The last dress of summer 🌞 Okay… maybe it won’t be the last summer dress if Melbourne keeps up this hot weather! Our favourite thing about this dress is the cute back skirt ruffle. This pattern is simply to make, comfy to wear, and lets this super fun floral print shine 😍
Fabric: Emma Floral Cotton Linen from Drapers Fabrics
We picked up this lovely Summer fabric as a remnant at Drapers Fabrics in Fitzroy. The print is called Emma and is a lightweight linen with a cream background and vibrant multicoloured floral print. Made up of 20% Linen and 80% Cotton it was 145cm wide and made in Korea
Pattern: Vogue v9237
Vogue 9237 is a Very Easy Vogue Dress pattern with a loose-fitting pullover style that has a round neck with a button and loop closing at the back neck. The main feature is the back ruffle panel create a playful design element.
Finished Make
Photo Credits
Photographer: James Christie Media Pattern: Vogue 9237 provided by Sewdirect Australia Fabric: Emma Floral Cotton Linen purchased from Drapers Fabrics
We were very excited to attend the VRC Kennedy Oaks Club Lunch at Crown Palladium for the first time. Where did we start with our outfits for this ladies’ lunch? We went for a hunt in our stash and found two fabrics that were just waiting for the occasion. We created two Vogue patterns for these fabrics Vogue 1723 and Vogue 1884.
Vogue 1723
We had seen a fabulous outfit of silk blue organza created by Laura Wolfgang on Instagram and set out to create our own version. The outer dress is Vogue 1723 by Carlos at Vogue Patterns in embroidered tulle from New York when we were there earlier this year. The underdress is Vogue 1834 in a peppermint rayon blend from The Fabric Store.
Vogue 1884
The fabric for Lauren’s dress was purchased in Vienna and patiently waiting in our stash since 2018! The border style print called for a skirt that would showcase the lovely design. When Vogue 1884 came out we knew it was just the design for this fabric.
Photo Credits
Pattern: Vogue 1723 and Vogue 1884 Fabric: We wish we could remember the locations but sadly all we can offer is New York and Vienna. Millinery: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
We also got see see fellow sewer Bryony Bourke who was wearing a fabulous me made outfit!
We had the honour to be invited to attend the Cup Eve Reception at Government House. The evening celebrates the first Melbourne Cup run in 1861 when Victoria only began to find its feet as an independent colony. We chose to pull Vogue 1579 out of the cupboard and created a new Vogue 1802 for the occasion and pair it with pieces from Lauren’s millinery collection.
Vogue 1579 in Fabric Deluxe
Lauren wore a fabulous bird and butterfly with blue detail and a black background jacquard from Fabric Deluxe. We used Vogue 1579 to create the straight skirt with a fitted bodice and cape detail.
Vogue 1802
Erin wore Vogue 1802 a dress pattern from Sewdirect Australia that has a loose-fitting bodice with a neck tie and gathered dropped skirt. She stitched it up in a floral polyester crepe that we found in Spotlight.
Photo Credits
Photographer: James Christie Media Pattern: Vogue 1578 and Vogue 1802 Fabric: Blue and Black Jacquard from Fabric Deluxe and floral crepe from Spotlight Millinery: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
We had the honour of taking part in Sew Gorgeous which is a special collaboration between Songlines Art, Flying Fox Fabrics & Papulankutja Artists. This is the second year we have worked alongside a great team of makers in this project led by Songlines Art.
Fabric
We chose to work with the Seven Sisters print by Anwari Mitchell of Papulankutja Artists.
It is a digitally organic cotton fabric printed by Next State Print in Melbourne. The classic cotton is made from organic yarn and woven in a satin finish at 140cm wide.
The artwork by Anwari explains the creation of two constellations: the Pleiades and Orion. Find out more about Anwari’s work and the story behind the design on the Songlines Art website.
For the pattern, we looked through our pattern collection for a design that had a bodice that would showcase the fabric. The trick to this was that it doesn’t have too many design lines. We found Vogue 9343 and adapted the skirt to be A-line to better show off the material.
Construction
Cutting this fabric it was really important that we considered the pattern placement in this beautiful work by artist Anwari Mitchell. Enjoy watching us debating the print placement in the video and then see the pattern placement in the skirt captured in the photos below.
Finished dress
Sew Gorgeous Photos
Seven Sisters print by Anwari Mitchell of Papulankutja Artists Model: Jadene Croft Photographer: Nicholas Gouldhurst
We had the honour of being invited to our dear friends Max and Cassidy’s Wedding in New York! This called for new dresses, a winter black tie wedding in New York isn’t something we have hanging around in our closest. This was a wonderful opportunity to tackle more advanced Vogue Patterns! Off we headed to the fabric stores to find some inspiration for some wonderful fabric and patterns.
Erin in Vogue 1520
We couldn’t think of anything more fitting for a winter wedding than a full-length velvet dress!
We’ve seen Vogue 1520 by @badgleymischka in the pattern books for a while, but never had the opportunity until now to make it!
The pattern only has 5 pattern pieces for the outside layer, each a really unique shape given the side gathering! We sewed about 70% of the dress just on the four-thread overlocker and completed gathering stitches and hems on a domestic sewing machine.
