A Grand Maternity Dress

This week has been a busy one.  I had lots of good intentions for sewing projects (including getting things more organised) but work has been busy and I've been immersed in an amazing book that I can't seem to put down (Shantaram), so I didn't make as much progress as I intended to.

I did a lot of planning!  This week happens to be National Recycling Week so I wanted to do some mending, altering and upcycling.  Saturday rolled around, and I went to week 2 of my overlocker course, then I was all in the mood for an evening of sewing.

In my sister's stash (which I have) were some pieces of this cute yellow polka dot crepe.  I remember when I was a little child that fabric was in my mum's stash.  Of course, as it's recently become mine, it stood out to me in its cuteness and on inspection, I realised that it wasn't just a bit of fabric, it was unpicked pattern pieces.  No, it was an unpicked dress.  Obviously someone (I think my mum) wanted to reuse it and never got around to it.

I had started thinking about what I could possibly make with it - maybe a cute skirt, when last week my sister asked me if I could dig it out for her.  I was like, actually it's already dug out.  She's like "oh good, it was Mum's maternity dress, can you put it back together? I want to wear it". 

Of course it was a maternity dress!  That wide empire line with the pleats.  And of course, there's a good reason my sister wants a maternity dress.  How can I refuse this favour for her when she's busy making me a new niece of nephew?  Awwwwwww!

So I put together all the seams.  Thank god no one had unpicked the zipper.  Then there was the sleeves and neckline.   Hmmmm.  Long flared sleeves.  Very cute and late 1960s, but not really my sister's style, or appropriate for a Sydney summer (I think the fabric is poly).    So I had to shorten them, but there's no return from that.  I took out the pins and folded them up to try out a couple of lengths.  There was another scrap of fabric - a remnant and evidence that the original dress was handmade probably by our Mum. No facing pieces for the neckline.

I was mulling over the issue of sleeve length, texting photos to my sister.  She wanted short, not sleeveless (that was my first choice).

Then, last week Gertie posted the solution:  band sleeves!  Cute as a button.  Last night I set about making the band sleeves out of the extra piece of fabric (so the cute winter flared sleeves can still be used if we change our mind).

And here's the result:

I cured the lack of neck facing by using white bias binding, fixed up the hem and voila.  I hope she likes it!

I love that this is a "restoration" of a dress that both my sister and I have "worn" before, in a way, even before we both drew breath.  

Just a normal day....

Today I had 2 things to do: go to the vintage store near my suburb to find a pair of gloves to finish off my outfit for Tuesday, and go to my gig.

My day filled out so much more though.  I got off the bus to go to the vintage store, and the flea market was on nearby, so on a whim I thought I'd check there first, bound to be gloves there.  And wouldn't you know it?  One of the first places I looked, they had much nicer gloves than I was ever imagining I'd find, at far better prices than I was expecting, and..... the stallholder had beautiful old 1940s dress patterns too!  Oh I was in heaven.  I did so well.  The stallholders just offer you discounts before you even ask for them!  I ended up finding a fantastic pair of 1950s earrings too.  Conversation between me and that stallholder:

Me: How much do you want for these?
Her: $38.  Oh I'll do it for $35..... $30, but I can't go lower than that.  $28, I really can't go lower than that OK $25. 
Me: OK.

After the flea market I went to the vintage store, and will probably return for a piece of fabric they had there, I did a rough measurement of it and I've got to work out if there's enough of it for what I want to make with it to make it worthwhile buying.

Then into town, where Myer was on sale for me to stock up on stockings.

Next I was off to Lincraft who were on sale - stocked up on various bits & bobs including a lovely cotton voile which is now earmarked for Vogue 2902.  I think it's time to hit the pause button on fabric purchases for me.

In the middle of all my consuming, I saw a couple of angels in Sydney Town.  When I left Myer and was waiting to cross the road, there were two young women who appeared to be distributing good food and kind words to Sydney's homeless. There they were, like seraphs, happily chatting to the man who's always in that spot, basket of treats in hand.  He seemed so happy for the interaction and I was transfixed.  I will try to remember those 2 girls next time I hear someone criticizing gen Y (or am tempted to do so myself!) 

Next up, down to the FoW for my show.  Here's one of the songs we did today: 

Please excuse the production values - it's quite difficult to do a live recording in such a rowdy pub!

You might notice the stunning gloves I purchased earlier that day.  They are slightly sheer & cream with a little bow on the wrist. 

The guy who walks around selling roses gave me a rose!

To top off the day, a very dear friend surprised me with a visit to the pub and took me to a lovely dinner after the show.

Life is good.  Life is very good.