The Melbourne Cup is here, get ready for a big week of hats and fashion! After the last two years of lockdowns, Melbourne is ready to showcase Spring Fashion at its best!
Derby Day kicks off the week, with Melbourne putting on a very cold and wet day. Traditionally the dress code for the day is black and white with all racegoers wear the monochrome palette.
The Two Sewing Sisters both opted for fun, yet classic fabrics paired with matching millinery which stayed firmly within the Derby Day monochrome dress code.
Lauren’s Outfit
The underdress is Gertie Butterick Pattern B6453 made for the Little Black Dress MIMC Competition (Read more about the garments made for that competition here)
The overcoat is black tulle made in a vintage coat pattern and plays on the effect of layering the tulle to create different textures and density in the fabric.
Turban: Lauren J Ritchie
Shoes: Irregular Choice
Erin’s Outfit
This dress started with a moment of Erin say, “Loz, I’ve had a vision”. Which usually results in a great feat of sewing marvel and a hopefully incredible outcome.
There were two key inspirations for this dress:
(1) So many scraps left over from 2019! When Erin made the hexagon quilted dress in 2019, we thought “surely this will use up all of our black and white fabric scraps” – only not only did it not use up all of the scraps, we’ve created more scarps over the past two years. See more about the 2019 hexagon dress here.
(2) @fromcarlyb reel of scrap busting by making your own textile
(and yes, for those who followed along the hexagon dress for two years this was done in time)
We created this fabric by marking out the shape of the pattern pieces on a base of a white upcycled sheet as a base, arranged the scraps which was then sandwiched with two layers and tulle and stitched into place. Enter the industry sewing machine for this quilting step. Once each piece was “quilted” we cut the piece back to the pattern piece shape and constructed the dress.
The features of this dress included a band across the bust and in seam zipper pockets.
Pattern: Hack of #b6410 bodice and circular skirt
Brimmed Hat: Lauren J Ritchie
Shoes: Wittner Shoes
Earrings: Pigeonhole
