MelodyMae.co.uk

2nd August 2017

{ Style } All My Royal Subjects With Florence Carousel Photography

Back in September I was lucky enough to do a little shoot with the wonderful Florence Carousel Photography! On a warm day after work I posed for her in Hyde Park. I wanted to take a moment to show you the photos, because they are AMAZING.

I technically haven’t finished the dress I’m wearing. Currently it’s strapless, since I need to put the straps on and I also need to add pockets in. I’ve been dreaming of a bright green sundress for a while now, and it worked with the tropical theme!

I’d been given vouchers for Fabric.com for my birthday (thanks again, Kristina!) which is where the fabric is from. It’s a nice lightweight cotton – nothing too exciting, but the plan for finishing it will have many more pom poms!

The pattern is the No Cock Nor Tails bodice and a pleated dirndl, of which there’s really no more to say than the other dresses featuring the same components, because I have this habit of making the same two dresses.

I’m not very natural at modelling as I can’t take myself seriously enough to not pull faces between every shot! However, Florence knew what she wanted and made me very comfortable She literally has so much talent at portraiture and I love every photo!

Plus she chose a perfect background, this is the fountain outside Buckingham Palace, of which many jokes about me looking over my royal subjects/peasants ensued – because I’m basically The Queen. Right? RIGHT?

Hair flowers: Lady Lucks Boutique and handmade
Earrings: Bow and Crossbones
Brooch: Luxulite
Bolero and Belt: Collectif
Bangles: Splendette and Lady Lucks Boutique
Shoes: Miss L Fire

All photos are taken by and belong to Florence Carousel.

27th July 2017

{ Sewing } Sunshine Through The Clouds

This yellow gingham 50s dress was the last thing I made in my last house before I moved. It gives me a little bit of an emotional attachment to it. It’s also pretty lucky that it’s my best project to date, and quickly becoming a favourite dress!

So I’ve gone a bit colour-crazy! I got myself down to Rolls and Rems to scout out my trusty 1-inch cotton gingham (you can see everything I’ve made with it under the gingham tag) in a slightly offensively bright shade of yellow.

The pattern to this dress is another variation on the No Cock Nor Tails pattern I drafted a good few years back – with the baggy nipples of the Big Ol’ Black dress rectified somewhat unsuccessfully as it’s still just a touch tight on the bust.

With a pleated dirndl skirt, it’s basically a copy of the Check, Please dress in yellow instead of red. But once I like a pattern I really do stick to it!

To keep a bit of a differentiate between the Check, Please dress and this one I added my new favourite trim in the world – POM POMS! from Frumble Fabrics onto the neckline, hem and pockets. I always find it amusing how such a small amount of trim can really make a garment pop – and I find people seem to go a little nuts for pom pom trim.

Other than the fitting issues of the failed FBA adjustment from my last version from this dress, I think this self-drafted pattern is really teaching me about my body – how my shoulders slope and why the straps don’t stay in one place, where my waist actually sits and the way thing such as belts sit on them, and how the top of my back slopes and why I always have a gape in the back of my dresses.

However, my hair looks pretty amazing though, so we can focus on that instead of fit issues, right? Thanks to my wide back, it’s so difficult to get the back of dresses to fit correctly. In the photo above it looks fine, but once I move I could probably fit a small dog in it! I love small dogs, but that’s not exactly my preferred method of doggy transport.

But I love this dress! It’ll be perfect once the sun actually decides to shine in this crappy excuse for a summer!

Hair Flowers; Lady Lucks Boutique
Necklace; Handmade
Brooch; Luxulite
Bangles; Splendette
Bag; Vendula London
Shoes; Miss L Fire

11th July 2017

{ Sewing } Big Ol’ Black Dress

The Little Black Dress (LBD) has been considered a wardrobe staple for every woman since the days of Coco Chanel – chances are, if you wear dresses, you’ve got a LBD hanging in a wardrobe right this moment. Especially a black 50s dress.

I, however, don’t really do little. Go big or go home, right?

In comes the Big Ol’ Black Dress (BOBD is much more amusing than LBD).

I wear black dresses a lot. And since I’m running out of variety in my BOBD wardrobe, I thought I’d knock this Big Ol’ lady out with just some plain cotton (possibly a pique) that I got from my friends over at Rolls And Rems on Holloway Road.

