It's Sew Dolly Clackett time!!!
It's like university all over again; the deadline is steadily approaching, I'm sewing like a sewing madman, I can't do simple maths to work out pleating, everything has gone wrong and I've even cried, BUT I HAVE DONE IT. Pulled it out of the bag with little room to breathe before the deadline, but it's here.
If you've been living under a sewing rock, you might not know what Sew Dolly Clackett is, (Shame on you.) but the lovely Sarah from Rhinestones and Telephones made a sewalong-come-wedding-present for the gorgeous Roisin of Dolly Clackett's upcoming nuptials. You make a dress inspired by her frankly substantial self-made wardrobe, and enter it on the Flickr for prizes and notoriety!
 |
| Fang Rock Dress | Green Ginger Dress |
I used the inspiration of Roisin's Fang Rock dress for the bodice and sailor theme, and her Green Ginger dress' pleats. Using the Butterick B5880 bodice (YES AGAIN) I tried to re-create the BHL Anna bodice (badly) she used, and the skirt is a 'self drafted' pleated dirndl.
Fully lined in white cotton, under stitched with a waist stay - this is technically my best-sewn item to date! The zip busted on me in the final try-on, which caused me to cry (it was late, okay?) but luckily I persevered on with a second zip and managed to get out of the house for Gareth to take a few photos outside our door - this is meant to be inspired, after all!
I've had a bit of amassive blogger crush on Roisin for a while now, and I make absolutely no secret of this - I love her humour and her face and her super-human sewing skills (I lose count of just how many dresses she makes in a month!) and her shoe obsessions have, much to my boyfriend's dismay, inspired me to buy countless pairs of ridiculous shoes. Her sewing also inspires me to actually come out of my anti-print comfort zone, and I think every dress will be a Sew Dolly Clackett dress from now on!!
I wore my Irregular Choice 'Bowtiful' shoes, which are knitted. She herself has a tweed version, and I can't agree with this statement more;
"...Totally impractical. You can't wear them when it's warm and you can't wear them when it rains. I love them though."
Fabric:
Cotton print fashion fabric
& cotton lining
Pattern:
Butterick B5880
& Self drafted skirt
Pattern Alterations:
Omitted neckline notches, graded up bodice size, adjusted neckline and kimono-style-sleeves added, replaced sarong skirt with pleated dirndl and in-seam pockets
Notions:
Invisible zip, bias binding waist stay
 |
| This gets me points, right? Door, pose, shoes, print fabric, shoes...? |
The fabric is a gorgeous cotton, bought from my local shop Rolls and Rems, and I ADORE it. It's got printed navy stripes and red anchors - who doesn't want that in a dress?
I've had a bit of a
I wore my Irregular Choice 'Bowtiful' shoes, which are knitted. She herself has a tweed version, and I can't agree with this statement more;
"...Totally impractical. You can't wear them when it's warm and you can't wear them when it rains. I love them though."
Cotton print fashion fabric
Butterick B5880
& Self drafted skirt
Omitted neckline notches, graded up bodice size, adjusted neckline and kimono-style-sleeves added, replaced sarong skirt with pleated dirndl and in-seam pockets
Melody ♪
Aw I absolutely love this dress! You look fab! x
ReplyDeleteMy God! That turned out cute! Love it with your hair.
ReplyDeleteIt was certainly worth a few tears, it is beautiful and paired with that red belt and those adorable shoes it screams perfectly. Well done!
ReplyDeleteAnchors! The fabric is fabulous and the final product is out of this world!
ReplyDeleteMelody, this dress is gobsmackingly good. You look truly gorgeous in these photos and it's not even funny how much I want that fabric! I'm sorry that the dress drove you to tears but if it's any consolation, a busted zip at that late stage would have made me cry too. In fact, I'm pretty sure I have cried over that very thing in the past!
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of how fabulous you look in this dress - it's perfect!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Love the dress, hair and shoes...you look amazing!
ReplyDeletehttp://stitchmevintage.blogspot.co.uk/
I LOVE your dress. The fabric is adorable and the shoes are a perfect match!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful dress and shoes! Gosh, your hair is amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Honestly, my hair wasn't taking any curl that day, otherwise it would have looked much more spectacular!
ReplyDeleteThank yooooou!
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for the shop to get this fabric in again, how cute would a button-down skirt look in it? Ahhh, nautical dreams.
Sadly the shoes would be bloody useless near water - honestly, who thought of knitted shoes?!
Thank you - I'd be lying if I said I wasn't smitten with it! And I do love when a print co-ordinates with my hair!
