I only started my sewing blog & regular dress making at the start of April so taking part in the popular Me-Made-May may sound a little silly. But if you've read through my blog already, you'll know I'm throwing myself in to the sewing community wholeheartedly.

When I read through the pledge's creator 'about Me-Made-May' post, to say I felt overwhelmed was an understatement. I certainly do not have enough handmade clothes to wear throughout the whole of May. But the challenge isn't a competition and is there to spur you on and inspire you to wear the clothes you've made and bring them in to your everyday wardrobe.

So even though I only have a total of 5 handmade (and wearble!) garments in my wardrobe so far, I still wanted to set myself my own, if not a little feeble, Me-Made-May pledge!

Now, I'm self employed and work from home (check out my 'About Me') and the stereotype of working in pjs is rather the reality for me. I only regularly venture out to go to the post office or food shopping, so unless I had a collection of handmade pj bottoms, my Me-Made-May wouldn't be very creative...

However May is my birthday month, I turn 25 on the 17th and I thought that would be a fabulous way to incorporate it with my pledge! So, here we go...



I only have 4 dresses and 1 top in my handmade wardrobe so far, (with lots in the works of course) but this little pledge will spur me on to actually wear them! I'll be choosing an item from my (very small) handmade collection, style it, and wear it for my birthday celebrations.



Are you taking part in Me-Made-May? What are your pledges? Far more commited than mine, I'm sure!

Thanks for reading, pinups.
xo

My finished Tilly and the Buttons 'Martha' Dress.

When I saw the new Tilly and the Buttons 'Martha' Dress, I think I just about died and went to heaven! It looked so swishy and had a sweet 1960s look which I couldn't resist, so I snapped it up right away. I already own Tilly's wonderful Love at First Stitch book, so knew her instructions would be easy to follow and filled with her beautiful images. I wasn't wrong!

I chose a drapey viscose fabric, for ultimate swishy-ness.

Tilly's patterns always arrive in their recognisable envelope with her signature stamps and always look so cute (quite a few have been arriving at my house recently!). I'm obsessed with Tilly's branding, I think its so fresh and fun and her patterns are all gorgeous, I just know I'll collect them all. The pattern comes with an adorable booklet of instructions, a refreshing change from a huge open sheet of paper with dodgy illustrations and outdated terminology. So I knew even though I am certainly not a confident dress maker, that I would be able to follow her instructions regardless.


I wanted to make sure I kept my version of 'Martha' as swishy as possible in keeping with the 60s vibe I wanted to go for, so I chose this affordable black & white floral viscose fabric from Minerva Crafts - my new favourite online haberdashery. Luckily it was the perfect choice!

I knew sewing with such a drapey fabric might be tricky but I did stay stitch around all my princess seams etc to minimize any fraying as the instructions suggest. However, my fabric did slip around a bit when I was sewing, so some seams aren't as perfect as I would like. But with practice, hopefully my technique will improve.

Here's a peek at the pattern:

All Tilly's photos for the 'Martha' dress are beautiful!

As you can see, the dress comes in two lengths & has two sleeve options. I couldn't resist those 3 quarter length flared sleeves, something I would love to exaggerate a bit more when I make this pattern again. I knew I was going to make mine a mini-ish length as I'm only 5"4 and with a high neck & longer length it wouldn't suit me at all. I did cut out the full length version, but only so I could edit the length myself in case the mini version was too short for me. I went for just above the knee which I think will look fabulous bare legged for Spring & with tights in the colder months.



I found the dress straight forward to make, up until it came to the final stages of inserting the invisible zip and adding the collar. It was only the second ever invisible zip I've sewn on a garment, I did have to unpick my first attempt, but my second was much better. My center back waist seams ended up not matching slightly where I must of stretched the fabric when sewing. I could of unpicked the zip and done it for a third time, but I'm impatient and hoped it wasn't too noticeable...

