My finished Tissura dressmaking project: Liberty of London front zip shirt dress

Summer is the busiest time of year for me at work and this usually starts around spring, so I’m very grateful for everyone’s patience with me posting here. I am happy to report that my one of my dressmaking projects (see previous inspiration post here) is now complete after encountering some difficulties.

Today, I will talk you through some lessons I’ve learned from sewing this project (having been sewing sporadically for 5 years now) and reveal my final design.

DIY tutorial: the pleated tea party dress

A while back, I had the idea to sew a pleated dress. I felt that the grey tartan fabric was slightly too formal (more work or business appropriate) and I needed a dress to wear for a friend’s wedding over the weekend. I had bought other fabric on Etsy and decided to start using the Chinese blossom watercolour print cotton I bought especially for this dress.

Wedding wardrobe complete: from start to finish!

My 3 dresses for the wedding: the Chinese wedding dress, the white wedding dress, and the evening reception dress

The Maid of Honour (left) and Bridesmaid dresses

I can’t tell you how satisfied (or how relieved!) I was to have finished all 5 dresses for the wedding: 3 of my own, the Maid of Honour and Bridesmaid dresses.

New dressmaking project: pleated tartan skater dress!

It’s been a very hectic time at work for the past month or so. Unfortunately this eats into my spare time which I would normally spend sewing, especially with the looming wedding date coming up in 4 months time. Eek! I’ll post an update soon on progress with the white wedding dress. All that’s left is to sew the finished lining to the inside of the outer dress and that’s another one finished 🙂 3 to go!

Browsing on the World Wide Web, I came across blog Merrick’s Art and her lovely outfit (loving the gladiator sandals!). Most importantly, the beautiful dress Merrick was wearing for her tutorial blog post!

Out and about with my summer midi skirt

Last week, the OH and I decided to meet up with some friends to watch a film in the Edinburgh Film Festival. We had perused the programme quite a few times (believe you me, it’s not an easy task when there are usually about 5 films – or thereabouts – being shown daily between 18th and 29th June at various cinemas in the city) and had decided on a few films, but due to timings and other commitments, we weren’t able to see some of the others we were interested in. We did manage however to see A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide and I thought with the weather being somewhat more summer like, it was a good opportunity to take my summer pink midi skirt out for a spin.

Updates on dressmaking projects: old and new

Having projects waiting in the wings is always exciting, but so is finally finishing old ones that have been on the sidelines for a while! I was having a bit of sewing block for a while and with work being busy, I lacked the motivation to go fabric hunting to start new projects.

First thing I needed to do was finish my summer pink marbled midi skirt, using the same method I used for the knit jersey midi skirt I finished earlier this year. After much procrastination, I was pleased with myself when I managed to finish it this weekend in just 4 hours.

Bringing summer back: the summer midi skirt

It’s been a really mild winter and a slow transition from the cooler temperatures to the warmer air and bright sun that tells you summer is coming. It’s on it’s way though and if you haven’t been to Scotland yet, you’ll appreciate the nicer (and cooler) weather more, no matter how small a change you get with the changing seasons. One of the things I like most about Edinburgh is the colder temperatures, unlike the intense heat and high humidity of living in Hong Kong or South East Asian countries where fans or ACs are a staple in every household, shop as well as shopping centre. Here, it’s central heating that is a staple.

I’ve been a bit lax in working on my projects, whether it be jewellery making or dressmaking, since the jewellery making classes finished a couple of weeks ago. I managed to finish my first labradorite ring and do most of the work on the etched sterling silver cuffs my friends asked me to make for them with the filigree lily design. I’ve also got new gemstones that I’m quite excited about setting, some of which I’ve already got plans for.

My finished midi skirt

Finishing an project you set off to do can sometimes be frustrating, especially when you encounter problems and have to take pieces apart to start one section again. When you push through the trying parts (like the skirt of your maxi dress not lying properly, the length needing adjusted on your faux fur snood after you’ve finished), you’re satisfied that you’ve done all you can to make your item as great as it can be.

Trying to get to the end can be a hassle (I still haven’t brought myself to go back and work on the fold in the skirt of my maxi dress), which is why when projects go right the first time, you need to savour these moments. When I sped through the process of making my knit jersey midi skirt, I couldn’t be happier. I managed to finish the entire skirt in a matter of hours in one evening!

Bringing in Chinese New Year with origami lilies

Happy Chinese New Year and Kung Hei Fat Choi to all my friends and fellow bloggers who celebrate this occasion! May the Year of the Horse bring everyone prosperity, good health and happiness around the world! I apologise for the lack of updates recently, I’ve been really busy at work and this weekend has been busy for me, trying to finish off the origami lilies and getting ready for CNY.

In my family, it’s customary to have water lilies, narcissus and peonies in the house, but because it’s not as easy to get these flowers from your local supermarket and having to worry about whether or not they’re cat-safe, I decdied to use the origami lilies I was working on with Heather at Yankee Doodle’s help to bring in CNY.

Dressmaking project: the midi skirt

Source: Maison Miru

I’ll be the first to admit that flared jeans and tunic tops might not be popular anymore, but I stick with the styles that suit me and I refuse to follow the trends unless certain key pieces that I really like. As each year goes by, the need to flaunt my body becomes less important (remember the early 20th century where flashing some stomach like Britney Spears was all the rage, or wearing really short skirts to show off your legs). The need to wear short or above the knee skirts stem from the fact that I’m 5’5″. I like wearing my heels, but when you’re small, any attempts at looking taller helps. I’ve also learned that no matter your height, you should be dressing for yourself and with styles that compliment your body shape and size. I prefer styles which suit my particular body shape and one thing that is on my list of fashion staples is the midi skirt.