ReplyDeleteAw Jane, thank you so much!!
ReplyDeleteI suppose water and a nautical theme work.... ;D
ReplyDeleteBut thank you! I have an OCD tendency to colours, shoes should match my hair, belt and handbag!
This is gorgeous!! I hear you re the maths for the waist pleats! I had the same problem with my first Dolly Clackett dress. Me and maths aren't friends. I love your shoes, I would have twenty pairs if they made them in my stupidly small size. Lynne
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! My hair has actually been awful lately, it won't hold a curl, and so I was a bit upset that my hair wasn't perfect! Watch this space, though - more awesome hair will come.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteOh doll, thank you so much! It means a lot <3
ReplyDeleteI know, right? The fabric is the greatest - I'm checking weekly for it to come back in stock, I'll buy a whole roll!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you so much - out of this world is such a massive statement and that means so much!
Roisin, thank you for inspiring me to be less crap with fabric and embrace all the truly ridiculous prints I've always been too scared to wear!
ReplyDeleteAnd also for being a babe at all times, both in face, in talent and in being babe-ly kind!
Thank you so much - and zips are arseholes for this very reason! GODDAMN YOU, ZIPS.
Stupidly small is a UK size 1 or 2. It's a nightmare trying to get shoes. There are plenty of flat shoes in childrens sizes, but I'm not a child(!) and I don't do flats! I'm small enough as it is!! Barrett did a small size range, but it's closed now; but I've managed to get a few pairs of heels in the teenage range in New Look. There are some websites that sell small shoes, but they're eye-wateringly expensive. I'm surprised at what you said about size 6s, I thought most shops did 7 - 8 because Barretts ladies large sizes were 9 and 10. Lynne
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I love this dress so much! Despite all the frustration, it looks amazing on you and that fabric is gorgeous. Also,I am going to go track down a pair of those shoes because they're killer.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I just came over to your blog from Roisin's and have developed a total sewing blogger crush on you. You have such great style!
This is gorgeous and congrats on your prize!!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the dress. It looks amazing. Congratulations on your win!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your win. It's a great dress. I'm in love with Roisin too! Although I have no idea how to pronounce her name. She's also inspired me with prints. In fact, since starting to read her blog a few weeks ago I have bought 3 fabrics she's used. I'm a terrible sewist though! Your dresses are gorgeous! Particularly the black lace and this anchor one. And I love your hair and general style. It's also great to find a blog from someone who not only has similar style to me but also a similar body shape. I look forward to reading more about your sewing!
ReplyDeleteThank you and thank you again!!
ReplyDeleteRoisin is pronounced 'Roh-Sheen' as far as I know! It's a lot like Siobhan (Shiv-On) which looks so far from how it's pronounced that I often wonder how it even came about!
Don't think that you're "terrible" at sewing - you're learning! I'm the same - I've been sewing for nearly ten years and all but three of those years I have been beyond awful, but now I mostly know what I'm doing, since I made so many mistakes before now! My best tips are to really look at the clothing you own, and inspect the seams and construction, soon enough you'll be doing it with your eyes closed!
As for having someone with a similar body shape - I wish there were more of us! I think it's important to have a group of people in your specific field with a similar style and shape, so no one feels like the 'odd one out' of sorts. I know in my offline friend groups I'm always the only fat person, which sometimes makes me feel (although I'm not in any way) alienated...
Away from that, I'd love to see what you're making, do you have a blog?
Oh... I'm pretty bad at sewing! I failed home ec at high school! But apart from a couple of years of home ec round 12/13 I've had no help learning. My main issues seem to be making the neckline tidy and making it tidy where I attach the bodice to the skirt. I'm also pretty lazy when it comes to pressing my seams.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't have a blog. I don't think anyone would read it! I might eventually get around to making a Flickr account. Maybe. I've just bought butterick b6018 and intend to use the same green fabric that Roisin is wearing in the photo on this post.
All of my friends are super skinny too. I used to get annoyed when they found awesome dresses and whatnot. Especially if they got them on sale. But now that I'm adding to my wardrobe with my own stuff I tend to be the one people ask "where did you get that cute dress!?". It's pretty great! I have thought about taking a couple of photos of my dresses to show people but I'm a wee bit iffy bout having my photo floating around! I have one photo of one dress but I'm pulling a rude gesture so it's probably not entirely appropriate to share! Also, I'm the extreme opposite of photogenic!
The dress looks great, very impressed by self-drafting. I love the shoes too, Irregular Choice just don't fit me, but I love them all the same.
ReplyDeletewww.calascrafts.blogspot.com