Summer dress anyone? :: Dressmaking Inspiration ::

*Do not forget to enter my current giveaway here*

There are a few reasons why I am keen to improve on my dressmaking skills - one of them is to able to recreate some items of my favourite fashion designers, for instance Maje, and save some pennies in the process.

I love Maje style but find sometimes that it just on the too-expensive side for me, especially when it comes to dresses - I hardly wear any so I am not necessarily ready to splash out. However I am a happy browser, and when I saw the Rayano dress in the flesh, I just knew I had to share with you this possible adaptation of the Cami dress, so you could have yours too (for a fraction of the price) - or make another Cami dress if you have the pattern like me!

Pattern: Cami dress by Pauline Alice Patterns (my version is here)

Fabric: I chose an organic eyelet fabric in 'natural', but I also love this organic blue fabric - if you are keen on red, you may consider this one.

Probable modifications: Remove the collar 

(whoohoo collarless, such an obvious modification); 

Maybe shorten it as well,

and Add more fabric to the get a fuller skirt.

Dress: You can buy the dress here. 

We are looking at a grand total of £55.00 which is not cheap of course, but still saves £250.00 on the Maje dress - a pretty good result - and of course allows me to make different versions of a pattern I already have (and get the colour and borderie anglaise detailing I want)! 

You can see my inspiration to make other designer garments here.

Cami Dress | A finish {Dressmaking}

This post should have appeared on the blog ages ago . Pauline, je suis vraiment désolée. And with no further ado here it is: my first ever handmade dress. Impressed? Well, I impressed my family (I had them all here for the finish, so there was a lot of scrutinising being done).

There is a reason why you don’t see a lot of dresses (or other girly garments) on the blog, I don’t do dresses. Mr MiH did have to mention that he did not want me to wear a trouser suit at our wedding… I was supposed to arrive in a white dress, as I mentioned I don’t do dresses. I am warming towards dresses though, and skirts, I suppose losing a bit of weight helped, running shaped my legs a bit, and maybe I have grown up of my tomboy phase (probably about time..).  And I now know how to make one, well who knows that we will find on the blog.

I went for black, totally playing it safe here (for my shape but also to hide any sewing imperfections). Let’s remember this is my first handmade dress - ever. However it quickly became obvious I could potentially look like I was making a dress to go to a funeral. Not exactly what I had in mind. I therefore spent some time working out details I could add to the dress to make it more fun and interesting. I used some Summersville fabric I already had in my stash (a FQ if I remember well) for the cuffs, the collar and the pockets. I also had a chance to use some vintage buttons I bought on Ebay a long time ago – they work perfectly with that dress.  

Pattern: Cami Dress from Pauline Alice (there is  SAL happening right now as well!)

Fabric: Lightweight Cotton Drill in Black (perfect for the Autumn, and need a minimum of ironing!!) from Abakhan Fabrics and a FQ of Summersville; Vintage buttons found on Ebay

Modifications: Apart from the fabric choice, I had an issue with the bust (small bust for large frame it seemed), I added two darts to add shape. Apart from that I was pattern testing, so did as I was told. I made the biggest size (44)

Review of the pattern: This is a great pattern, for the Autumn or the Summer. It is vintage, but you can really add a modern twist to it. I had in mind to make an African print version, but that may be for next summer. The explanations on the pattern are very comprehensive, and with the SAL on the blog, you cannot fail on this dress (even with the side zip – I was SO happy when I managed it!)

So who is missing a piece of vintage and a dress in their wardrobe? Try the pattern, you will be amazed at what you can do! (and then come back and tell me all about it!)