All posts filed under: What I wear

The Goldilocks & the three bugbears blouse

Last week the Sew Weekly challenge was 1940s. Exciting! I love 1940s, but rarely end up sewing it. And I knew just what I wanted to make. Not for me one of the endless (but very charming) 1940s dress patterns that Simplicity and Butterick are re-releasing, or even a vintage dress pattern. I was just given Advance 1868, and I think it’s just adorable. Time to make it up! I picked view #2 because I love the option of a contrast section. Unfortunately, as I tackled the blouse I quickly began to feel like Goldilocks. I’d decided to use the green and white voile that I used on my Toeses & Roses tap pants for the contrast portions of View 2 (I’m definitely the kind of seamstress that works with a fabric, falls in love with it, and then wants to make dozens of items in it, as opposed to the kind that makes something out of a fabric, and then is totally over it). So I needed some white to go with it. Simple! …

My ‘Hippo’ top (a Vionnet ‘Chiton’ dress variant)

Published by The Dreamstress

Remember how I told you that I had been sewing like mad, but had been too busy to take photos and show you? Yep, this is one of the many things I’ve been sewing. A few weeks ago I had two sewing projects to tackle. Make something Vionnet inspired to wear to teach the Vionnet Dress class at Made Marion, and make something inspired by an old family photo (or two old family photos, to be precise) for the Sew Weekly family inspiration challenge. The Vionnet was fairly easy (pick a piece of kimono fabric I liked, go from there) and I had my favourite family photos picked out. You may remember this photo from this post: And if you have been reading this blog for a long, long, time, this one: I love the picture of Grandma, but wasn’t sure how to interpret it as a garment. The wedding picture particularly appealed for the bride and the sophisticated loosely wrapped and draped cocoon shape of her early 20s dress with its hip bow. Using …

The Toeses & Roses tap pants

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week’s Sew Weekly challenge was to use two different prints in one outfit. Mixing prints is a bit of a struggle for me. I’m a sewing minimalist – famous for my white on white! I do like a good print, I just usually like it to stand on its own. But I want to push myself, so I consulted my list of things that I actually need to make for myself (because I don’t believe in making something I don’t need and won’t wear just for the sake of fulfilling a Sew Weekly challenge — that’s just wasteful), and top of the list was tap pants. As you may know, I love tap pants. I have quite a few pairs, but with the amount of swing dancing I do, and how often I wear skirts in windy Wellington, I can never have too many pairs. And top of my list was a pair to wear under my ‘Not Actually a Circle Skirt’ dress (which I didn’t blog about here, because, well, it’s kinda boring, …