It’s a really lovely quality cotton, but the issue I have with anything 100% cotton is that it just absolutely has to crease at every bloody opportunity it can. Infuriating but so lovely to work with.

The pattern used is my self-drafted No Cock Nor Tails pattern, but with an added full bust adjustment because the original didn’t really accommodate my larger-than-I-think-it-is bust.

However my first ever FBA didn’t go so well, and I ended up with some weird bagging right on the bust apex. AKA baggy nipples. No one wants baggy nipples. Plus, some extra fabric in the arm scythe. The former isn’t that noticeable, but you can definitely see where it doesn’t fit right in the arm holes in this picture;

So this dress has inseam pockets in the box pleated dirndl skirt, a lined bodice, and a centre back zip. I screwed up with the insertion so there’s a gap in the top, as you can see in the photo below. I’d say I’ll put in a hook and eye, but since becoming single, there’s no way I can undo that sort of fiddly thing myself.

But you know what? It looks pretty good, it feels pretty good, and it’s a great BOBD.

Now. I’m going to stop talking about the dress and take a moment out to TALK ABOUT MY HANDBAG.

This is The George pub bag from Vendula London and it’s quite frankly the greatest handbag ever.

One, it’s a fucking pub. Two, you can take the handle off and use the long strap to wear it as a cross body bag. Two handbags in one, yes please! Three – THE LITTLE SIGN OPENS UP.

If you’re in London, pop into our shop to see this beauteous thing in the flesh, because it is just so amazing.

Hair Flowers; Lady Luck’s Boutique
Earrings; Bow and Crossbones
Brooch; Luxulite
Shoes; Miss L Fire
Bag; Vendula London

11th July 2017

{ Sewing } P-P-P-Polkadots!

I’ve spoken about Rolls and Rem’s remnant table before, right? This is yet another great find. Similar fabric to the Striped skirt I made, this is a stiff canvas-like cotton which just behaves beautifully through a machine. This Polkadot 50s dress was the perfect style for it!

The pattern I used for this dress was an altered version of the No Cock Nor Tails dress I made several years ago – the difference being that I added a ruched bustline by taking the bust of the pattern, slashing and spreading, and gathering it. It looks pretty adorable with the ric rac trim though, right?

I actually made before I went on a night out a year ago! I’d had a real problem with overestimating the ease and the finished garment ended up massive. So I threw it in the wash and it was set aside in my ever-mounting pile of alterations for another day.

Then after a re-discovery, I threw it through my machines and thought that was that.

But readers. This is me, and I am not a lucky person. The bloody thing shrunk in the wash without me realising, so the dress is preeeeeetty damn tight now. And I even had to cut out the bust of the original pattern which at this point pretty much served as a lining for the ruching. That was just to make sure I wasn’t giving myself pancake boobs!

However. The damn thing juuuust about fits, and quite frankly I love it. I’m still a bit of a sucker for a polka dot every now and then, and the off-white polkadots are a really welcome addition to my black obsession recently!

So! Lets get down to the nitty-gritty, yes? The dress is unlined as the fabric is thick enough without it, with facing on the entire neckline/arm scythe. I finished the hem with bias tape as I find it’s really just the easiest way to hem a full circle skirt without any weird puckering.

And you’ll be shocked to hear this, but there are NO POCKETS in this dress. I’d originally planned on patch pockets with ric rac trim, but honestly it looked pretty stupid and I’ve never really gotten around to popping in some in-seam ones – it might happen one day when I get too frustrated with keeping my phone in my bra, though.

Earrings: Bow and Crossbones and Luxulite
Necklace: Vintage
Brooch: Luxulite
Bangles: Vintage and Splendette
Handbag: Accessorize
Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

10th July 2017

{ Sewing } Twilight Tartan

Often when I’m roping friends into taking photos for me for the blog, we get a little carried away with shopping and eating burgers. We then have to run about to find the last bit of light so I can get a photo. That’s exactly what happened with this tartan 50s dress – taken in twilight!

You can tell already – it’s the trusty B5880 all over again! My versions of this dress has undergone some real changes from the original pattern. This time, I’ve ditched the neckline notches and done away with the sarong skirt in favour of a pleated dirndl skirt. I used box pleats for this skirt style, similar to my A Check-Ah, A Check-Ow dress but used a much longer length that other versions.

