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Sunday 23 March 2014

The universe may not always play fair, but at least it's got a hell of a sense of humor (or #sewingDollyClackett)

I wasn't initially going to join the #sewingDollyClackett shenanigans, which has been started to celebrate the impending nuptials of sewist and blogger extraordinaire, Roisin (aka Dolly Clackett). As much as I love her style (those dresses, those fabrics!) the "fit and flare" shape just does not suit my body.  As a long-time food blogger I need a little (ok a lot) of room in my clothes to accommodate what we food bloggers call "our food babies".



But then I thought if Dolly Clackett was...fatter (or a food blogger) she'd totally go for the April Rhodes Party Peplum Dress. It's a style that emulates the "fit and flare" dress, but with a bit more room. Plus, there's no way I'm at the stage yet of going anywhere near zippers, lining or pockets. As Dolly would say, "fuck that"!



So here we have my Dolly Clackett-ish dress....this is actually my fourth attempt at the Party Peplum Dress, but only the second one that is a keeper. Like the first "keeper" it still gives Good Twirl!


From the denim dress disaster I shortened the bodice from an XXL to a S in what I am terming an FBA (full butt adjustment). This means that the bodice is no longer bunching up on my caboose and sits much better (though I still think the back bodice could be a little shorter). I actually did a toil of this before I cut into this lovely fabric...a first for impatient me. After wearing this dress for a day it's a little big...I might try and go down a size, or sew large side seams next time around. In the meantime I've run this in a little at the sides so it's not quite so...sack like.



The fabric is a cotton that I nabbed from the fabric swap at our first Sydney Spoolettes meet up. It was a dream to sew with - really sturdy and no slipping or sliding around.  I wore the dress out to a lunch a few weekends ago and on the way home popped into The Fabric Store. They recognized the fabric and said it was a DKNY Cotton. SCORE!


So there you have it. Happy impending nuptials Roisin and Nick. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness...and pretty dresses (well, not so much for Nick, but you know what I mean).

17 comments:

  1. Such a cute dress and a score with the DKNY fabric! Any progress on the Gaby dress? I'm thinking of trying that pattern soon.

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  2. I made a toile of Gaby and she'll fit me...so I'm going to cut our my "proper fabric" today...eep! I anticipating 'issues' with the sleeves...but I'll try not to worry about it until I get there.

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  3. Catherine Alekna23 March 2014 at 22:34

    you know, i think this looks really good! good old fabric store. they dont always tell you when things are designer. i have some Lisa Ho double knit that i got from there

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  4. Lovely job. It looks great and all your work on the fit seems to be paying off :)

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  5. Nailed it! I'm 100 per cent convinced you could do a zip - YouTube is your friend. Personally I think investing in an invisible zipper foot is worth every cent...

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  6. Hi Melanie, I love your dress, the fabric is perfect for this! I also want your cute sandals!

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  7. Great looking dress and the fit is pretty spot on!

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  8. Fabulous dress! If you can make this dress, you can insert a zipper, no problems! Totally agree with Lizzy below - invisible zipper foot all the way - so much easier than a lapped zipper (no requirement for super perfect top stitching).

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  9. This looks great! The post are so cheery, gosh I love a good bit of spot.

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  10. It's the best fabric! I'm annoyed that I kind fluffed up the dress!

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  11. I did a class yesterday where we were shown how to insert various zippers. I'm liking the lapped zipper I have to say!

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  12. Thank sandals are from Rubi Shoes (not sure if you're in Australia or not).

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  13. After yesterday's class I'm liking the lapped zipper. The invisible zipper process made my head nearly explode!

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  14. I got this fabric from our meet-up swap. I had no idea it was something so fancy pants. It feels great...so obviously wasn't from Lincraft! LOL.

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  15. Fantastic! I have just recalled, there is a free mini class on Craftsy for zips which you could use to refer back to also. A whole new range of styles awaits you now!

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