Category: Events

Sophia’s Transforming Navy Law Ball Dress

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

Sophia is in her penulimate year Law at Deakin University.  We worked with Sophia to develop the design for her Deakin Law Ball dress for this year.  Starting with images Sophia had found we sketched up the design.  Speaking with Sophia we wanted to make something that could transform so she could also wear it to the after party.  With the tiered skirt this was perfect!  A zipper!  

Construction of Navy Transforming Dress

The tulle layers of the design were a key feature and the lengths needed to be suite for both the full length look and the shorter zipped version. The trick to this was the length of the lining. The zipper was concealed by the hem of the top layer.

Making a strapless bodice stable is important; the choice of lining, stabilisers, interfacing and boning need to considered. The ink blue velveteen and navy cotton drill fabrics sourced from Spotlight was cut in Vogue 8849 . For this velvet bodice the velvet would not carry the weight but this would be the job of the lining. We chose to create the lining in cotton drill that was interfaced and boned.

Four layers of tulle sourced from Remnant Warehouse made up each tier of the skirt and was gathered onto the cotton drill base. The closure of the dress was a welt zipper at the center back with the tulle skirt loose over the top.

Details

Pattern: Vogue 8849
Fabric: Ink blue Velveteen and navy cotton drill from Spotlight, Navy Tulle from Remnant Warehouse 90cm open ended zipper from Premier Group

Transforming – The great unzip

After party ready

Check out Georgia and Erin‘s Law Ball outfits. 

Georgia’s Jungle Green Silk Satin Law Ball Dress

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

Georgia has studied Law at Deakin University for the last six years.  Also with Erin this would be her last Law Ball.  We wanted to make her dress something special.  We started with some inspiration and Erin’s key criteria for Georgia was she had to choose a colour that wasn’t black.  

Construction of Jungle Green Silk Satin Dress

The bodice for Georgia’s dress started with Simplicity 6408 as it had a beautiful back shape and the gathered front seam created the perfect neckline. The skirt needed to be cut on the bias to create the drape and fall Georgia was after so we used Butterick 5710 as the base for this.

Erin and Georgia went on a fabric hunt and found a beautiful jungle green (not black) silk satin at Rathdowne Fabrics in Brunswick.

The design of the dress evolved from the original sketch. We chose to remove the bottom ruffle section and keep the straps travelling straight over the shoulders.

The thin straps were created using the fabric, creating a thin tube. The strap was turned through using a bobkin sewing needle (a needle without a point used for sewing chunky knits).

The dress was constructed to a point that meant Georgia could try it on. At the fitting we decided that fully lining the bodice would be the best course to finish it off. The lining of the bodice was interfaced with whisperweft interfacing. A piece of plastic boning along the side seam position to provide some stability. The skirt side seams were finished with a french seam to provide a neat finish. This reduced any damage that might be cause to the fabric by placing it through an overlocker.

Details

Pattern: Simplicity 6408 and Butterick 5710
Fabric: Jungle green silk satin from Rathdowne Fabrics

Lace Blue Deakin Law Ball

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events, Sewing Project

This year Erin graduates from her studies at Deakin University which means this year is her final Law Ball.  Over the last six years we have created a new outfit for the occasion that has included navy sequins, red lace, pale blue flowers.  This year it was time to mix things up.

We started by collecting some images on Pinterest,originally we had purchased a gold fabric to make a draped bodice but after Erin was nominated for the Lawyer’s Weekly Award this dress was created for that occasion and this opened up the possibilities.  

Law Ball sketch - Blue Lace - Tessuti Fabrics - Erin Ritchie - Two Sewing Sisters

Construction

The bodice for this Law Ball outfit was cut from McCall’s 6331 in cream coloured drill to create a nude effect to be layered with Billi’s Royal Lace from Tessuti Fabric . The lace comes in 50cm wide panels which meant strategic placement of panels on the pattern. The bodice was heavily boned to support the strapless corset style and the key design lines had matching blue ribbon top stitched on them.

Why a two piece not a jumpsuit? If you have to ask that question, chances are you have never been to the bathroom in a jumpsuit. The pants are created from Megan Nielsen Flint Pants as a base with removal of the pockets for a smooth line in the lace.

