Still Channelling Dolly Clackett

I had both of theses dresses cut out but ran out of time to sew them before the Dolly Clackett deadline. The first is a sewaholic Cambie with a raindrop pattern. I like it more than I initially thought I would.

The first time I wore I had major gaping, so I added a couple of darts to the neckline near the straps.

 I didn't open the lining, just darted the two layers together. I suspect anyone looking down the front of my dress isn't looking at my sewing techniques anyway. ;D

I'll pinch that out of the centre front pattern piece next time around.  I'll also move the darts closer to the midline; on me they splay a little out to the side.
I didn't use the gathered straps (I'm not a 'gathers' kind of girl) but instead used the strap lining for the inside and outside.

Next time I'll move them a couple of millimeters closer to the middle so my bra strap doesn't show.

I initially thought I wouldn't make this again, but now I am pretty sure I will.

 The second dress is Simplicity 2444 with the Cambie skirt in a seaside print. I had originally thought to go with a sleevless 2444, but I only had three yards of fabric and as I discovered with my crayon dress, three yards is not enough when using a uni-directional print.

It is lined with the same beige cotton as the Cambie
. If I had been more diligent I could have made the darts line up, but one doesn't notice with the print.

Another comfortable, easy to wear dress.

I wore it with the jacket (pre-blog circa 1997) hanging on the door knob -the day started off cool.

The Cambie skirt will definitely be used on its own again. It is the ideal width for cycling and I love the pockets. It was a cool dress to wear in the  33 degrees we had on Thursday and between all the meetings I had that day I put over 40 km on the bicycle.

We may not have had spring this year, but summer has finally arrived.

Apparently I haven't much to say today. I'm usually brief, but this is ridiculous.

I'm Not a Joiner

I have serious committment issues, so I don't join sew-alongs, or contests, or theme months. For me, signing up for something is the kiss of death to any creative endeavours.

 To that end, I didn't join the Sew Dolly Clackett fest. But that didn't stop me from making a dress; in fact, I am making three.

Cambie and Simplicity 2444 & Cambie combo.

I didn't sign up for the Vintage Pattern Pledge either, even tho' I have one dress at the tweaking phase,  another one cut out, and a third in the pipeline.

A mash-up of two vintage Style dresses and a vintage McCalls.

And I am definitely not doing Me-Made May, even tho' I wear me-made or second-hand clothing almost every day of the year. Maybe you have already seen photos of my first two weeks?

Seamless pledge? -yup. An unofficial participant, that's me. I only buy socks, bras, knickers, and my year-round-essential wool t-shirts, but I have a bra pattern and material in the queue, and I am about to take the plunge and make my own smalls.

I wonder what I won't join next?

The Fabric Takeover

The Thursday before Goid Friday I drive The Geek to the airport at 0500 hours. Her plane had not yet taken off before I dragged my seeing machine, serger, and all my Dolly Clackett supplies into the kitchen. It us so much brighter up here and I've been schlemming about winter since November. By Saturday morning my projects (oh yes, I cut out more than one Dolly Clackettt dress. They are all in various stages of construction) had expanded into the living room. 

The Gerk retuned home at 0100 hours on Tuesday but my stuff is still all over the place. She us being extremely gracious about it. Since she has so many out-of-the-house projects on the go right now the mess isn't bothering her too much. 

The forecast for the next several days is rain so I hope to clear much if this up by Sunday. 

It's pretty hard core. There's been some fruit used and some very inappropriate gestures.

When I grow up, I want to be like Dolly Clackett. She has such fun dresses, made from great fabric and versatile patterns, cute shoes, and a great attitude toward life.

Sarah's idea to celebrate Roisin and Nic's wedding by having the blogosphere make Dolly Clackett-esque dresses is genius.

I'm off to a good start -I already have a few of her favourite patterns in my collection -Simplicity 2444, Sewaholic Cambie, Butterick 5748, and ByHandLondon Anna (tho' I must be the only one in the world who can't get that dress to work for her).

I decided ages ago I would make Simplicity 2444 - a dress I tried once last summer, and I already had three yards of some cute nautical fabric. Then I ran into a snag -three yards of 45" fabric with a one-way design is not enough to make Simplicity 2444. Three meters, yes; three yards, no. So at my first opportunity I galloped off to Marshall's Fabrics to find three meters of a different print. It wasn't that easy. Marshall's has a wide selection, and while I like a quirky print, there is not point buying something that doesn't speak to who you are. If they had something with bicycles, or rowing shells, or maps, I would have been in-and-out in five minutes. As it was, I had a serious snoop that lasted at least half an hour. But I finally found what I wanted, and the dress has turned out well.

So here I am, by my own colourful door. I would have taken the pictures by our front door so I could also have stairs, but our stairs are still covered in ice.

This is the first time my legs have seen the light of day since September. I should have worn tights.

May I present the Colourful Happiness dress. It's odd how something so simple can cheer you up.

And bring a silly grin to your face. Too bad that grin didn't show up in these photographs. I find it hard to take pictures of myself with the timer because it always takes so long to go off- I can't concentrate that long...

Mandatory hands on hips pose.

 My tripod is pretty funny too. However the snow is still rather depressing -hence my difficulty eliminating my dour expression.

I have no idea what that contraption on the stool is, but it works to elevate the camera.

I had to hurry through the outdoor pictures; it was only 8 degrees today.

We haven't dared put away the snow shovels either.

Here is my dress hanging on the chimney. The colours seem even more vibrant against the brick. Very cheerful.

And if you wondered about the print, yes, those are crayons. You can't tell until you look closely. I feel very subversive! Plus, they are all my favourite colours; green, orange, purple, turquoise, blue.

There was very little fiddling with the pattern. Other than lengthening the bodice by about one and one half inches, I made a straight size 14.

I self-lined the sleeves after removing all the ease from the sleeve cap. They would pucker badly on top otherwise.

Plus, my usual trick for back zippers. As long as I can get my head through the neck opening, I sew the back seam completely closed. I then put the zipper so it's about an inch below the top of the dress. I like the neat finish and I don't have to fuss with hooks and eyes, or other methods of closing the top edge. I haven't tried this yet with a lapped zipper, but I expect it would work just as well.

And a serger rolled hem -I was getting lazy.

I expect I will get a great deal of wear from this dress. I'm already planning on wearing it to my office partner's retirement party.

That's the craic on this dress.

Congratulations Roisin and Nic, my best wishes on your upcoming wedding. May the saddest day of your future be like the happiest day of your past!