Frida Fantastico

I have been waiting to blog this for ages. 

At Christmas my husband bought me 2m of this lovely fabric from Fancy Moon.

I decided I wanted a dress, but with only 2m and a very distinct pattern it had to be a slim skirted version.

I drafted a bodice using my own block, added some cap sleeves and used the pencil skirt from Gertie's first book.

I was really careful with the pattern placement on the bodice and managed to match the pattern on the bodice back quite well. Unfortunately I didn't have enough fabric to match the back of the skirt.

The bodice is lined with a light cotton muslin and I underlined the skirt with the same fabric. The shell fabric just needed a little extra body.

I finished the dress way back in February, but it had been too cold to wear. I did wear it a couple of weeks ago when we had the warm spell. Just waiting for it to get warm enough to have this in regular rotation.  

What would you make out of fabric like this?

2014's first make

I'm finally posting the top I made over the Christmas break. It's the bow blouse from Gertie's book for better sewing.

I've made this before in a slinky silk and decided to make it in something more substantial. This version is made in a soft curtaining fabric from Terry's Fabrics. I loved the ditsy print and originally wanted to make a dress with it, but didn't have quite enough fabric, so I settled for the bow top. I made a straight size 6, the only alteration I made to the pattern was to enlarge the neckline slightly.  I got the butting from Helen at Grosgrain Green in the spring sewing swap last year, they were from The Polished Button and are a perfect match for the fabric.