{ 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!