Minerva Makes

Two Sewing Sisters are proud to be Brand Ambassadors for Minerva.  Fabric for the projects featured in this blog has been provided by Minerva.  The pattern selection, design and photography are taken by Two Sewing Sisters

Vogue 9328 in Minerva Dynamic Brushstrokes

We loved working with the Minerva exclusive print! As you might have seen from our previous makes we love working with polished cotton. The finish on the surface gives a rich effect but you still get the comfort of wearing natural fibres and this version is 100% cotton. This gorgeous print is called the Dynamic Brushstrokes. For this make we chose Vogue 9328 and went with View C. See more about this make here.

Papercut Patterns Palisade Pants and Juno Jacket 

The Palisade Pants are one of those patterns we had been watching and seeing many amazing versions of but hadn’t taken the plunge yet. We loved making the Palisade Pants and Juno Jacket as part of the Minerva Sewing Kits.

The sewing kits for the pants and jacket included the sewing pattern, beautiful purple linen fabric and all notions (aka all those pesky parts you have to collect but are absolutely essential for success), interfacing, the perfect width and type of elastic, a new pack of machines for your sewing machine, fun coloured safety pins and the matching Guterman thread. See more about this make here.

Green Rain Jacket

We fell in love with the green leaf print of this fabric as soon as we saw it! As lovers of green, the contrast with the white and black pattern was eye-catching. The canvas fabric is 45% cotton and 55% linen with a vinyl overlay. 

The Eden Coat is a fully lined, raglan sleeve rain jacket, with a hood and multiple pocket options. One of the features we loved was the shaped and lined hood. We made the short version, with flat pockets (with pocket flaps), zipper and optional storm flaps. We can’t wait to wear it on many rainy days to come! See more about this make here.

White Floral Poplin

This fabric is just what we needed to kick off our summer wardrobe sewing. The fabric is the Lady McElroy Marlie Cotton Lawn Fabric, a light woven non-stretch 100% cotton fabric. This sweet floral print has a black background and a small repetitive flower pattern with raspberry, lemon and cornflower blue centres.

For this dress, we used the bodice and skirt of the vintage pattern Butterick 5677. It is a semi-fitted design with a below the knee-length hem. The round neckline has a slit at the front that is secured with a button fixture and loop. The sleeves we added to the bodice was the short sleeve version from the vintage dresses pattern Simplicity 8335. It had an additional bit of gathering in the sleeve head which we liked and to keep in line with the finishings on the rest of the garment we also put elastic in the hem. See more about this make here.

Dashwood Studio Zadie

Zadie, ohhh Zadie! With over 10.5 THOUSAND photos of this pattern on the Instagram hashtag, needless to say, it has been on our radar for a while. We finally made one, and we are hooked!
Since making this jumpsuit last week, every time we talk about a fabric or a “creative vision” we imagine making a Zadie. The phrase “imagine if we made this into a Zadie” has been used in our household more than seven times this week (… and this isn’t an exaggeration!). See more about this make here.

Parrot Poplin

This fabric is just what we needed to kick off our summer wardrobe sewing. The fabric is the Lady McElroy Marlie Cotton Lawn Fabric. A light woven non stretch 100% cotton fabric. When we first saw this fabric, the bright coloured print of the dress attracted us to the fabric. The vibrant colours of birds and leaves against the navy background were mesmerising in the product photos and even more in real life!

We used Vogue 8347. This vintage Vogue pattern does not have a date, but we guess it is from the late 1980s. After working from home for almost 18 months, comfort is the key motivation in the garments we make. The pattern is a very loose-fitting flared pullover dress. The top of the dress has a self-lined yoke, with buttons creating an opening on one shoulder. See more about this make here.

Two-piece checks

We are so excited to finish this vintage inspired two piece outfit just in time to wear it before the weather gets too warm!

