Here’s another recently finished project, a winter dress just in time for spring! Or let’s just say I’m getting a head start for next autumn. ;)
The pattern for the bodice is McCall’s M5845 (without the low back), the skirt is just a full circle skirt with added pockets. The fabric is a wool herringbone (has a bit of an equestrian feel to it, I think…let me just go put on my riding boots!) and the dress is fully lined with a cream satin, and the hem and seams bound with satin bias tape.

Time to start thinking about some summer projects now!

by Austin Kleon

;)

A couple of snapshots from my trip to London last month. These are from two different areas that I always make sure to visit when I’m there (for excellent thrift-/antique-/market shopping), Notting Hill (above) and Spitalfields (below). :)

Pink flowers help me pretend that spring is near, even though there is nothing outside that looks remotely like it today.

This is the shirtwaist dress project, round two. I actually started this project before Christmas, with the aim of replacing a shirtdress I already had that I liked the idea of, but didn’t really love. I’m a big fan of shirtdresses but good ones are hard to find – the one I had was made in a thin, flimsy cotton that was usually a wrinkled mess before I even left the house, and the skirt was much shorter than I preferred, so I have been thinking about making a new one for a while. After a disastrous attempt at Simplicity’s 3039 (from 1959) (don’t ask!), I decided the easiest thing would be to make my own pattern for it, so this dress is partly based on an old dress I had (the shirt part) with a full, knife-pleated skirt.

I really like the pattern and think this has the potential to be the shirtdress, but the fabric is still not quite perfect. The weight and drape is right, but it’s still a little too wrinkle-prone and dust-attracting. So the project continues, when I find the right fabric I will make up a version #3!