Derby Day is here! Erin cannot seem to buck the trend of wearing gingham on this black-and-white-themed day.
Pattern: Simplicity 9886
Simplicity 9886 is a fitted colour-block dress that has a bodice with princess seams and bust darts. We created this version with the longest skirt length and without the sleeves. You can find this pattern on the Sewdirect website here.
Fabric: Black and white Cotton Gingham
When Erin was visiting Paris she went to Marché Saint-Pierre and found this great pair of matching gingham in different scales which was perfect for her love of gingham for Derby Day. Then the great debate come as to which scale gingham to place in which panel.
Finished Derby Day Look S9886
Photo Credits
Pattern: Simplicity 9886 provided by Sewdirect Australia Fabric: Black and White Gingham purchased at Marché Saint-Pierre in Paris Millinery: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
We love making fun summer dresses, but we never seem to pick fabric or patterns for dresses with sleeves. This means we feel like we have nothing to wear when spring or autumn comes around! Our challenge in the next couple of months is to fix this before the weather gets cooler.
Fabric: John Kaldor Lizzano Cotton Sateen Fabric from Minerva
This is the John Kaldor Lizzano Cotton Sateen Fabric in the black colourway. It is 100% cotton but has a beautiful smooth finish. Some of the cotton sateens you find in Australia are heavy and have stretch in the fabric – this one is quite the opposite! It is light and soft, but still keeps its shape when gathered.
Pattern: Simplicity 9780
When picking the pattern we wanted to make, we wanted to choose one that showcased the lovely way the fabric looks when it is gathered. Simplicity 9780 is a smock type dress with three views, with different sleeve, length and ruffle variations. We love the way the yoke of the dress continues around the front, back and sleeves of the dress. The front tie provides a creative feature to otherwise very simple design lines.
When travelling, how do you decide what to take with you? For us, we start with a hero piece or theme and then build around it. For Lauren’s trip to Europe in the depths of winter, the hero was always going to be the jacket—a magenta wool coat made from a Burda pattern. From there, we decided the base colour would be black, so all the shoes she took would match everything, paired with black tights and a black handbag. The base garments were decided as a pair of black pants and a skirt, and now the fun part: how to add some colour (that complements the jacket) and prints!
Fabric: Woven Stretch Cotton Sateen Fabric
Now, enter this geometric Woven Stretch Cotton Sateen Fabric from Minerva. We were looking for a fabric that had some weight to it, and as you know, we love a cotton sateen due to its lovely finish and the inclusion of some elastane for a small amount of stretch. This cotton sateen is made up of 95% Cotton, 5% Elastane, which was perfect. See more about this fabric on the Minerva website here.
Pattern: Simplicity 8733
The pattern we chose was Simplicity 8733 because of the simple bodice line that would not break up the geometric print of the fabric and the dramatic bishop sleeve.
Growing up in the Australian landscape, it was difficult not to imagine little gum nut babies calling the eucalyptus home. This is the work of the stunning stories and illustrations by Cecilia May Gibbs MBE. She is best known for the book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, which was published in 1918. Born in Kent, United Kingdom May Gibbs made her way to Australia in 1881 and called it home until she died in 1969 in Sydney. The legacy of her work lives on through her artwork and, recently, in printed textiles. The May Gibbs team approached us with the opportunity to create something with their lovely printed fabric we jumped at the chance.
Fabric: May Gibbs Gum Blossom Babies Organic Homespun Cotton
We got to choose from a selection from the May Gibbs collection, and we chose the Gum Blossom Babies Organic Homespun Cotton. The fabric is 100% cotton and 112cm wide.
The Gum Blossom Babies are shy little girls that can be found clustered together on the tops of the trees. The tender-hearted Blossoms, like the Nuts, love all the Bush Folk and take much interest in the goings on around them. They enjoy sitting with the Nuts to hear stories of great adventures and things unknown.
Pattern: Simplicity 9744
For our pattern selection, we wanted to pick a pattern with large pattern pieces and not too many pieces that would break up the fabric print. A new release of Simplicity patterns came out in Australia, and we saw this Simplicity 9744, and we knew it was the one.
This shirt dress has a half-button placket at the front with a spread collar. The bodice is all in one and features an inverted box pleats. We chose to create view A (without the tie detail) with a raglan sleeve that finishes above the elbow.
Finished Make
Photo Credits
Photographer: James Christie Media Pattern: Simplicity 9744 provided by Sewdirect Australia Fabric: May Gibbs Gum Blossom Babies Organic Homespun Cotton gifted by May Gibbs Official. This fabric is available through Spotlight Stores.
The new Velvet Stretch Knit fabrics come in all our favourite Minerva Exclusive Prints. We are slowly making our way through all of the wonderful Minerva Exclusive Prints in the different fabric types. This one is the floral Resort Print! It has so many wonderful colours, with the greens, pink, yellow, red and blue all standing out against the black background. See more about the fabric here.
Pattern: Simplicity 9175
We made Simplicity 9175 view A, with the long sleeves (without the slits in the arms) and pareo wrap across the front of the skirt. In the last year we have started making more knit garments. The wonderful thing about knit fabrics is that they can mostly be sewn on four thread overlocker. For this dress, we did a combination of machine and overclocking. Find your copy on Minerva here.
Finished Make
We ‘bagged out’ the skirt panel first, stitching the edge of the skirt piece and hem with ride sides together. Then turned to the right side and stitched onto the waistband (consistent with the instructions when you aren’t lining the skirt), then stitched both into the side seams. Otherwise the construction of the dress remains the same. There is more bulk in the side seam which includes the skirt seam – to address this we stitched on the machine first, then cut back the seam allowances before overlocking