I think I had a similar problem with my fabric slipping when I sewed the collar together, as the very top points don't quite match up. But I can live with that. Something to improve on next time!


Overall, I am SO happy with my Martha dress. I was worried the high neck style wouldn't suit my busty shape, but the nipped in waist, along with my dark fabric choice made the dress rather more flattering than I expected. I'd love to make the dress again with a different collar, maybe a sweet peter pan collar or just simple binding. Either way, I can't wait to make this dress again!

Take a peek at my & to see the little video I posted of me swishing around in it. I think I enjoyed shooting this dress way more than my poor boyfriend did photographing it. So much dancing!

Get this pattern:



Have you made 'Martha' or is she on your sewing list? Will you be taking part in Tilly's Instaspam party on 7th May? Find out more HERE. I can't wait to see everyone's take on 'Martha'!

Thanks for reading, pinups.
xo

What a wonderful selection of fabrics!

There was so much to choose from!

Left to right: floral viscose, polka dot cotton poplin, Hawaiian light cotton jersey.

Anyone else obsessed with Tilly?

P.S. This isn't a sponsored post, I just wanted to share the love and all the amazing fabrics I picked up!

Like I said in my previous blog post about the Vintage Pledge, I'm a total newbie to this online sewing world! But I'm diving right in! And in my research early this month I discovered The BIG Vintage Sew Along. Another community style sew along with my name all over it.

Being a vintage style pattern hoarder (most of which I am still yet to make...), a lot of the patterns included in the sew along were quite similar to what I already had in my stash. My pattern hoard is a lot of 1950s style dresses, and I normally don't go for 1940s inspired anything. But when I saw the Butterick 5209 pattern I knew I could make it work for me. Even though I like the halter neck style, I'm not sure if I would realistically wear it, so I'm going to be making option B with the little sleeves. I hope I can make a sweet vintage style tea dress, perfect for every day wear, but also smart enough to take out for cocktails.

The Butterick 5209 dress pattern from 1947. Available to buy HERE

Even though the satin sample on the right here is super gorgeous, it's a little fancy for what I had in mind...

So I turned to for inspiration and came across these two gorgeous 1940s dresses, very similar to the styles of the Butterick B5209 pattern.

Click here to find out more

My finished dress using the Retro Butterick '52 B4790 pattern

Blimey does this dress have a reputation! I discovered the pattern's drama when I did a little research on the dress recently before I started sewing. I bought this pattern like A LOT of vintage sewing lovers did during 2015's Great British Sewing Bee, but it has sat unused in my stash since. However, I had no idea it would turn out to be so controversial...

I chose a simple blue cotton with a white bias binding

Once I decided last week that the Butterick 4790 Walkaway Dress was going to be next on my sewing list to coincide with my #VintagePledge, I had a browse for reviews to see how other makers found this seemly easy dress.

Here's a peek at the pattern:

Looks simple simple, right?

I won't bore you with the details of this dress's controversy, as I'm sure you know for yourself, but the fit of this dress annoyed a lot of people. But I was determined to make it work. However, in true-to-me style, I made a pretty hefty mistake very early on...

As I whipped out the pattern pieces, I grabbed my scissors, cut out following the lines marked '12', knowing I was leaving plenty of room to fit the bodice if I needed. Ha ha no. That was my first mistake. It wasn't until I had sewn the darts and all the seams and tried on the dress that I noticed what I thought was a size 12 dress was more like a 6/8. And boy was that 26" waist not going to wrap around me!



I kept my calm sewing head on, despite my ridiculous mistake, and decided that sewing a couple of straight panels down the centre front and back panels would fix the fit.

Weirdly enough the accidental fitted bust I had created fitted me really well! I was totally surprised. I have a naturally curvy, hourglass figure and this seemed to fix the problem of the rumoured 'sack of potatoes' look I had heard this dress created. So I ended up with no baggy areas in the bodice and the shoulder seams/sleeves were shorter, suiting me more.