For the skirt, we used McCalls 5113, with the copyright year of 1976. It is an A-line skirt, with a centre back zipper and pointed patch pockets. The front skirt panels are cut on the cross of the fabric, allowing the check of the fabric to sing proud as a feature, as the 45-degree angles of the check line up down the centre front seam.

For the top, we used Butterick 3289, with the copyright year of 1985. The top is loose-fitting with dropped shoulders and ¾ sleeves. The pattern originally had buttons down the centre back.
However, we really wanted the top to have an open-end zipper to make it easy to get on and off.

We used the Stretch Woven Suiting Fabric in Pink & Red. The grey background provides a solid base to allow the red, maroon and bright pink lines to pop. These vibrant colours allow for wonderful mixing and matching with other tops, skirts and pants. See more about this make here.

Floral Pajama’s

Over the last year, we have made a few sets of PJs from the McCalls Sewing Pattern 8056 pattern. The pattern has so many variables to mix and match to create your sleepwear set. For this project, I used the longer dressing gown, view B. I wanted to create a nighty that was light and floaty to wear underneath. This led me to explore our pattern collection and I came across our copy of the Ashton Top by Helen’s Closet Patterns.

For my fabric, we wanted something light and explored the Poplins selection on Minerva. This floral Art Gallery Fabric caught my eye in the Manhattans Glitz colourway. We loved the magenta-purple flowers with contrasting hues of aqua green and orange against a dark background. See more about this make here.

Red Plaid

What a fabulous check. This Polyester Viscose Suiting Fabric Black Red Grey has a bold pattern, complemented by an intense colour combination of black, grey and red. It was screaming to be made into a dress for work.

The challenge to constructing Butterick 5851 is the underarm gusset. Gussets provide a little extra room to enlarge certain areas of garments. In a pattern like Butterick 5851, the bodice and sleeve are in one piece and cut on the cross. So the gusset adds some extra space for the sleeve and arm movement. You may be thinking – wait, that isn’t the skirt to Butterick 5851? You are right. It is in fact our FAVOURITE skirt pattern, Vogue 1743.  Check out the pieced sleeve head! See more about this make here.

Edith Smock

The navy colourway of this poplin has white, lavender and coral paisley shaped repeated paisley shapes. The fabric is 112cm wide and is made from 100% Cotton.

The Edith Smock is a zero-waste design with all the pieces interlocking and cut from a rectangle of fabric. Traditional pattern making has a lot of curves and abstract shapes that do not interlock very easily from a Zero Waste perspective. For the Edith Smock Pattern Union has created there is a clever approach to forming the shapes we need to fit our bodies. Check out the pieced sleeve head! See more about this make here.

Black Crepe Floral

This beautiful black floral polyester crepe features a white floral design with dark red features and a green leaf pattern. The fabric is 150cm wide with no stretch for this 100% polyester crepe. This fabric was easy to work as was easy to stitch with a new shape needle to prevent any pulls. For a crepe fabric, it held its shape well when pressed.

When Vogue 1633 was released I loved the line of the dress.  A fitted waist with an A-line skirt and large statement sleeves.  The stand collar allowed to fall into the drape of the fabric was a nice detail.  The closure of the dress is a zipper at the centre back.  Instead of the recommended press studs, I used vintage buttons with an elastic loop for the closure at the sleeve cuff and neckband.  See more about this make here.

Ruby Brocade

Our most recent project has been working with this stunning ruby and taupe brocade with a metallic feature through it.  This woven fabric is 94% Polyester, 6% Metallic and part of the deadstock range stocked by Minerva. The Marta dress is the latest pattern release from Schultz Apparel.  For our version, we selected the style that has a fitted bodice with a beautiful square neckline and a straight skirt that features a split to above the knee.  The full-length sleeves have a small amount of gathering in the head of the sleeve and bellow around the forearm before coming in at the wrist. See more about this make here.

