Take one thrifted tablecloth

I bought a beautiful quality tablecloth from Savers measuring 175cm square, so of course, my first instinct was to cut it up and make something out of it that I would actually use :D

TaDa! ... a cool summer dress from a vintage sewing pattern (also bought from Savers).

The pattern is Style 4589, dated 1974 and described as "misses' dress or tennis dress and panties". Don't think I'll be needing the tennis dress and undies anytime soon, but I'm sure that I'll be making the dress again (view 1, the blue dress on the right).

Somehow I always seem to make my summer things in the middle of winter, and have to find warmer accessories so that I can wear them straight away ...

thought that it worked pretty good with the shrug that I made here

... and there is still a lot of tablecloth left :D ...

A dress, or three

Finally, finally, I got around to making my Enid Gilchrist simple empire line dress... I drafted it out and sewed my 'muslin' here ... I don't know why it took me so long to make it for real, but I'm pretty happy with the result :) I made a couple of mods to the pattern, making the neck and armholes slightly lower than the pattern ... the neck was purely a design choice, but going on my past experience making Enid dresses, the armholes would otherwise have been a bit tight.Next time, I will also put in a back pleat on the skirt ...standing up is fine, trying to get elegantly into the rear seat of a friends car was no so fine! :D

The other two dresses were mostly made by my daughter ... after nearly finishing them, and then realising that they were too big for her

(and not wanting to be bothered with taking in the seams some),

she gave them to me (minus zip closures and hems) :)

I love them both, but especially the yellow floral one (awesome thrifted sheet from Savers).

For the white and blue one she used New Look 3968 and the yellow floral, Butterick 4980

...and another Enid

So I think that I may be running the risk of overusing my new favourite Enid Gilchrist pattern ... but it's just so quick, and easy, and awesome lol

This dress was made from the same pattern as my Ikea dress.

I made it as a winter dress, to be worn under a cardi, out of some brushed cotton that I bought for $3 from the new Savers Recycle Superstore here in Adelaide (such an amazing op shop!). I also bought the zip there, in a bag of 10 for $3.

I've already got 3 more dresses cut out and ready to sew, along with some skirt versions ... spring starts next week, so I'm more than ready to get started on some nice summery clothes :)

From Enid to Ikea

I love, love, LOVE Ikea fabric :)

I found an off-cut in the remnant bin of my local Ikea, measuring 1.05m, for $7.50 and thought that it would make a really cool skirt. When I laid it out at home, it looked like I might be able to just squeeze a dress out of it instead, so, out came my trusty Enid Gilchrist books and one bodice and one skirt pattern later, I have my new Enid/Ikea dress :)

I used the patterns from my copy of 'Junior Teens and Smaller Women' ... the sleeveless bodice from the basic dress pattern on page 30, and the softly pleated skirt from page 16. The bodice was cut on the bias, because I knew that it would be a snug fit, and I figured that cutting it this way would give me more room to move, and the skirt was just made from the remaining fabric cut on the straight of grain. (It used a lot more fabric in the bodice this way, but it was so worth it)

Now I think that either dress and skirt waists used to be worn higher, or my waist is in the wrong place (:D) ... so, I added a small 'waistband' to lengthen the bodice to make the dress feel like it was sitting on my waist :)

I love Ikea ... and I love Enid ... and I love my new dress :)

That 70's Skirt

Browsing through some old sewing patterns at the op shop, I found a little book dating from about the 70's, containing heaps of miniature dressmaking patterns. Not knowing what it was, I did a quick Google search, and discovered the world of Lutterloh :) It seems like such a cool, clever idea ... you take just two body measurements (bust and hips), and using the Lutterloh measuring scale, draft out the patterns from the miniature schematics. The book I bought was Supplement number 135, and didn't come with the scale ... however, I ordered the current Lutterloh complete system(which includes the patterns, instructions and more importantly, the scale tape) :)....so here we have skirt pattern number 105 (from supplement 135)... the illustration was a bit vague so I wasn't totally sure how it would look (or whether it would fit!), but unbelievably, using only my hip measurement, it turned out great and was really easy to draft :) I can't wait to make more!

Enid does it again

After making this, my second Enid Gilchrist dress, I feel confident to try all of her patterns ... and really, the options are endless!
I'm still amazed, every time that I look through one of her books, with just how much design information they contain (and each time I look and read, I seem to find something new) :) My mum used to make all of our family's clothes when we were kids, and I know for sure that had we lived in Australia and had access to these books, I would have been dressed Enid style since a baby :) ... guess I'll just have to make up for lost time now :D

...so, onto the specs: This was the Magyar dress on page 28 of Junior Teens and Smaller Women. The bodice was drafted from the pattern, but the skirt was just the rest of the fabric gathered in at the waist. My favourite part of this dress is the cool scooped neckline and shoulder seams ... I thought that it might be a hard dress to wear (thought maybe the magyar underarm seams may be restrictive), but that doesn't seem to be the case at all :)

Again, it was all made from stash. The fabric and zip were from a Spotlight shopping session way back. My only purchase was the tiny white belt from Factorie for $2.50 ... it just needed that small finishing touch. Not a bad price for a new summer dress :)