You can see from my photos the two panels at the front of the skirt (I also added the same panels at the back of the dress, which are concealed by the circle skirt), but the seams match my bodice seams, and in my opinion I think it looks pretty good! A happy sewing accident - I sure don't get many of them!

Zooey's beautiful range of nautical inspired dresses for Tommy Hilfiger

I made my Walkaway dress with an affordable 'oxford blue' cotton fabric with white cotton bias binding I bought off eBay. Initially I had got small daisy buttons to finish off the dress, but once I had stitched one on they made very little impact. Then I noticed the potential similarities to my version of the Walkaway dress with Zooey Deschanel's recent collection for Tommy Hilfiger, and thought red would really liven things up!

Whilst fitting the dress, I did make a couple of further alterations:

• I made the darts deeper. I slipped on the garment with the original darts sewn in. Then I pinned the bodice to fit my bust better. Which created less sagging on the underarms.
• I shortened the hem by 2". I'm only 5"4 and a lot of 50s style dresses can end up swamping me a bit. But it's now my perfect length, sitting just below my knee.

As you can see, I went full 1952 on this look!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the outcome of my dress. My initial sizing mistake worked in my favour and I don't think the extra panels I added effected the garment's aesthetic. I find the shape of the bodice very comfortable and easy to wear, but I can appreciate depending on your figure it may not be flattering on some. My bodice is just fitted enough that my larger bust doesn't end up looking like a sack, and the waist definition brings everything in nicely.

Not including my mistake, I only made a couple of small and very easy alterations. The dress was so easy to sew and could certainly be done in a couple of hours. I made mine over two afternoons due to changing my buttons, and including ironing time. Otherwise, I would of liked to have made it in one sitting.

Get this pattern:



I look forward to making this dress again, perhaps in a printed fabric or even contrast fabrics for the bodice and skirt. But next time I'll be sure to check my size...

Have you made the infamous Retro Butterick Walkaway dress? Do you love it or hate it?

Thanks for reading, pinups.
xo

This will be my first dress for the #VintagePledge

Sign up to Vintage Pledge 2016

When I came across these images on a few days ago, I couldn't resist putting together a blog post based on them. From doing a little research I managed to find out the images were photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt for a series called 'Beautiful girls in New York' for Life magazine, all about street style circa 1944.

My personal style is much more late 50s/early 60s, but I totally fell for these classic 1940s looks. Is there anything more perfect for Summer than a floaty floral tea dress?



Well now you can get this perfect Summer style for yourself! I've put together some gorgeous fabrics, all from my new favourite online haberdashery Minerva Crafts (not a sponsored post).



I only saw this series of images a couple of days ago, and the first thing I noticed was the fabulous gingham number (top middle). I love the resemblance it has to my very own Burda Style 7179 vintage style shirt dress from my first pattern review blog post! Which you can see HERE.

Also how cool is the lady on the far right?



I love the adorable tea dress and hat styling on the first two ladies, a real classic 1940s look! And the simple pin stripe fabric on the right is next on my supply list.

Do you prefer the 1940s florals or the simple stripes and gingham?



These first two styles look like two piece blouse and skirt outfits. I've never tried sewing a blouse before and these two have really inspired me. And not forgetting the lady on the end with another fabulous tea dress! With so many retro florals to choose from, how will you decide?



I'm in love with the bold floral fabric on the left. I think it would make such a perfect tea dress or shirt dress style. In fact it would make a gorgeous anything! *adds to basket*


Get this gorgeous vintage look for yourself with these 1940s style sewing patterns:

There's some great variations for this dress. I'd love to try the 'C' collar next time!

How sweet are these baby pink heart buttons I picked up at my local haberdashery?

Have you made the Burda Style 7179 vintage style shirt dress? How did you find the instructions? Did the collar trip you up aswell?

I hope you enjoyed my first dress making post! Thanks for reading, pinups.
xo