Details of the Outfit for Law Ball

Pattern: Bodice McCall’s 6331 and bottom Megan Nielsen Flint Pants
Fabric: Billi’s Royal Lace from Tessuti Fabric
Shoes: Florsheim
Clutch: Olga Berg

Magenta Lame – Lawyers Weekly Law Awards – Simplicity 1651

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

When your sister is nominated for National Law Student of the year it calls for a new dress for the occasion. Erin was nominated for the award as part of the Lawyers Weekly Law Awards with the presentation hosted at The Star in Sydney. Mum, Dad and I were lucky to be able to attend the awards.

Construction

Looking to show off the stripes of the fabric the detail in the pattern, Simplicity 1651 has a twisted feature and center front panel. This meant the front panel could have the stripes run vertical while the side panel the stripes could sit horizontally and run through the twist.

The skirt is a rectangle that had a series of 16 darts stitched into the waist line before being gathered. The hem was supported by wide width crinoline.

Details of the Outfit

Pattern: Simplicity 1651
Fabric: Black Cotton with magenta lame from Darn Cheap Fabrics
Shoes: Wittner
Headpiece:  Lauren J Ritchie

The 2019 Lawyers Weekly Law Awards were hosted at The Star in Sydney. See Erin’s outfit for the event here.

Gold Formal Dress – Law Awards – Lawyers Weekly

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events, Sewing Project

Erin was nominated for Lawyers Weekly Law Student of the Year for 2019. This was the 19th annual Australian Law Awards, it is the pinnacle awards program for the nation’s legal profession, recognising the outstanding work being done across major legal practice areas, brilliance at the bar, legal in-house powerhouses, innovators and various firm-led pro bono programs.

The dress was designed from some inspiration images that we collected on a Pinterest board

Construction

 

The bodice was created using a black drill bodice from Vogue 9124 and was self lined with the drill. For support the lining of the bodice was interfaced and boned with encased plastic boning.

For the skirt the drill layer was cut to be circle that fell to below the knees and flat at the waist. The top gold layer was a six panel circle that was gathered into the waist seam.

 

Vogue 9124 - off the shoulder straight dress

The total length of the hem was 11 meters. The drill under layer (3 meters) was finished with overlocking and turned up to encase a black 15cm wide crinoline and the top gold layer was babylocked in black thread (8 meters)

The bows were attached to the dress following the construction and were supported by black crinoline and floating tails.

Details of the Outfit

Pattern: Vogue 9124
Fabric: Gold Fabric from Darn Cheap Fabrics, Black drill from Spotlight, Black Crinoline from Millinery Online.
Shoes: Irregular Choice
Clutch: Olga Berg
Earrings:  Swarovski

  • Irregular Choice - Black heeless shoes- Garment details - Law Awards - Gold Dress - Two Sewing Sisters

The 2019 Lawyers Weekly Law Awards were hosted at The Star in Sydney. See Lauren’s outfit for the event here.

View the dress here wore to the LIV Awards last year in this blog post. 

Silver Style

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

OCRF (Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation) hosted their annual Silver Style event at the Georges Ballroom in St Kilda. The theme was a touch of silver. Inspired by this theme and some fabulous silver shoes the outfit planning started.

Lauren found this striped printed silk at the Hand Made Fair at Hampton Court Palace in London in 2018. Unsure what she wanted to create with it the fabric waited in the wings. When the theme the event was announced it felt like the perfect occassion and coordinated well with a pair or existing silver shoes.

The pattern was selected due to panel pieces that would allow for the stripe in the fabric. Placing the strip in different directions and using a circle skirt achieved this.

Eager to pair the statement Maude bag and glittery Wittner shoes with a Tweed the hunt for the fabric began.  We found the beautiful white and blue with silver fleck tweed at Darn Cheap Fabrics in Port Melbourne. 

Returning to use a favourite pattern, Vogue 1392 with a circle.  The bodice was lined with bem silk and cotton tape place around the neckline to reduce stretching. 

Photo by Cam Davie

Silver Style was a great evening to celebrate the efforts of the OCRF.  Every woman, everywhere – free from the threat of Ovarian Cancer.  You can donate directly to the cause or find out other way to take part such as Frocktober. 

Millinery Association Drinks

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

The Millinery Association of Australia is a not for profit organisation. It encompasses a diverse range of millinery, from traditional hats to costume. They host events that showcase quality millinery with professional and enthusiastic members that unite to raise the profile of millinery in Australia.

