Any dressmakers here? Need some inspiration

[SunnyL]

Actually this is open to anyone - not just sewers.

I like to make dresses and it keeps me occupied in the evenings when DH is at work and I'm tied to the house by sleeping DD.

Normally I make dresses for specific occasions to. So far this year I've had 3 weddings and a royal function that have kept me occupied. Now I've got nothing on the social calendar that needs a dress.

So what should I make next?

What are you sewing at the moment?

For non-sewers what is the best dress you've bought this summer that is fairly classic and can be worn again in future?

[mineallmine]

Watching with interest. I'm a (very) amateur but enthusiastic sewer so I'd love to see what others sew. I'm making a sleeveless top for my holidays at the moment.

[Captainbarnacles1101]

Oh I wish u lived near me. I'd love a nice full length tea dress I had a navy spotty one but wore it to death:-( if commission u to make one for me x

[BeeBlanket]

Royal function, classy! What was your dress like?

My next plan is to make a dress copied from this shape:
Boden Nancy dress
I have some fabric that's a bit like the yellow one.

My fave thing that I have made recently is some cropped summer PJ bottoms made of Liberty tana lawn.

I also love making a nice patchwork quilt.

[mineallmine]

Bee blanket, patchwork quilts are my favourite thing to sew. It's like therapy to go through my fabric stash - huge after two holidays to the US- to pick out fabrics for a quilt.

[Kundry]

Have promised myself that I'll alternate between fabric I already own and new purchases - as I seem to be generating quite a stash.

Next make will be this out of a Liberty Tana Lawn I've had gathering dust for years:

www.craftsy.com/class/Sassy-Librarian-Blouse/74

[BeeBlanket]

Ooh that's cool Kundry.

mineallmine totally, I love the fabric matching bit! No chance of a US fabric shopping holiday for me for a while but that would be my dream... I would love to go to Purl Soho in NYC.

[SunnyL]

Yes this is exactly the kind if sharing I need. I've made a lovely 1950s swing dress earlier this year. Navy blue with polka dots sounds like a good colour combo for most times of years though. Did it have sleeves?

I really like that Boden dress - could be day or night. What kind of fabric are you using? is it poplin?

I like the librarians blouse too. I made a dress with a collar like that for Christmas which was fun.

Keep the ideas coming ladies!

[BeeBlanket]

Sunny it is a lightweight linen and cotton mix, yellow floral v lovely.

[SunnyL]

I'm inspired by this post to make this Simplicity dress which is like a Boden dress. I have to say I'd have never looked twice at this pattern without this blog post.
www.sewweekly.com/2011/07/mtl-riviera-dress-from-boden/

I'm thinking of a yellow polka dot but it may not be that practical?

[Janek]

That's really lovely sunny, fancy posting a few pictures when you've finished it. along with some advice?!? I have made stuff in the past, but not recently, and it never seems to go quite right. i find it particularly hard finding the right material - both pattern and thickness/texture.

oh, and my sewing machine sticks. getting that fixed should be my starting point i guess...

[Moreisnnogedag]

I love the by hand Anna dress. It's pretty easy to do but I get to indulge in French seams.

[mirpuppet]

I'm making a shorts jumpsuit for summer hols.

[SunnyL]

I had a look at that Made dress. it look lovely though the fit is going to need to be spot on. I might wait til I have more patience for that project

Have ordered fabric and that pattern today so hopefully that will keep me occupied for a few evenings. Will try and post the result if its any good

[JessyJames]

Sunny where do you order your fabric from please?
I used to sew a lot and recently wanted to make a dress, couldn't find any decent fabric anywhere!

[CardiCorgi]

I'm also intrigued by the royal event.
Please keep this thread going, it's just what I have been looking for.
Today I wore a self-made broderie anglaise top, I've been looking for one for a while but the only one which appealed was by Issa and cost several hundred Euros. Now I have made my own the original one has been reduced, but I think mine was still a lot cheaper and probably fits me better.
Other projects this summer have been an easy to throw on jersey dress (using the Tilly and the Buttons Coco pattern), a completely plain black t-shirt and a sailor dress for DD1.