Blue Everest Coat

Once Erin saw this bright blue wool, she knew it was time to tackle her sewing ‘Everest’. Blue is one of her favourite colours to wear. The yellow and white line through the fabric breaks up the bold colour and provides a vibrant texture to the fabric. We decided to make the fabric into Butterick 5966. It has a flattering fit and flare shape and is fully lined. The pattern did have its complexities with side pockets, two-piece sleeve and fly button closing.  See more about this make here.

Schultz Apparel Paisley Dress

For this mash up of Schultz Apparel patterns, Lauren used this stunning Navy Paisley Cotton Poplin Fabric. She really wanted to use the wrap bodice from the Ottilia pattern, it has a great cross over because it does not sit too open with bust darts and long waist ties. We love the long Minna sleeve! The fullness is fantastic with gathering at the sleeve head and into the wrist. For this version, Lauren used elastic around the wrist and created a stitched casing. For the skirt, by selecting to start with 3.5m it meant she could do a tiered gathered skirt. The bottom tier contained 3 times the width of the fabric the top tier was twice the width. This was then gathered into the waist of the bodice. See more about this make here.

Navy Floral Fit and Flare

Hunting through the pattern box, Erin came across Vogue Pattern 1743. She was attracted to this pattern by the large external pockets cut on the bias, complemented with a flared skirt (that wasn’t circular or gathered, which is also perfect for work!). We have no doubt this dress is the first of many Vogue 1743 skirt and pocket combinations Erin will make for work! Paired with Butterick 6410 it was the perfect combination for this navy floral polished cotton. See more about this make here.

Tear Drop Atlas Top

It felt like time for a fun causal top in our make list and this Camelot Fabrics Cotton Poplin Fabric Navy was perfect! We have made the Atlas Top from Stitch Witch Patterns before (see here) and really loved the detail in the style. It is also a quick and easy pattern to sew together with no fastenings. See more about this make here.

Navy Jacquard

For this make, we used Woven Jacquard Fabric Navy with Simplicity 8594, which we have made before and loved the style. The pattern has two bodice options a crewneck with slit and raglan sleeve or a more open halter style. The skirt can be made in straight or flared style and has pockets in the side seam (yes pockets!). See more about this make here.

Floral Wrap Dress

This Lady McElroy, Marlie Cotton Lawn Fabric is light and breathable, perfect for a summer dress. Initially, we planned to make a vintage summer dress with a fitted bodice and a very full skirt. Once the fabric arrived, we changed our mind and decided to make McCalls Sewing Pattern 8036 instead. We wanted to make sure the pattern of the fabric was allowed to shine and not be overshadowed by a more complex bodice or the density of a very full skirt. See more about this make here.

Striped Vogue Skirt

When we saw the Stretch Suiting Fabric, we knew it would be perfect! The double line of a solid and dotted line combination within the fabric, provided a wonderful texture to the material while also providing the feature we were looking for in more subtle contrast. The rich plum colour provided a sophisticated colour, that wasn’t the classic black and white stripe combination.

We have had #vogue1683 sitting in the pattern tub waiting to find the perfect fabric. We paired the skirt with a matching top, adapted from the bodice of #butterick6556. See more about this make here.

 Printed Linen Viscose

As soon as Lauren saw this Linen Viscose Blend Fabric Sage Green she knew what she wanted to make. A new pattern from McCalls called Sasha, pattern number 8036. The variation Lauren made had the Asymmetrical button feature, shoulder bodice tucks, above elbow length sleeves featuring darts in the sleeve head with an A line skirt that finishes below the knee. See more about this make here.

 Fleur-de-lis Blue Printed Cotton

The Copen shade of blue was a beautiful balance of the colourway with the lightly washed blue providing a contrast to the white pattern. For this project, I was itching to make a shirt dress of some variety. Lauren loves a shirt dress! We find them a great style for work as they have a professional appearing with the button detail and collar but keep a feminine style with a skirt. Lauren had been wanting to make Butterick 6090 for quite a while with a love for the detail around the neck and the elbow length sleeve had to create balance to the pleated style skirt for those cooler Spring days. See more about this make here.

