#sewstylehero
I loved the idea of this challenge from The Sewcialists as soon as I saw it. I’m always running off to buy a pattern because I saw another blogger looking fabulous in it. There are so many really inspiring sewists out there but one of my favourite sewing blogs is written by Erica Bunker of ericabunker.com. She’s gorgeous and elegant and has the kind of va-va-voom style I can only dream of. Plus she’s obviously a very accomplished seamstress so an ideal #sewstylehero.
A lot of her outfits whilst amazing on her would not really suit my lifestyle but I thought this dress was very cute. It’s Vogue 9312.
Another reason I picked this project as my inspiration was because Erica had very helpfully posted up her FBA instructions. It’s an adjustment I sometimes need but am not that confident about doing so what better way to learn than to follow someone using the exact same pattern.
I did a quick muslin and sure enough the bodice would have been veeerrrry revealing without the alteration. You’d think they would include cup sizes with a dress design like this – those Vogue packet ladies have no boobs to speak of at all!
Other than the fitting adjustments this is super easy to put together – it’s just 4 pieces! One of the greatest things about sewing your own clothes is the little tweaks you make to suit your own personal style. I have omitted the elastic under the bust which makes the dress a little looser and breezier because I feel more comfortable when my clothes skim rather than hug.
I searched around to see if I could find a black and white geometric print similar to Erica’s. This gorgeous fabric is from Minerva Crafts (it’s still in the sale if you want to pick some up.) It’s a John Kaldor print jersey.
The ‘V’ neck is quite low and so to avoid bra-flash I tied the ties in a double knot quite tightly. This has the effect of lifting the front of the dress up slightly and means that the cut-out bit is hidden. I don’t really mind this – there’s enough skin on show here already and I’m pretending the front rise is a design feature!
I think I’m going to count this as my last bit of summer sewing and set my thoughts to some cooler weather garments. This dress will definitely get worn on the warm days, it’s super comfy and I feel good in it.
If you like bloopers here’s my hubby coming back from putting the recycling out and photobombing me.
So thank-you lovely Erica for the inspiration and thank-you to The Sewcialists for the challenge!