V&A Fashion - Fun times in London town!

**WARNING PICTURE HEAVY**

I had a fantastic week off work, which I really needed as work is super crazy at the moment.  I went to visit my lovely friend Kylie and we had some fun times in London including visiting the V&A.  We went to the Ballgowns exhibit and spent a long time examining the dresses in detail.  We weren't allowed to take pictures unfortunately so I only have photos of the year round fashion exhibition but I might cobble together a post as I have a few books which featured some of the dresses in the special exhibit.

If you go to London it is well worth checking out the fashion section of the V&A, they have some really spectacular gowns from every era.

Gorgeous foil embroidery 

Underwear and feather filled sleeves

Muslin wedding dress

Really in love with this black and white gown

Looks like an evil queens gown

1920's negligee 

Woollen swimsuits

Schiaparelli

Christian Dior's New Look

Ostrich feathers and glitter

Polka dot chiffon with ruffles down the back

I hope you made it through the pictures!

Beaded Headband

For the autumn Something Borrowed magazine issue I have written a DIY article on how to make your own beaded headband.  I hesitate to call it a tiara as I don't really think this sort of thing is although lots of people wear them as tiaras.  I think a tiara is more like a crown and this is more an embellished headband, hence the title.

This was really fun to make.  I got all the pearl and bicone beads and the base band on ebay and then surfed through Etsy for general ideas.  I really liked the idea of a repeated pattern and I used a similar beading method for the shoe clips I made for the last issue.

Supplies, 3 sizes of pearl, clear bicone beads, wire, snips and pliers, headband

I played around with 3 sizes of pearls until I had something I wanted then had a go.  I am really happy with the results and I enjoyed playing about with my camera to get some good shots too.

Shiny shiny pearls

I am really loving all things weddingy at the moment!

Lilac Love Wedding Party Dress - Finished!

Ta Dah!  It's done!  Ok so it was actually finished a  long time ago and the wedding has happened and my lovely friends are on honeymoon in Vietnam as we speak!  But still.  Life has got crazy busy, both jobs have extra hours going and I haven't really had time to do much other than sleep and eat.  te next project might take a while.

Anyways, I got the dress done and I wore it to the fabulous wedding of my friends Em and Mark.  It really was a lovely day and the grooms speech was hilarious and moving at the same time.  I was really worried that the heart net would be too poofy for the dress and I would feel silly but it is actually fine and I shouldn't have felt self concious about it looking at these photos.

Side

Originally I was going to add a lilac ribbon at the waist, as per the inspiration picture but when I tried it, it just looked a bit too matchy-matchy.  The I thought cream or white would be better so dug through my stash and all I had was a cream lace I got from Hobbycraft a while ago.  I tried that and bingo!

Wonky lace!

It's not my best zip, it pulls at the waist, I think there is too much bulk there to get the stitches really close to the zipper.  The lace is wonky too.  I can't ever seem to get waist bands to match up!  I could easily have remedied this one but didn't notice until I had sewn the zip in, and there was no way I was taking it out again!  Maybe wonky waists are my signature!

Front

Back

I love how the neck ties came out, I find it suits my body shape and I don't worry about it falling down all time.  I don't really have any photos of me wearing it unfortunately,  I did find one from the brides mother, though it is not the best pic.

With my handsome boyfriend

I wore my amazing purple shoes for the church and most of the ceremony until the dancing got under way when I cracked out my flats as I just can't last in heels.

1 outift, 2 pairs of shoes!

Finally here is a gorgeous picture of the bride and groom.  The brides dress and the bridesmaids dresses were made by her very talented mum!  Isn't that pink colour fantastic?

Burda Style Magazine August 2012

Burda 08/12

Some interesting patterns in the August Burda, I still can't bear that we haven't had a proper summer yet and the magazines that are out are all autumn issues.  Hmph come on UK we want this indian summer we were promised!

Top 122A

 I don't particularly like the fabric of this one but I like the tie back detailing and I think it could be a really nice wardrobe staple.  (By the way I am trying out my new camera with these pictures so if they don't turn out too great it is most likely user error!)

Dress 115

A pretty floral dress this actually has a high-low (or mullet if you prefer!) hem which is very on trend.  Burda does seem to have got a lot better at picking up and incorporating current trends which is one reason why I like it so much.  Also I have been looking for a long sleeved dress pattern so this is pretty perfect.

Blouse 109 and Trousers 125

Doesn't this outfit remind you of something So Zo would wear?  High waisted sailor trousers and a bird print top.   I am thinking this top pattern could be pretty easy to sew up and it has a bit of a bat wing to it so it would be pretty comfy too.

Blouse 128

I'm not sure about the cuffs on this shirt but I really love the lace down the front.

Dress 133

I really like this dress, it is a silhouette that is around a lot at the moment and has a vintage feel.  It reminds me of Simplicity 2444 which I have made up in the past as my Emerald City dress. 

Tunic 133 and skirt 111C

A bit lazy to use the cover shot of this outfit again but I totally didn't realise it was a top and skirt and not a full dress.   Burda has done peplums a lot recently but I think this one is a pretty good balance and I really like that it is a bit longer at the back giving a bit of a bustle feel to it.  There is a black version of the top in the magazine too but for the life of me the picture did not want to come out.  It has a really cute lace collar which is a nice feature too.

Dress 121

I am in love with this red dress!  I am not sure if it is the colour but I really like it, the neckline darts and the 3/4 sleeves are really cute and the pencil style skirt is quite sexy.

Skirt 112

I like this outfit thought I would never wear a pullover vest like this but I think the skirt is quite sweet and having the pleat at the front would help you to walk in this kind of restrictive pencil skirt.

