy - I think I'll be making this one over and over again. The length should be considerably shorter according to the instructions, but this fabric is a bit sedate for that I think!

I'm planning to wear this to a charity karaoke event this Friday, but I can't decide if it's more work or play dress. Like the Joanie dress as I get more used to it (and trust my judgement a bit more) I'll wear it more often.What do you guys think? Any thoughts on fabrics you'd use to make it up?

Next project!

Well I'm close to completing my latest dress, but waiting on a zip to arrive. Pictures will of course come later.

In the meantime I'm making some plans for a beautiful fabric my Mum picked up from John Lewis. It's from Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow collection, and was in the sale at £5 p/m. As soon as I got my hands on it I decided I wanted to make a shirtdress, the geometric shapes just seem to suit that crisp look.

On reflection though shirtdresses may not be my style, given that I've never had a shirt dress, and struggled to find a pattern I liked. After an evening of browsing I came across this Diamond housedress on Decades of Style. Isn't it cute? Decades of Style seem to take vintage patterns and redraw them, meaning that you work with a new version. That really appeals to me as I'm not as careful as I could be when cutting and I'd hate the idea of damaging a piece of history that should be treasured. Rather than lots of buttons it seems to close using a really long zip, which though unusual, I quite like.

This was their own version of it, which has got too much going on in it for my taste, but I'm hoping that a plain blue contrast fabric will look tasteful with my fabric. I really love the flair from the hips, and the details around the waist. They remind me of those cut out swimsuits which can help emphasise your shape. It's quite long, so I'm hoping to alter the length to just below the knee, which would mean I might get away with my 2.8m length.

While I was there I may have also sneakily picked up another pattern to make the postage per item less crazily expensive! It's a 1940s blouse that I don't plan to make up for quite some time... Hopefully!