Wednesday 14 March 2012

Come Dine With Me

Hello! Thank you for all your lovely comment's on my last post, I am glad to say I am feeling much better!:)

On the weekend I had two of my best friends over for some food and drink and lots of laughs and chatter, which was really lovely! I decide to get the fairy lights and candles out to create a bit of a relaxing mood, and hide the dust and still unpacked boxes! During the day I set about making some tin can lanterns (so, so easy I'll do a little post on them soon) to dot around the place also on the stairs outside I put a few tea lights into some old glass jars (as we don't have an outside light) so that they could see where they were going, and not trip over my pot plants. I have to say it all looked really pretty!

I decorated my dining table with some gingham fabric from my stash as I still don't have a round table cloth...the table, by the way, was a fabulous freebie, we saw it in a front garden shortly before we moved, and asked the owner if we could have it he said yes and said while you're at it have the chairs too!! Wow!! Proving if you don't ask you don't' get! It was really nice to be able to put it to some use rather than being the daily dumping ground for post and the like. Again it was adorned with more candles and some tasty nibbles!

I could hardly call myself a Vintage Blogger if I didn't Have a 'Keep Calm' sign somewhere now could I...oh and there is another mini one on the fridge :)
I am not the world's greatest cook, so I decided to keep the menu simple with a dish I make most weeks...Spaghetti Bolognese, all from scratch mind you, no Dolmio here, a small problem was I couldn't taste a thing due to my sniffles so I have no idea if it was good or not, they ate it so I guess it can't have been too bad.  Luckily for me, Diane asked if I would like her to make the pud...Yes please!!... so I took her up on her Kindly offer and she brought along a Rhubarb Crumble which was utterly scrumptious!

So on to the dress, as promised I have a few snaps! 
I took these before my guests arrived as I was far too embarrassed to ask them to take them for me, hence the hair was still in the 'no idea what the heck to do with it, wish I'd put curlers in' phase of my getting ready!

The total cost of this dress is £6.99 (£4 for the fabric and £2.99 for the zip) which makes it quite the Bargain!
I have to tell you this is the first dress that I've made that my Boyfriend said he actually likes. I can't stress how much of a revelation this is, he has never liked anything I have sewn before, I usually get the screwed up 'you look like a Grandma' face, not that it bothers me in the least, but he actually said 'you should make another one in a summer fabric, a light colour you know flowery'...I genuinely still have not recovered from the shock!


I also must confess that my previous qualms about the tucks don't seem as bad now, as you can see in the picture below, where the tucks stop the skirt flicks out, which makes it feel like my tummy is even more sticky out than normal, I think if I lengthened the tucks at the bottom it would probably flatten this a little but to be honest I don't think I will bother on this one, but it is worth remembering for my next attempt.

My wooden wedge shoes where a mid week bargain from Shelley's they are called 'Cheesecake' which is quite apt for a dinner party don't you think!
I definitely think the fit of this dress would be improved by the addition of a 1950s corset to flatten things out a bit, so I have signed up to take part in A Few Loose Threads Ooh La La Pin Up Sew A Long and after seeing Charlotte's wonderful finished article I am keener than ever to get cracking!




Oh, before I forget, whilst writing this I googled 'Sunburst Tucks' to see what I might find, as you do and I stumbled upon the amazing on-line archives of fashion drawings produced between the 30s and 40s by André Fashion StudiosSeriously you need to see these, they are stunning just be prepared to lose an hour or three!
Wendy x

20 comments:

  1. OMG your dress is just brilliant! If your boyfriend didn't like it well.................. oh what a bargin too. x x x

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    1. Thank you! I don't normally worry what he thinks as getting dressed up to him means putting on a clean fleece:) x

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  2. The dress looks great! And a bargain to boot!

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  3. Love your decorations - so cosy!

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  4. Your house looks so charming and inviting and you look stunning. That dress is fabulous! x

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  5. Your dress looks fab and very flattering. I definitely think you should make another! As for the tucks, i have a RTW dress with similar pintucks (They are narrower and there are more of them than on your dress) and on my dress the tucks closest to centre front are a little longer, with the tucks getting gradually shorter towards the hips. I think this helps the front of the dress stay flatter (it is made in a heavy cotton so not as drapey as your fabric), so its something you could try on version 2, if you wanted to play around with things.

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    1. Thank you:) Thank you for the wonderful advice I will definitely put it in to practice on the next one! x

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  6. Your dress is gorgeous and so are you in it! Such a great colour on you.

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  7. The dress looks gorgeous on you! You should certainly take your boyfriend's suggestion and make one for the summer too.

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  8. I love the Keep Calm sign and the dress looks so beautiful on you! You are just so sweet and talented! Can't wait to see the summer dress....a sunnier London is a very good excuse to make a new dress! :) have a lovely day my lovely!
    May x
    walkinginmay.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank You! Yes I can't wait for spring to full arrive so I can wear something fabulously floaty! xx

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  9. Great setting and you look gorgeous in that dress !!

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  10. Wow, what a great atmosphere you created...and I love that it multitasked as a dust-hider, genius! And that color of blue on you is stunning. Love that dress!

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  11. The dress looks lovely! Such pretty fabric - and a bloody fantastic bargain!

    I love your shoes too, it seems to be difficult to find nice affordable shoes in a mid height heel, obviously I am not looking in the right places!

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  12. Gorgeous dress! Finished perfectly :) and agree, loving those shoes. Got any current sewing projects going on? Can't wait tto see what you come up with next!

    I shall need to go shoe hunting tomorrow me thinks, discover a hole big enough to stick my little toe through in mine, woops!

    xxx

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