The tana lawn pyjamas sound lovely, would a " Strawberry Thief" pair be too wacky?

[SunnyL]

Jesse I tend to buy my fabric from eBay or Minerva crafts. I'm on a low budget so these work for me. Though I've also got a couple of really good shops here in Edinburgh - they tend to be a bit more expensive than online per metre but by the time you factor in postage its about the same price.

Cardi what pattern did you use for your skirt? I've got a stash of leftover broderie anglaise - I bought too much to make a dress for my neice.

I made a hot pink linen shift dress last week for work. I can't seem to upload a picture here but I was very chuffed when someone asked me where I bought it.

[mimiasovitch]

I love to sew dresses, but am making a real effort at the moment to make easy to wear separates. I've made about 4 t-shirts and a jersey midi skirt this week (all really easy), and plan to make a few more skirts this week. I am getting ready to make an Elisalex dress (with a full skirt not the tulip one), for the races though, once all the practical stuff is over and done with.

[mumofsnotbags]

Ok dressmaker here, But I think you'll find its like a busmans holiday for us, I sew for so many other people, for myself id rather go shopping or sit with a cuppa and shop online .

But in general I mostly only do bridesmaids or prom dresses, so lately my fingers have been worked to the bone making over sized gypsy inspired dresses for so many proms - so glad they didnt have all this when i was at school, would have cost my parents a fortune.

Theres an amazing fabric shop near to me, if your in the north west its a good day out, leave the other half at home though he got very bored, very quickly, just didnt understand my love of georgette and how staggered i was they had it in stock in so many colours, like id died and gone to heaven. Ill find the website later and post it, just off the park with the child now.

[Toomanyhouseguests]

I haven't sewn for myself in a loooong time. All kids costumes for school etc. But I have my eye on the Hotpatterns $300 blouse. It looks like a wardrobe staple to me. www.hotpatterns.com/hp-1171-classix-nouveau-whats-new-pussycat-blouse/

I know it's not a dress, but it's what is inspiring me at the moment.

[CardiCorgi]

SunnyL it was a top not a skirt, so I don't know if this will be helpful. Anyway, the hardest thing was finding fabric that I liked. After that I found a basic tank top pattern from Burda (12/2012 118A), but I wanted to line it rather just using a facing, so I added a back seam to be able to do an all in one lining, made the back slit longer so that it came to just above bra level, widened the neckline to be more boat neck than round and added a little width to the hem so that it would sit nicely over my disproportionately large behind.

[SunnyL]

Gosh Cardi you sound like a talented seamstress. I rarely go off pattern except to lengthen skirt lengths. Though when I was pregnant I had to draw up a few patterns because there were so few patterns for maternity clothes.

Here's what I made last week. Will post a pic of my new fabric when it arrives for the Boden dress project

[ElephantsNeverForgive]

My too fav summer dresses are a cross over (v front and back) side zip, 4 panelled skirt dress.

And a mid calf, chuck over my head empire line v necked dress. Basically a maxi dress for short people and Cotton!

For me that's the main appeal of dressmaking, you can produce summer clothes actually suitable to wear in warm weather!

[CardiCorgi]

Not talented at all, I have made just as many waders as the next woman and we won't talk about all of the unhemmed curtains in the house. In this case I knew exactly what I wanted and thought that a simple top would be a good place to try out making changes to patterns.

Which pattern are you using for the Boden dress?

[ginorwine]

Mumsofnot bags- can't wait to hear about fabric shop in north west ? ! Find fabric v hard to source!!

[SunnyL]

I'm going for Simplicity pattern 2886 - though I'll be avoiding the Bolero which is completely minging. www.simplicity.com/p-1798-misses-dresses.aspx

I love these blogs that show you what the dress looks like if you actually use nice modern fabrics rather than the often nasty 80's photos they have on the packet.

Here's what the dress looks like with nice fabric
www.sewweekly.com/2011/07/mtl-riviera-dress-from-boden/

I've gone for a navy blue with large white polka dot.