We deviated from the pattern in two ways: 1. added gathering around the wrist (by extending the sleeve piece and using the same method of the side waist of the dress) instead of the lace feature. 2. removed the train to allow for maximum dance floor moves but kept the shaping at the back
Lauren Vogue 1908
A winter black tie wedding in New York was an excellent opportunity to tackle Vogue 1908 in a challenging fabric
This pattern is a wrap-style dress with a button-bodice closure and a wrap skirt. We loved this pattern for the self-covered button and collar feature, even though the self-covered buttons were challenging in the metallic georgette!
This fabric was tricky to work with and looking at the photos afterwards could use a popper on the left side seam to help hold the wrap strap into place. If you would like to follow along with the construction of this dress check out our Instagram Highlight here.
Credits
Photographer: James Christie Media Pattern: Vogue 1520 and Vogue 1908
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
We are excited to be working with Fabric Deluxe to showcase this beautiful fabric for this project. We really wanted to make something from the range of Fancies and Textured fabric from the Fabric Deluxe selection. When we came across their Bird and Butterfly Cobalt Jacquard and knew that was it!
Fabric Deluxe is a fabric store based in Melbourne and has an online store. They aim to stock lovely, wearable fabrics that fit into the real life of their customers. Their stock is a variety of different fabrics including linens, viscose and wools for everyday wear to more special occasion pieces, which they like to call fancies. The approach of the Fabric Deluxe team is first that they are sewers too and understand the dedication of making a handmade garment.
Fabric Details
This fabric called for something special! The cobalt and blue tone pattern against the black background is such a strong design. The pattern within the design features a repeat of birds and butterflies amongst leaves and flower shapes.
To highlight the detail of the fabric, we needed to select a style that would best showcase this. It needed to respect the fabric and not cut through the pattern of the fabric. This means considering bust darts over princess lines, how a sleeve is drafted and if the skirt will fall straight or if a fuller skirt will showcase the pattern better.
We have previously made Vogue 1579 and loved how the cape falls over the shoulders. The cape is attached to the dress around the neckline of a sleeveless bodice. This was a great pattern to use for this jacquard fabric as the birds and butterflies could fly around the capeline, and it becomes a smooth showcase of the beautiful detail of the fabric.
Construction
We wanted to make sure we got the pattern placement and matching correct This means making sure there was a bird directly in the middle of the bodice and in the back of the cape. The bird appeared to be the most dominate feature of our eye. They repeats down the skirt with two mirror image birds sitting on the centre front.
The pattern design asks for the front and back to both be cut on the fold with an underarm zipper. As the skirt has a split in the centre back to allow for enough movement to walk it has a centre back seam. Check out our video to see how we shuffle the pieces around to achieve this cutting layout.
Constructing the bodice
The instructions list this as an “average” in terms of skill level required. If you can conceptualise how it comes together, it all makes sense. Even for an experienced sewer, it is worth stopping by the instructions for this one to make sure you have the openings in the correct spots and understand how the neckline finished under the cape.
The armholes are finished by leaving the shoulder seams open. This is a great method which used a lot for sleeve garments because it means you do not have to try to contort the garment to pull it through to stitch.
Hemming the Cape
As the cape was the hero of this design, it deserved to be beautifully finished. The jacquard fabric could easily “bruise” with a top stitch line, we chose to hand stitch the hem. On the underside of the fabric is contrasting, and because of the shape of the cape could be seen from some angles. To keep a smooth edge and prevent any stray threads from the jacquard weave showing we used a bias tape. This sits on the inside of the hem and using a pick stitch to catch the outer layer.
Center Back Split
The original pattern finished above the knee, however we chose to length this. We wanted this dress to have a longer line to show off the fabric. The pattern is a straight skirt, so this is an easy pattern hack to do. Keep the right angles of the side seams measure and mark an even amount down from the hem.
The Fabric Deluxe Team recommend lining this fabric as the underside is very textured and may feel rough against the skin. We defiantly agree with this recommendation, it is lovely quality fabric, but this is a natural trait for this type of weave. You want your garment to be comfortable and easy to wear, and a lining will help with this.
As this was a fitted dress, we would have lined the skirt anyway to help it set well while worn and move easily when walking, not cling to the body. This is how we finished off the inside of the split.
Finished Dress
The Bird and Butterfly Cobalt Jacquard from Fabric Deluxe was beautiful to work with. It has a natural body and structure to it. This was a great combination of fabric and dress pattern. We how the cape sat out around the body and just as we had planned the bird was placed on the centre focal points.
Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse is part of the Melbourne Cup Spring Racing Carnival. Traditionally the dress code for the day is black and white with all race goers wear the mono chrome palette.
This was not the original plan. It is not often when we decide to abandon a project because it is not turning out how we want it or we will not get it finished in time. However, this was one of those rare times where we abandoned the project the day before… this meant we need a new vision quick smart! Insert short amount to time collecting some images on Pinterest and away we went.
Flash forward to 8 pm Friday night before the races the next day. Erin on video call with Lauren is walking around Spotlight collecting every viable black and white fabric option available. After a solid 30 minute debate over patterns, fabric and ‘visions’ it was time to check out and get sewing.
As the photos showed, the dress was finished. With two of us with hands on deck, we even managed to be in bed by midnight.