Red Floral Jumpsuit

When we spotted this vibrant red background, with white and black abstract floral pattern on the Minerva website it reminded us of one of our favourite dresses we had purchased many years ago. We started to think about how we could take this stretched polish cotton and create a similar feel.

For the pattern, we hacked together the bodice of Butterick 6410 and jumpsuit pants from Vogue 9075. We had made the jumpsuit before and loved the style and fit of the pattern. However, we really wanted to add a collar to the jumpsuit. While we could have tried to attach a collar to the existing neckline, we decided to swap out the bodice pattern altogether. Instead, we used the bodice of Butterick 6410 which also meant that we were able to include the horizontal design feature across the bodice. See more about this make here.

Frocktober 2023

Frocktober is Australia’s is a month-long fundraiser created by the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF) to raise awareness and funds for vital ovarian cancer research.    If you have been following for a while you will know that we have taken on the Frocktober challenge of wearing a different dress every day in October.  We take the challenge of wearing a me made dress every day in October in support the OCRF. 

Looking for more frock inspiration? Check out our 2019 Frocktober here, our collaboration with Alexandra Nea with a Frocktober Fabric print here,

McCalls 7969 in Minerva Exclusive Blazing Bouquet Viscose Challis Fabric

Ah the popular McCalls 7969.  We finally got the chance to create it after watching so many other fabulous makers create their version of it. Here are the details of our version 

Fabric: Minerva Exclusive Blazing Bouquet Viscose Challis Fabric

As Minerva Makers (link), we were looking forward to creating something with this vibrant Blazing Bouquet design that is exclusive to Minvera. For this dress, we chose the viscose challis base cloth.

Viscose is a fibre that is derived from wood pulp, making it a natural fabric that is more breathable than cotton.

Find out more about the fabric here.

Pattern: McCalls 7969

Sewing pattern cover of McCalls 7969

McCalls 7969 is a very loose-fitting dress that easily pulls over the head. We made view A, which is the view without any ruffles on the sleeve or hem. Given the fabric is so bright and colourful, we didn’t think it needed the extra ruffles.

You can find the pattern on the Minerva site here.

Finished M7969

For this fabric we would highly recommend making sure you have sharp needle in your sewing machine as the threads of the material can pull and cause damage to the print if it gets caught on a blunt needle. This dress will serve as a casual home dress for us.

Photo Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: McCall’s 7969
Fabric:  Minerva Exclusive Blazing Bouquet Viscose Challis Fabric

Simplicity 9175 in Minerva Exclusive Floral Resort Crush Velvet Stretch Knit Fabric

This new range of stretch velvet from Minerva is positively delicious so we had to give it a go!

Fabric: Minerva Exclusive Floral Resort Crush Velvet Stretch Knit Fabric

The new Velvet Stretch Knit fabrics come in all our favourite Minerva Exclusive Prints. We are slowly making our way through all of the wonderful Minerva Exclusive Prints in the different fabric types. This one is the floral Resort Print! It has so many wonderful colours, with the greens, pink, yellow, red and blue all standing out against the black background. See more about the fabric here.

Pattern: Simplicity 9175

We made Simplicity 9175 view A, with the long sleeves (without the slits in the arms) and pareo wrap across the front of the skirt. In the last year we have started making more knit garments. The wonderful thing about knit fabrics is that they can mostly be sewn on four thread overlocker. For this dress, we did a combination of machine and overclocking. Find your copy on Minerva here.