This tartan version sees the return of the original concealed side zip which makes it easier to get in and out of without help! The seams are overlocked, the neckline and arms are bias-bound. It also features possibly the biggest pockets on a dress to date – it fits an A4 magazine with a bit of room! If you love pockets as much as I do, I’m sure you’re going to appreciate that!

The fabric itself is a lovely mid-weight wool blend Stewart tartan. Is a great fabric with nice texture, snuggly warmth and is light enough to hang well, but stiff enough to keep shape, which is my perfect sort of fabric!

We’re heading into spring now, and I’m going to be so sad to stop wearing this dress. Although I love my ginghams, I adore this dress too much to say goodbye right now!

Earrings; Bow and Crossbones
Necklace&Belt; Vintage
Brooch; Luxulite
Bangles; Vintage and Splendette
Bag; Sun Jellies
Shoes; Primark

10th July 2017

{ Sewing } Planten Un Blomen

I made this Japanese inspired dress the day before I was flying to Germany. I’d decided I had absolutely nothing to wear for the wedding we were going to. This really isn’t the case, but they don’t call me Last-Minute-Melody for nothing!

I needed a tried-and-tested pattern to make this as quickly as possible. Without even thinking, I grabbed my trusty B5880 pattern and got to business with my fabric.

This fabric is a great medium-weight cotton in navy blue with a non-specific Oriental theme. I like to think it’s a Japanese print, but you can correct me if I’m wrong! I’ve had this fabric sitting around since my last trip to Goldhawk Road – and I won’t do that again in a hurry. Does anyone else come out of every shop getting nearer and nearer to panic attacks, or is that just me?

As always (you can check out my other B5880’s here.), my B5880 is now very different to the original, without the neckline notches, an altered neckline and this version has a circle skirt instead of the original sarong-style.

The alterations on each dress seems to change with every new version, regardless of how big or small. This dress is the same, with the side zip moved to the centre back and some neckline differences. Seams are all finished with the trusty overlocker, but the hem and arm holes are bias-bound and catch-stitched.

Since time was not on my side (my own fault!) I didn’t line this dress. Luckily the fabric itself is not see-through, so lining wasn’t so important – no worries of flashing here! The saddest point – I didn’t have time to put in pockets! The shaaaaaame!

Now I won’t lie – I don’t actually like this dress. I loved it in my head, I loved it once it was off the machine but once I wore it? Really wasn’t a fan. And I haven’t worn it since – do you ever get like that?

Hair Flower; Lady Luck’s Boutique
Earrings; Bow and Crossbones
Brooch: Luxulite
Necklace; Vintage
Bangles; Vintage
Shoes; Miss L Fire

3rd July 2017

{ Sewing } Last of the Summer Gingham

Alternative title; MORE BLOODY GINGHAM. MORE BUTTERICK B5880.

Hi guys! How are we all doing? I accidentally missed a week there because I was too busy getting drunk dressed up as The Little Mermaid… Hopefully you guys have had a week quite as awesome as that?

Yes, that is what you think it is!

I made another B5880 in gingham. I’m approaching this post with general nonchalance because really? There’s nothing I can tell you about this dress that you haven’t already heard from the ONE TWO THREE FOUR versions of this dress I’ve made (there’s also one I haven’t blogged about AND another one in the making – it’s B5880 mania here!)

The main difference between this dress and the Check-Ah Check-Ow is the ric rac trim on the neckline and the pockets – and I have out-done myself pocket-wise, since these behemoths can actually hold an A4 magazine.

Other than that, this dress is practically identical. Still has the boatneck-styled neckline, the back zip and pleated dirndl. And frankly? It works for me. The blue gingham dress is still in heavy rotation now, so why not exactly the same thing in another colour?

The construction for this dress has become like second nature to me now, since I’ve made so many versions! I may or may not have sewn the ric rac skew-iff because I was still drunk when I finished it… I have cleverly hidden that from view in these photos though, of course, because no one should have to see bad ric rac placement!

Brooch: Luxulite
Bangles: Vintage and Splendette
Shoes: Miss L Fire
Bag: Vintage

29th June 2017

{ Sewing } Moody British Picnics

I’m British, and part of being a Brit is constantly being let down – especially being let down by what is supposed to be Summer.

Case in point;

Yeah.

This face is an accurate representation of a dreary day.

