This is probably my penultimate vintage make for this year. It is the 40th anniversary of this iconic wrap dress, although the pattern (Vogue 1549) was released in 1976, so I thought it was a fitting make.

I have never successfully bought or made a wrap dress, but have often wondered about this one as the common view is that this dress suits all body types.

I bought the fabric a few months ago on sale at Knitwit and cut out the dress and then lost interest and it went into the UFO pile. I got sick of looking at it and really wanted to wear it before summer came and so I managed to get it together. I think I was scared of it. The pattern is several sizes too small for me and so I had to grade it up which I’m not good at, and add to this the fact that the pattern looks complicated even though it’s rated as very easy. I also decided that I didn’t particularly like the fabric even though it is the most beautiful Italian cotton, and I loved the colours, I just thought it might look a bit old fashioned somehow.

I decided on the short version without the collar. I think the trick with this dress is that the skirt is cut on the bias rather than being gathered. This is a very flattering look, although it does take a bit more fabric, but look how beautifully it drapes.

Sooo, I set to and was at the belt making stage when I had that horrible realisation that I needed two belts and I only had one and absolutely no spare fabric for the second one. You know how your heart starts to beat harder and the skin on your head sort of shrinks? I had that. The dress would not work without the tie belt. What to do? Luckily I made the discovery on Saturday morning and hightailed it to Knitwit to see whether they (a) still had the fabric, or (b) had something which coordinated. I scanned the shelves and finally found the right fabric tucked away on the very top shelf. Crisis averted!

I only have two issues with this dress. In spite of careful dart placement, they are still too high, so I will unpick and restitch I think, and it needs to be put on carefully – the belt is quite wide and tends to bunch up, and the bottom edges need to be aligned.

The details: Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress, Vogue 1549, made from an Italian cotton knit from Knitwit. I had to take the photos inside because we were having a hail storm outside – in Perth, in the middle of spring! It was glorious!! Here I am trying to take an interesting photo after someone took the chair away for some reason.

Blog Hop

I’ve been invited by Carolyn of handmadebyCarolyn to participate in the blog hop – thank you Carolyn.

1. Why do you write

I really started writing because I had been a lurker on other blogs for a couple of years and it looked such fun. I wanted to be part of the community, even if it was peripherally, and I wanted to acknowledge those people who inspire me and whose ideas I “borrow”. I also wanted to share my efforts with my sister and niece who live in the UK, friends I don’t see very often, colleagues, and yes, total strangers who have become virtual friends and acquaintances. I also do a lot of writing as part of my work, which has to be carefully crafted and polished, and I love the stream of consciousness type writing that blogging encourages, writing as I would speak without worrying too much about grammar, passive voice and the rigour that goes hand in hand with scholarly writing, although I am still particular about my use of apostrophes.  One unexpected benefit of blogging is the ability to go back over what I’ve made and look at them with a more critical eye. The camera really does pick up issues of fit and when I remake something I do revisit posts to check what the problems were.

2. How is your blog different to others of the same genre

Ha! This was my big stumbling block as I am so in awe of what other people do and my contributions are quite lame in comparison. I think my blog is different in its almost complete lack of contribution of anything useful to other people, and I mean that quite sincerely. Perhaps the only thing that is useful is if the reader hasn’t seen a pattern and therefore might be inspired, or otherwise, to make it. I do try to combine my sewing, knitting and travel, and I like to occasionally include some Perth vistas to perhaps encourage people to travel to this lovely city, but this takes a level of planning that is sometimes beyond me.

3. what are you working on right now

I am currently working on a vintage dress from the early ’60s that has had to be resized – just like the Diane von Furstenberg above. Given that I am not good at this and some of the web instructions to grade patterns do my head in, it takes a certain resolution to get going. I have even made a muslin and identified a couple of issues which I have resolved, so I am feeling quite pleased with myself. The dress itself is quite detailed with underlining and lining so is taking time. I am enjoying the process of some slow sewing for a change, but, of course, this means slow blogging and my sister nags me if I have too much time between blogs :).

4. What is your writing process

Basically I take a few snaps and then craft some words around them rave on a bit – usually when I am in front of the TV. I do try to talk about the process of whatever I have made, what my thoughts and feelings were and the final outcome, but I am aware that my posts are pretty basic in the context of the information they provide. I am always pleasantly surprised when someone comments (thrilled in fact!) and I am kept going by  the supportive comments I get. One of the things I want to do is improve my photography. I inherited a classy camera from my son and I use it on automatic as I don’t have a clue about f-stops, etc. I will address this when I eventually give up work.

Anyway, back to writing: I thought I would share this illustration of the writing process which both amused and resonated with me. It’s for writing a book, but it’s the same process for me when I write my blog posts.

I wonder how many of you can relate to this?

Anyway, that’s my blog hop and I hope you felt some mild interest. My nominees for the hop are Andrea from obsessive creativeness, and Patricia from http://pfarr.blogspot.com.au and Michelle from That Black Chic. I know that’s three, so clearly I can’t count to two, so my apologies, I got carried away with my invitations!