Each year at the end of the Spring Racing Carnival at Flemington the Millinery Association hosts an evening event for their members. As Lauren is a member the Two Sewing Sisters attended the event.

Erin’s Outfit

Pattern: Over layer Butterick 9764 Under layer Simplicity 4070
Fabric: Spotlight, South Melbourne
Hat: Lauren J Ritchie
Shoes: Irregular Choice
Bag: Olga Berg
Earrings: Northside Southside

Lauren’s Outfit

Pattern: Over layer Butterick 9764 Under layer Simplicity 4070
Fabric: Spotlight, South Melbourne
Hat: Lauren J Ritchie
Shoes: Wittner
Bag: Oroton
Earrings: Northside Southside

Colourful Cup Day

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

Melbourne Cup is known as ‘the race that stops a nation’. It is hosted on the first Tuesday in November at Flemington Racecourse. The style of the day is know for its colour; bright and vibrant. Looking to create something that reflect this Lauren was inspired by a dress from designer Roksanda. She collected a few idea on Pinterest to collate the concept.

  • Drafting in progress

I liked the idea of creating something like that with the block colour and design lines looked like an exciting challenge.

Using the Roksanda dress as inspiration was a great base but it was important that it wasn’t an exact replication with alterations to the shapes and colours.  Having a play with the shapes in illustrator and exploring different colour combinations in fabric stores in Sheppards Bush in London the final design and colour way was set.  

  • Option 1: Blue, White, Red, Pink

  • Option 2: Blue, White, Pink , Navy

  • Option 3: Blue, White, Pink , Orange

Taking on the process of drafting the pattern, Lauren constructed a toile of a basic block to test fit. From this block she created the geometric design lines. The final pattern had over 30 pieces. Each piece of the outer shell had to be cut separately due to the design lines.

The construction took time to ensure the sharp corners were achieved but exact pivots and the dress fully lined. For colour consistency the threads were changed between panels. Such as down the side seam navy was used to join the navy and white thread to join the white section. If all was constructed in the bright blue you might have been able to see a slight fleck of it in the seamline.

The Final Look

Pattern: Two Sewing Sisters
Fabric: Sheppard’s Bush London
Hat: Lauren J Ritchie
Shoes: Jo Mercer
Clutch: Jo Mercer
Earrings: Northside Southside

Boater filled Derby Day

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse is part of the Melbourne Cup Spring Racing Carnival. Traditionally the dress code for the day is black and white with all race goers wear the mono chrome palette.

This was not the original plan. It is not often when we decide to abandon a project because it is not turning out how we want it or we will not get it finished in time. However, this was one of those rare times where we abandoned the project the day before… this meant we need a new vision quick smart! Insert short amount to time collecting some images on Pinterest and away we went.

Flash forward to 8 pm Friday night before the races the next day. Erin on video call with Lauren is walking around Spotlight collecting every viable black and white fabric option available. After a solid 30 minute debate over patterns, fabric and ‘visions’ it was time to check out and get sewing.

As the photos showed, the dress was finished. With two of us with hands on deck, we even managed to be in bed by midnight.

Pattern: Vogue 1566
Fabric: Spotlight, South Melbourne
Boater Hat: Lauren J Ritchie
Shoes: Wittner Shoes
Gloves: Millinery Online
Earrings: Northside Southside

Mod inspired Derby Day

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse is part of the Melbourne Cup Spring Racing Carnival. Traditionally the dress code for the day is black and white with all race goers wear the mono chrome palette.

Inspired by a mod vintage feel the idea was developed to compliment a pillbox style hat. Having worked on the aesthetic of the look on Pinterest we used a vintage mod sewing pattern Style 3759 that we found in a vintage store in Stockport (England) on a trip earlier this year. The focus of the look is the gold detail of the hat, so the dress needed to compliment the style.

Lauren found the texture black fabric at Prime Fabrics in New York City. The two rows of gold top stitching detail was added in accent the unique bodice line to complete the Derby Day look.

Pattern: Style 3759
Fabric: Prime Fabrics, New York City
Hat: Lauren J Ritchie
Shoes: Wittner Shoes
Earrings: Northside Southside

See what Erin wore to Derby Day here!