Finished Make

We ‘bagged out’ the skirt panel first, stitching the edge of the skirt piece and hem with ride sides together. Then turned to the right side and stitched onto the waistband (consistent with the instructions when you aren’t lining the skirt), then stitched both into the side seams. Otherwise the construction of the dress remains the same. There is more bulk in the side seam which includes the skirt seam – to address this we stitched on the machine first, then cut back the seam allowances before overlocking

Photo Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: Simplicity 9175
Fabric: Minerva Exclusive Floral Resort Crush Velvet Stretch Knit Fabric

Style Arc Loungewear in Minerva Exclusive Floral Expression Viscose Challis Fabric

Secret Pjs? Not so secret PJs? We will let you decide with this loungewear set in Viscose Challis

Fabric: Minerva Exclusive Floral Expression Viscose Challis Fabric

For this project as always in the Minerva Kits it had everything we needed! The absolute essential is the Minerva exclusive print quality Viscose Challis, a feature red cotton velour for the bands, pre-made (thank goodness) piping with bias binding for features in the pockets and the edge of the bands. Find the kit here.

Pattern: Style Arc Loungewear

This set is a combination of the Style Arc Sewing Pattern Loungewear patterns which includes the PJ Pant, PJ Shirt and Robe.

Finished Make

Photo Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: Style Arc Sewing Pattern Loungewear patterns which include PJ Pant, PJ Shirt and Robe.
Fabric:  Minerva Exclusive Floral Expression Viscose Challis Fabric

See more like…

Adrift Shift dress pattern by Gracie Steel constructed by Two Sewing Sisters

Adrift Shift Dress by Gracie Steel

We were excited to be invited to be part of the testing team for the new pattern release from Gracie Steel.  This dress is a great beginner make with a loose fit.  It has simple bust darts and a tie feature at the top of the centre-back keyhole.

Adrift Shift Dress Design

Adrift Shift Dress by Gracie Steel

The Adrift Shift Dress sewing pattern is a classic and timeless shift dress. This shape was a staple of the 60s and continues to stand the test of time.

The swing bodice shape features a bust and shoulder dart. You can choose a round neck or sweetheart’s neckline with a back keyhole and tie feature.

Gracie encourages hacking of her patterns but for the pattern testing, we wanted to create the pattern just like the original design with the round neck for the first time we made it. However, we have a few hacks up our sleeve and can’t wait to see the different versions that come through in the #adriftshift on Instagram.

Fabrication

The pattern is described as being suitable for a range of fabrics, both knit and woven, including cotton, linen, and silk or jersey.

We went through our stash to find a fabric looking for a bold print that would be a great showcase for this dress. We came across this canvas from Nerida Hansen that we had purchased at a Finders Keepers Market in Melbourne a few years ago.

When we were testing this pattern the fabric requirements had not been released so we worked out that we would need two lengths of the dress, as we assumed the front and back dress pieces would not fit side by side.

The fabric we found was not quite wide enough to place them side by side. As a result, we made the width of the doubled-over section and were the fold the width of the dress so that we could keep the long length for another project.

Once we had placed the front and back dress pieces we then fitted the facing pieces in around the larger pieces.

Construction

The instructions provide great step-by-step instructions for a beginner sewer and a “Super Speedy Construction Summary” for those more familiar with garment construction. If you would like some more support for the construction you can also watch Gracie’s sewing along video on YouTube.

For the back keyhole feature, the facing piece provides great coverage of the seam. It is a great technique to mark the centre backline and then stitch either side of the chalk line before cutting it open.

Finished Adrift Shift Dress

Adrift Shift Dress Details

Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: Adrift Shift Dress by Gracie Steel
Fabric: Canvas print from Nerida Hansen

Mona Dress by Schultz Apparel in Gertie Border Print

We joined the pattern testing team for the release of the Mona Dress by Schultz Apparel. 

Pattern: Mona Dress by Schultz Apparel

The Mona pattern is a PDF dress pattern that features a V cutout at the front neckline and V shape center front dart. The bodice is fully lined, and the dresses are closed with a Center Back zipper. The skirt options includes circle skirt, pencil shirt or gathered skirt. See the pattern on the Schultz Apparel website here.