Anyhoo.

I MADE A THING.

I bought Butterick B5209 pattern a long-ass time ago with the idea that one day I would make a glorious 40’s style sundress with it and swan about the beaches being a perfect summers-day princess. Instead I used it to further my long-term goals on becoming a picnic basket with this cutesy gingham-and-fruit-print cotton. And stand in a park on a grey day.

As usual, I never make anything in the way the original pattern intends. I swapped out the gathered skirt the pattern calls for with the same skirt from my Swirl dress, since I liked the way it fell on me so much.

Straying from my usual construction, I didn’t line this dress at all. I finished the seams with my overlocker, and the neckline, hem and arms with bias tape and a catch stitch.

The dress is wonderful but there was some fit issues along the way with this pattern.
I made the dress up in a size 20, straight from the pattern with little adjustment. As with all patterns, I did my usual pinch-out in the top of the bodice to limit my usual gape. Apart from this disaster of a bust!

It seems to be a common issue in 40s style dresses with this sort of bustline – that it sits at least two inches higher than where my boobs actually start. It’s not the worst thing that could happen, but does make me feel a bit cut off at times.

Aside from all of this, I actually love this dress, I think the silhouette is really good on me, and I love how comfortable and floaty it is – and I think this new calf-length skirt I’ve been playing with is a good-un.

Dress; Butterick B5209
Brooch: Luxulite
Bangles: Vintage
Shoes: Rocket Originals
Bag: Collectif

28th June 2017

{ Sewing } Platform Closed – A Gingham Swirl Dress

So. We’ve established by now that I’m useless at sticking to deadlines, right? Right.
This gingham swirl dress was made for Sew Retro Rose’s Swirlalong… which finished in NOVEMBER.

Yes, a whole seven months after the deadline closed I’m showing you my dress! I finished this in March, actually, and was left aside for so long because it went so wrong. I’m not sure about you guys, but once things start going wrong I have to walk away. Especially before I cut the damn thing to pieces – and sometimes it just takes months to come back to it!

The pattern for this dress was McCall’s 5411 – Which Beccie (Sew Retro Rose) turned into a PDF for those joining the sewalong. I love a Swirl, and it’s one of those vintage dress styles I knew would get on well with my shape and style, so why would I not give it a go? I set off to Rolls and Rems in Holloway Road to grab my favourite gingham fabric and set down to make this up.

However there were a few issues – the bodice ended up five or so inches short, and when I lengthened the pattern back, I forgot to true up the backseam so it hit the right side seam, which caused serious gaping issues, length issues (it screwed up the back bodice so that it was suddenly 5 inches too long. Nightmare) and screwed up the whole fit of the dress.

So like the slapdash sewist I am, I hacked off the excess fabric and added in a series of buttons down the back to keep it closed without gaping. “It’s not a mistake, it’s a design element” I chanted to myself whilst rocking back and forth.

And to add to my further dismay – I somehow managed to cut the neckline so wide it shows my bra straps (which you can see above and below) which bothers me to no end.

But despite all that? This is the dress I wear most often. It’s fully lined in a lightweight cotton so it’s good for sunnier days, but with correct undergarments can easily be worn in the winter for a pop of summer memories when it’s grey and dark.

And the thing I love about this swirl dress? I look so put together regardless of how my hair looks or if I’m wearing makeup, and I love that!

Hair Flower; Lady Lucks Boutique
Necklace; Vintage
Brooch; Luxulite
Bangles; Splendette
Shoes; Miss L Fire

26th June 2017

{ Sewing } Check, Please!

You know who loves a 50s style gingham dress? THIS GIRL!

I made this dress back last year for a cousin’s wedding, and GOD DAMN do I love it. The pattern is self-drafted, which I adapted from the No Cock Nor Tails dress. The only difference between the NCNT and this dress is the addition of shaped shoulders and a pleated dirndl skirt.

I bought the fabric from Rolls and Rems in Holloway Road – and it’s literally everything you could hope for in fabric. It’s definitely not 100% cotton, but you really wouldn’t notice since it’s so soft! It’s a 1-inch gingham, perfect for the knife pleats of the skirt and it just looks much more striking than smaller checks.

Hair Flowers; Lady Lucks Boutique
Shrug&Belt; Collectif
Bag; Vintage
Shoes; Miss L Fire

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