Turquoise Roses dress - me-made May dress no 4

I bought the fabric for this dress from Barry's in Birmingham in August 2014... and it's been waiting for me to make it up ever since.  I absolutely love it and I think the reason I've delayed using it has been that I didn't want to make it up and then wish I'd chosen a different pattern.  I decided to use the same Sew Over It Betty bodice / Butterick vintage 2248 skirt combo as for my navy lemons dress (one of my favourites) which I knew would work - problem solved!  It's a lovely cotton by John Kaldor.

This came together quickly although I did have to adjust the pleats to fit the bodice waist, but that is not difficult to do.

Unfortunately I don't have any more fabric in my stash that I could use to make another - it needs 58"+ width for the skirt - so I might break my self-imposed buying ban if I see something suitable.

So, photos.

Firstly without a petticoat,

And secondly with.

I know I'm going to wear this a lot, despite the time it takes to iron!

Mortmain dress

This dress was a serious disappointment, largely because it didn't fit.  I love this fabric - it's the fourth dress I've made from this print (the others are here and here) and the colour is just gorgeous. Going by the measurements on the pattern envelope I cut a size 10, and really I should have taken notice of the fact that the instructions say it is close-fitting.

Whilst I didn't find it uncomfortable it could do with a bit more ease (or me being a bit slimmer); the bust darts are also too high, although it doesn't notice with the allover print and it doesn't adversely affect the line of the dress.  The worst problem though was that the armholes are too high cut at the front.  So... having completely finished this apart from sewing down the bodice lining, I tried it on and discovered all these fit issues.  I unpicked the bodice side seams and armholes, created alternative bodice front and back pattern pieces (basically by looking at myself in the mirror wearing this dress and memorising where and how much fabric to remove around the armholes), and recut and resewed the bodice.  This was fiddly and didn't really make much of an improvement so I've decided to get rid of the bodice and turn this into a skirt - I've got enough fabric left to make a waistband, I just need to buy a skirt zip.

As I said at the beginning - a disappointment.

Betty dress

Another stash busting dress, this is a sew over it Betty made with rose print fabric in a lovely apricot colour which these photos don't really do justice to, it looks great with navy blue and sea green.  Here it is on its own

And here with a petticoat.

This was an easy make (although I lined the bodice rather than use the facings which came with the pattern) and I'll probably make another one sometime next year.

Me made May week 1 round-up

Well, I need to catch up here, it's already day 23 of me-made May!  So, without further delay, rewind to the beginning of the month.

1 May - Roses are Red dress and Sam Stewart cardigan.  I blogged about the dress here, but the cardigan I only finished last month and it will get its own post later.  This was the first time I'd worn this dress this year - it's not really one I would wear in the winter so I'm very glad that Spring is here because I love it!

Day 1 - Roses are Red dress and Sam Stewart cardigan

 2 May - Pink tape measures dress and Shell Pink cardigan.  I wrote about the dress here, and the cardigan here and here.  This cardigan is lovely and warm, although it has pilled a bit...

Day 2 - Pink tape measures dress and Shell Pink cardigan

3 May - Noro cardigan and jeans - which won't fit on Myrtle so they didn't get photographed.  It was flippin' cold and this cardigan is nice and warm!  I haven't blogged about it because I made it back in 2012, before I started writing this blog.  It's just a basic stocking stitch cardigan really - not much more to say about it than that!

Cardigan made with Noro Silk Garden yarn

4 May - Dotty Anna dress and Pecan Primrose cardigan.  Dress blogged here, and cardigan here.  I really like both of these - separately and together!

Day 4 - Dotty Anna dress and Pecan Primrose cardigan

5 May - Garden Birds dress and Blue Palm Leaf cardigan.  Dress blogged here, and cardigan blogged here.  It says something about the weather we had at the beginning of the month that I was wearing wool cardigans rather than lighter weight rtw ones.

Day 5 - Garden Birds dress and Blue Palm Leaf cardigan

6 May - Paper Roses Cambie dress and Sam Stewart cardigan.  Again.  Dress blogged here.  I am so pleased with this cardigan - it goes with quite a lot of my dresses!

Day 6 - Paper Roses Cambie and Sam Stewart cardigan

7 May - Pink Polka Dot Butterick 5748 and an rtw cardigan - the weather must have been warmer!  Dress is blogged here.

Pink Polka Dot Butterick 5748 and rtw cardigan

And there we have it - a week's worth of outfits; only two more catch-up me-made May posts to go!

Ditto roses

Here are two dresses which I've made using the same fabric in two different colourways.  I love this print and have got it in another two colours as well, although I haven't made them up yet.  I bought these two from Ditto Fabrics in Brighton - a lovely shop in the North Laine area with lots of gems and well worth a visit.  As is Brighton of course - I love it.

The first one is an Elisalex which came together very quickly since I've made quite a few of these now.  Not much to say about it other than I love it! 

Lime green roses Elisalex

The second one is from a vintage Simplicity pattern, although I've cut the skirt 8" shorter.

I love the cover art on this, the finished dress not so much sadly.  I feel a bit meh about it although I can't quite put my finger on why - I'll give this some thought!  It's been nearly finished for ages and has been sitting waiting for me to hem it for weeks.  I've finally got around to it though, and so now it's finished.

Turquoise roses dress

 I think I'll put it away for the winter now and maybe the passage of time will endear it to me more.  I hope so!  And now I have another dress to hem...