Fabric: Amalfi Coast border print cotton sateen print by Gertie from Spotlight

We had purchased this Amalfi Coast Border print by Gertie from Spotlight many years ago and were waiting for the perfect project. When we saw this pattern testing come through were knew which fabric were were going to use. There were so many elements to showcase this bring including the gathered skirt for the border print, clouds for the bodice and lemons in the strap.

Finished Make

The construction of the dress went well, just make sure to clip the center v point before understitching and check the angle of the shoulder straps to ensure they don’t feel like they are slipping for you body shape. What a fun dress! We loved the dart detail in the bodice and will be using this bodice pattern again.

Photo Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: Mona Dress by Schultz Apparel
Fabric:  Amalfi Coast border print cotton sateen print by Gertie from Spotlight

Christmas Outfits for 2022

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

If you have been following along with your makes over the past few years you will know but this family tradition. If this is a new project for you we are excited to welcome you to our family Christmas! One of our favourite family traditions is that every year we make matching Christmas outfits.

Christmas outfits is something we’ve been doing in our family since our Nan made Christmas shirts and dresses for our Grandad and parents before we were born! You can see last year’s red Liberty outfits here and see the historical collection here. This get pulled out every year as every December you will see us wearing the outfits from previous years.

We continued the tradition of family Christmas outfits continued this year. This year we were all home together in North East Victoria for the first time in a long time. We celebrated this with a green backed echidna print by Jocelyn Proust.

Lauren in Vogue 1723 and Fergus

Lauren made the cotton into Vogue 1723 and put elastic around the sleeve hem instead of using the sleeve stay for a more casual look

We have made this dress before but in more formal fabric for Lauren’s Myer Millinery Award entry and Erin silk fabric from @injalakarts for the Cup Eve celebration but in cotton. It is such a comfortable cut especially for that big Christmas lunch and the cotton sits so well in the dramatic sleeve and neck tie.

Fergus practised this posing and sitting very patiently for his photo his year. If you missed his efforts last year check out our blog post. Let’s just say there was a lot less handsome puppy face and a lot more fluffy happy tail. With his sit more solid than ever thank you to the team at ProDog training Fergus wore a Two Sewing Sisters original dog bow tie pattern that included a D ring for his lead and quick-release buckle.

Robyn in McCalls 7542 and David McCalls 6044

For Dad’s shirt, we used McCalls 6044 which features a shaped body, curved hem, collar with stand and front placket detail for the buttons.

This year Mum chose to create her Christmas dress this year using McCalls 7542 bodice and attached a box pleat skirt with pockets. We have made a few versions of hacking this McCalls pattern into a dress, the first was this blue checked number, check it out here.

James in McCalls 6044 and Erin in Schultzapparel Senna

James chose his go-to collared shirt pattern McCalls 6044 which is a popular shirt pattern in our make set at the moment.

Erin made a variation of the Schultzapparel Senna. We were part of the pattern testing team for this Schultz pattern, you can see this make here. For this Christmas version, we straightened the waist seam and created a tiered skirt but kept all of the great features of the bodice which include a fastening-free finish with very clever ties.

Photography Notes of Christmas Outfits

Photographer: James Christie
Dress Fabric: Jocelyn Proust green background with echidna with Santa hat Christmas fabric
Patterns:
James – McCall’s 6044
Erin – Schultzapparel Senna with tiered skirt
David – McCalls M6044
Robyn – McCalls 7542 with pleated skirt
Lauren – Vogue 1723
Fergus – Two Sewing Sisters drafted doggy bowtie

Stakes Day, Family Day!

Those who have been following us for a while will know our family loves an opportunity for matching outfits. There is no better opportunity than Stakes Day!  This year we went with a striped fabric that Erin sourced from DK Fabrics in Adelaide.  If you are in the area and looking for fabric stores check out her Must Visit Fabrics Store in South Australia blog.  

