Green floral vogue dress

Hello all! I haven't been sewing a lot lately because I've been having some major style struggles which I'll probably discuss at a later date. However, I made this dress during the Christmas holidays and I love it. 

I used a vintage vogue skirt pattern for the skirt portion of the dress and my bodice block for the top half. I add a bit onto the sides of my bodice block nowadays to give me some more room and I really should update it. When I sit down the bodice rides up and the neckline gapes, and I'm not sure whether it's too tight at the bust so it can't just drape down normally.

The fabric is a wool blend from a Goldhawk Road shopping spree just before Christmas. The colours in this print are just gorgeous. I'm always on the look out for nice green fabrics. I think it was on offer for £7.50 a metre instead of £10 a metre so I paid £15 for 2m and £1 for a zip, totalling at £16. Not bad!

All the seams are overlocked as usual and neckline and armholes are finished with white bias binding made from an old sheet. I keep meaning to draw some green dots on it because the contrast is a bit stark at the moment!

I think the silhouette of the skirt pattern is gorgeous. I never thought I suited a dropped waist because I have quite a long torso already but I think the seperate bodice and hip panels help in defining my waist. I love love love the gentle V of the hip panels at the back. I'm seriously considering using this skirt pattern (lengthened to a maxi in emerald silk chiffon) for my summer ball dress.

This dress has already had many outings. It goes really well with my thick winter coat and I feel super elegant, but yet young and fun when wearing it. 

That's it for now! Thanks very much for reading and for Edward for taking pictures when he popped up to visit.
Lauren xx

A lace trimmed slip

Hello all! I make a lot of dresses and some of them don't work so well with tights. The skirts stick to my legs as I walk which looks fairly unattractive. The answer to my problems is a slip! Slips are typically made of slippery fabric which allows skirts and dresses to move freely without sticking to your legs. They are also a good extra layer in winter.

I used one of my tank tops for the basic shape of the slip, extended into a skirt. Deciding on a length was tricky because my dresses are all different lengths. I ended up going for a fairly short length that would not show under most of them. When copying my tank top I did not take into account the fact that it had more stretch than my slip fabric. As a result of this my slip was too tight. To solve this I unpicked both side seams up to the point where it wasn't too tight and added a triangular panel to each seam to give me some more room.

I stitched all my seams with a regular machine zigzag instead of the overlocker for more precision with a really small seam allowance. To finish the neckline I made bias binding from the slip fabric and finished the front and back necklines. I then used one long strip for the straps and underarms. It was a really good exercise for precision sewing, although it didn't matter too much because The lace at the neckline covered it anyway

 I decided to add lace at the neckline and the hem of the slip to spice it up a bit and I really love how it looks. The width of the lace at the neckline was an issue because it didn't stretch enough, so it bunched up instead of laying flat. To fix this I trimmed upwards and then added a tiny square. Luckily the lace is fairly dense so it isn't that noticeable. I did this in a number of places around the neckline so it would lay flat.

The fabric is really soft and lightweight, with a silky feel to it. It is sheer (hence the tank top underneath)s. It snags quite easily, a bit like tights so be careful when working with it. Even though it is not an addition to my wardrobe that everyone sees this slip has already seen so much wear! I need several in lots of different lengths.

Thanks for reading, Ed for the pics and to Minerva Crafts for providing the kit for this project!

Lauren xx