The mock up - part two.

My friend was going to wear her dress to a Christening, as things usually go. The Christening turned out to be the day after her Son's wedding. I decided to dye the mock up to see if we could get her another dress.

And after dying it a Royal blue.

We were both happy how lucky we were in that the two duvet covers came out slightly different, creating this double shaded effect. However as we had not planed on dying the fabric earlier the cream thread I had used showed up really clearly and I could not let her use this dress. I would have been really embarrassed over it. So the make up will be taken apart at some time in the future to use as another mock up, because there is an awful lot of fabric there that can be re-used.

It is not much of a post on what I have done but I did want to share how the dress turned out and how two fabrics that look the same dye completely different colours even when dyed at the same time.

Next time I will be sharing some old projects that I have done while I begin my new study schedule.

Love to you all Sew Vala. x   

The black and white dress.

And now we arrive at the dress

The bodice band is hand sewn on to the outside of the bodice.

By adding my little label at this point I was easly able to see the front from the back, as the curved neckline is only ever so slight and the bust darts are hidden under the bodice band..

The front waiting for the skirt to be attached.

The front of the completed dress.

Dress and bolero,

And a little finishing touch, some pretty lace on the linning.

She will be wearing a large fully white underskirt, so as not to have a different shade of white I have used a very delicate shade of blue.


I hope to get a picture of my friend wearing the dress. But yes she loved it. And I am awfully proud of what I can do. So I have decided I needed this push to get way out of my comfort zone to do things with careful acuracy (apart from spelling. of course)

Sew Vala x 

Oh and by the way the pattern was Vogue 2902

And so on to the mock up for the dress. made using a double and a king size quilt from a charity shop.

Both priced at £5.99 each. I took them apart ready to work on.

As my friend has a 2 size different I did not want to cut out the pattern. So I cut around the pieces for the bodice and photocopied them on my printer and taped them together.

First mock up bodice, the bust part fit but the waist did not. Second part of boice we got the waist to fit but it was a tad to big around the top part. On the third mock up I got the correct fitting. So making the skirt part was easy.

The mock up half hemmed.

I have learnt alot from this project.
Lining a dress.
Fitting issues.
Fitting a zip in the side of a dress that fits under the bodice band.
Lapped zip. (this was my third ever zip. the first was in a bag, went well. The second on a skirt, went horribly wrong.)
Attaching a skirt to a bodice. (my other dresses were all one piece, see here, here and here. )

Just I short post as I have started my next course. The dress is now finished I will post more later when I have the photographs sorted.

Happy weekend everyone, Sew Vala. x

I have been asked....?

What do you do when, or more likely in my case if, a friend asks you to make them something.

I know many bloggers swear never to do this. But for me I jumped at the chance, even though it is for a very special event.

My friends' only child is getting married. Now I can almost here you screaming at your computer "No this is a very special day, and its the mother of the groom." But hear me out please.

She is on an extremely tight buget and has been searching for months to find a dress. Coming across a problem that most of us do with store clothes, one size on top another size below. She has seen everything that I have made so she is aware of my skill level. Is she mad, lovely, generous, forgiving, we will find out later and hopefully she is all of them.

Ok so what are the benefits for me out of this you may be wondering. Firstly I will be learning alot, pattern grading, fitting, lots and lots off new techniques. I rarely if ever, stray from the pattern, unless it is shortening a pattern for me. I think I needed to shorten my plain pattern dress by 18 inches and it was still below the knee lenght. And yes a mock will be made of everything to check how we are getting on. She was prepared for lots of fittings and prodding and poking. See I knew I needed a friend to practice all that on first.

Here are the patterns she chose

Burda 7387. The bolero jacket. My first time working with Burda patterns too.

And Vogue 2902. I must admit I was rather daunted when she picked this dress. I read the reviews on sew direct and wondered 'what have I got myself into'.

And how are we getting along, so far so good. I will leave the details for my next post when I will share the bolero and then later the dress.

Oh by the way she has chosen a lovely cotton black with white poka dots fabric. Soft but crisp, should drape really nicely.

So your first reflections,
who is the maddest her for asking me or
me for offering?

And what would you do? Have you ever fitted an outfit for someone and how did the first time go (pardon the expression, )?

Love to all Vala x