Lauren and Erin’s Outfit 

For our stakes day outfits, we chose patterns with panelled sections so we could play with the direction of the stripes in the fabric.

Lauren wore Vogue 9357 which is designed by Carlos at Vogue Patterns. We took the band out of the waistband as we didn’t need the extra panel or else it became too busy with all of the stripes. We utilised the front seam and cut the panel on a 45-degree angle and matched the stripes up the middle when it was stitched together (a nervous but rewarding moment)

Erin created a striped version of the Vicki Sews Lorraine bodice and added a gathered skirt with a horizontal band around the hem. The hem panel was the width of the crinoline we had on hand, we like adding crinoline into the hems of some of the dresses to give a fuller hem to some light fabrics.

Robyn and Davids’s Outfit

We don’t often have the opportunity to share what we sew for our parents, but after ourselves, they are the people we sew for the most!

With all of these garments, we were looking for a chance to showcase the panelling with the stripes of the fabric. For Mum, we returned to Vogue 1312 which is a pattern we had made for her in a light blue textured linen we love the bottom band and then insert the chance to cut it with the stripe going around meeting an up and down of the bodice running into the skirt was a great combination.

We love making Dad a matching shirt but for this occasion, he wanted to wear a tie so we created a self-drafted, Two Sewing Sisters tie that he could wear with tan chinos and a white shirt. The weather was surprisingly cool and we had just finished making him Simplicity 9191 in blue wool which we quilted.

Stakes Day Family Outfits

Melbourne Frocktails

In July we headed to Melbourne Frocktails!  We have seen this wonderful event for several years but this is the first time we got tickets.  Melbourne Frockails is an annual cocktail party for people who enjoy sewing their own garments so the stakes are high for the dress code.  Obviously, me-made is a must!  

The brief was “Sew your finest outfit, and come to chit-chat to sewing peeps from near and far, over cocktails and canapes.” Th event was hosted at The Bank on Collins Street in the heart of Melbourne. Eliza joined us for the event creating a stunning version of By Hand London’s Anna dress in dark green velvet.

Lauren’s Frocktails Dress

We started this dress in 2019 for an event but didn’t get it finished in time – so it got its first outing for this event. I wanted to create something whimsical with a maroon striped lace I had found a Darn Cheap Fabrics and the vision became creating a “maroon fairy”. I was particularly inspired by Needle and Thread dresses with the light lace in gathered ruffles. I had been collecting some images on our Pinterest Board to bring together the concept.

The Pinterest Board

Once I had picked some elements to focus on I started with the bodice of New Look 6494. I liked the rounded bodice detail and sleeves. To test the design lines I took the line drawing from the pattern, which you can just see a faint line of in the sketch and overlaid the additional ruffles.

I wanted to create a soft neckline so I opened up the neckline line and added some gathering into the pattern piece then I used these stand collar pattern piece back to front and added a ruffle at the top edge.

The skirt was formed with three gathered tiers onto a poplin backing (thank you gathering foot, you lifesaver). I wanted to make sure the backing material was not too heavy and take away from the light characteristics of the lace.

The bodice was constructed with the lace basted on a matching poplin which was then treated as one fabric and bagged out with an interfaced support that included boning.

The finished dress

Erin’s Frocktails Dress

Having created many amazing formal dresses for events across the last few years Erin pulled out a favourite that she originally made for the Women in Law Awards when she was nominated for Law Student of the Year. The pattern is Vogue 9343 and we altered the bust to allow for an overlap of the bodice pieces. It is constructed in a printed taffeta weight fabric that was sourced from Darn Cheap Fabrics.

PHOTOGRAPHY NOTES

Photographer: James Christie
Headpieces: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
Erin and Lauren’s Dress: Fabric from Darn Cheap Fabrics 
Lauren’s Bodice Pattern: New Look 6494
Erin’s Dress Pattern: Vogue 9343
Eliza’s Dress Pattern: By Hand London Anna
Eliza’s Fabric: Spotlight