Jacket 119

I really like this jacket.  The picture doesn't really show you much of it to be honest but the line drawing is a sweet little round collared jacket with a central panel down the front.  I can imagine that this is a totally different fabric would have a different look rather than looking like a two-piece suit.  In navy with a red panel it could look very military.

Dress 107

This dress has some great details which again you can't see very well, this time because of the busy fabric.  It has a midriff section with gathering below which would hide a belly and soft gathers on the shoulders.  It does have a very vintage feel which makes sense as it is in the 'French Vintage' section but I can't say that there is much French about it, the rest of the section is more like an English lady of the manor.

Jacket 104, Top 122, Trousers 124A

My least favourite is this outfit.  It is apparently an 'Oriental Look' but to me it is just too much.  I hate the horrible bands on the coats sleeves and the floppy trousers with snakeskin boots?  Weird.  Each piece on their own might look ok but together?   No.

Lilac Love Wedding Party Dress - WIP1

I am lucky enough to have a week at the moment so I have been working on my party dress as the weeding is this Saturday!  EEK I am excited!  Pattern cutting took a long while compared to normal as I had to cut the lilac fabric on the grain and then try and line up the heart tulle so that it was straight on the grianline and would match at the side seams.  I only achieved minimal success but I don't think it looks too bad and the all important front panel is pretty perfect.

Pattern matching

Nice straight front lines

Just pinned here but the seams are not exactly matched though they are straight

I think my pattern matching went a bit awol as I forgot I couldn't just line the hearts up as it has the dots in between and I didn't allow enough room for the repeat.  Oh and my dress form is smaller than me, hence the overlap.

After the outer bodice fabric was sewn I started on the lining.  I am using the same lilac for the lining and instead of making boning channels as the pattern stated I used some matching grosgrain ribbon which I actually bought for another little project.  The bodice has plastic bones on each of the seams which will help to keep its shape and hopefully prevent wrinkles in the fabric and make it stay up better.

Lining with bones

Ribbon boning channels

Next I made up the halter straps for the bodice which I have made pretty wide as I prefer the look of wider straps and it will give me more support and less worry of my dress falling down while dancing!

Halter straps, not tied

I am pretty happy with how it is looking so far.  My boyfriend keeps telling me it looks too modest, he thinks the neckline comes up too high but I keep telling him I haven't done the top seam yet.  I am wondering whether to take a bit extra out at the front to make it lower or perhaps make the V a bit deeper?   Any suggestions?

Olympic fever, have you caught it?

My name is Sarah and I am an Olympics addict.  It first started with the amazingly crazy London opening ceremony with Mary Poppins defeating Voldemort and James Bond sky diving with the Queen.  Who wouldn't love that?  Then came the events and the gold medals started building up.  I have been working lates so missed a lot of tv coverage but the online text commentary has been fantastic and I havw spent a lot of time constantly refreshing my phone so see how the towers/racers are going.  Saturday meant I got to watch most of the day and see our wonderful GB athletes win 6 gold medals!  To support Great Britain this week I am sporting (get it!) the Stella designed team kit colours.

Lilac Love Wedding Party Dress Planning

This September is the wedding of my lovely friend Emma which I am so excited for.  Her very talented mother is making her wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses so I thought it was only right that I make my own dress for the wedding and evening shindig.

I wanted something summery that would work for the church service and stand up to A LOT of dancing in the evening.  She is the first of my uni friends to get married and her wedding is going to be like a huge reunion and knowing how much dancing went on at the hen weekend the reception is set to be rather active!  I had a look through my saved inspiration photos and found myself often coming back to this really cute dress from Modcloth.

Modcloth Walk with Me Dress

Sweet, no?  Then up popped this McCall's M5849 pattern on ebay which I had saved a search for as it was so highly recommended by Suzannah at Adventures in Dressmaking here, here and here and the similarity hit me right away.  I won the auction for no less than 99p, (!) after being prepared for a fight, and I am using it for the base of my dress.  The Modcloth version has the dotted lace making a sort of illusion neckline (which is hard to see on the form) but I am doing mine a little differently.  I decided to make it as a halter neck dress using the strapless dress pattern and adding straps as strapless dresses don't look very balanced on me as I have a bigger bust.  I really love the colours though so I found some cheap polycotton on ebay in a slightly pinker lilac but I had a bit of a nightmare trying to find some similar white spot tulle.

McCall's 5849 and lilac polycotton

The only ones I could find that looked right were on Etsy and were just too expensive for me.  So I widened my search a little and found this adorable heart print on Cheap Fabrics.   I couldn't resist it, plus it has glitter!  You can't really see the glitter in the picture but it is there and is just sprinkled over the tulle.  The problem with this is that it is quite a stiff tulle, more like netting really and is meant to be used for petticoats or tutus so it won't be the nice drapy tulle of the Modcloth version.  (I might not be using the correct terms but I think you know what sort of thing I mean!)

Heart flock tulle over the lilac

The polycotton is pretty thin though so the net might give it a little strength anyway.  I am not sure about the waistband bow yet, as my tulle is less white so I won't need to break up the white and it may be a little bulky at the waist anyway.  I am planning on making the straps in just the lilac (so it won't be scratchy) and the bodice will be lilac with the heart net sewn to it like an underlining.  The bodice will be fully lined and will have plastic boning to help it stay up and the net piece will be loose over the lilac layer of the skirt.  I am hoping to have the net shorten than the cotton like the original inspiration.  I have even had a bra fitting and got myself a new strapless bra to wear under it and to withstand the dancing!  heehee!  Plus it will help to fit it exactly to my shape and stop any over-spillage.  It will be interesting to see if this pattern would work as a strapless dress on me too but the halter will help if it is a little loose.