Dress Inspired!

I'm feeling inspired by the dresses at Harvey Faircloth and just gotta share some photos.

I'm half way through my Built by Wendy Tunic dress (I am so loving the fabric combination and can't wait to finish the project).

Weekend Toy Bag

I just completed this toy bag for my son. He is always bringing toys (cars, trains, dinosaurs, sharks etc) out and always forgetting them so I told him I will make him a bag for toys. When we went fabric shopping in Osaka, he excitedly chose the quilted Disney's cars fabric for the flap. I attached a bright yellow bias to the flap, made the rest of the bag out of a red home decor fabric from Ikea and used velcro for attachment. The tutorial which is a dream to follow is from the mmmcrafts blog. This bag can be completed in a couple of hours. Have fun!

The First Project

This is the first dress I have ever made. It was my project while learning how to sew just before my princess was born. At 15 months, she is finally able to fit into the dress and I can't describe how proud and delighted I was when she wore it for a day of fun at the Botanic Gardens with the grandparents.  The fit was good and I love the ruffle sleeves. I will probably make another for her in a bigger size later.

Fabric Buying in Osaka

I've not been able to sew recently as I was busy planning and packing for a family vacation in Japan.  We came back on Saturday and I've been busy unpacking. I couldn't resist sharing the lovely fabric I bought while in Osaka and I have Jacqui from Blooming in Japan to thank for giving absolutely superb directions to the fabric store located at the Ebisubashi shopping street! I had my two kids with me and it was not easy for serious fabric shopping but in 5 minutes, I managed to select the four Japanese fabric shown in the photo above. I love the prints and the price even more. The four metres of fabric cost 2,800 Yen which is around US$7 per metre! That's probably half the price of what I'll get on etsy excluding shipping!

I returned to the shop on my last day in Japan and bought more. After all, with the baby food and crackers eaten up, I now have more luggage space for fabric:)

So I ended up with some hello kitty and disney's cars quilted material and even an echino print!

This is the first time I bought fabric while on holiday and that made me an absolutely happy woman!

It's Raining Cats!!! Ribbon Dress

My princess adores cats. Whether it's hello kitty or the neighborhood cat, they never fail to amuse her or  light up her twinkling eyes. She also can't stop meowing when she sees them and that always brings a smile to my face.

This Michael Miller Kitten fabric is just 'purr'fect for a new project and I followed the tutorial for ribbon sundress at Creature of Habit. It is probably one of the easiest dress I have made and I also learnt how to sew the french hem which adds comfort by eliminating any loose thread inside the dress. The tutorial is easy to follow and you can make a dress from size 6 months all the way to 8 years!

Here are more shots of the meow meow kitty kitty ribbon dress. My only adaptation is the use of scraps for the ribbon, simply because I thought it will look more interesting with more vibrant colors.

I believe this ribbon dress is a variation of the pillowcase dress. The pillowcase dress has its history in mothers making dresses out of used or vintage pillowcases for their daughters in an age of frugality. This is also a dress that will evolve into a top when the child grows and can be worn for years to come. 

Another Retro Reversible Dress

I mentioned how versatile the retro reversible dress is and couldn't help making more. This time in Size 2T. My dear girl is only 14 months old so it is kinda big for her.  This dress comes embellished with retro yo-yos on both sides and I personally love the vintage looking buttons on the back.

Sew love patterns

While I'm working on a couple of retro reversible dresses for girls, I've also been reading Built by Wendy Dresses, a newly launched book by designer Wendy Mullin.

There are loads of fabulous ideas and  I have already shortlisted three for my soon to do list and fabric for the tunic dress. Here are pictures of the three projects from the book.

At the same time, I've purchased some vintage patterns from etsy and am eagerly awaiting for their arrival.


Think I will be wearing a lot more dresses this year :P