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.

Re-creating high fashion: dressmaking project with fabric from Tissura

We get inspiration from all around us for creative projects and sometimes seeing something you like but wanting to change it to suit your own style is the most straight forward way. Years ago when I was avidly catching all the premier designer fashion shows, I was also watching out for the celebrities to see what they wore. Sometimes what’s on the front row is just as good as what is being paraded down the runway!

There was one such Asian celebrity who wore what I thought was an interesting gown. It was made with textured rose pink coloured fabric, was short-sleeved and was the length of a coat, but was in fact a dress with a short zip of around 6 inches which meant the celebrity had to wear shorts underneath. Somehow the length and style of the dress really fascinated me. In Scotland, you wouldn’t catch me wearing the dress with short shorts underneath, but it was one that definitely stayed in my mind!

Dressmaking project on the go: fit and flare lace gown

It’s been a while since I had sewn anything for myself. After sewing 9 projects for our DIY wedding (you can see all the projects we did ourselves for our 2015 wedding here) and after that, it seemed my friends were all due to have their babies at the same time last year. I was so excited about my friends expecting babies that I was consumed with making handmade toys and clothes for them that sewing for myself was put to one side.

Since becoming vegan, I don’t feel the need to sew quite so much anymore. I’m only the one person and since the OH and I don’t go to formal events that require us to be dressed up much. Added to the fact that I’m trying to clear out all the excess clothing I don’t seem to wear much, I try not to sew too much that I’m not going to get a chance to wear.

Seeing a pattern that calls to you, with a shape that you know will suit you and gives you ideas on what to make, really gets those creative juices flowing. Recently seeing one on Instagram did just that.

Discovering a new world of luxurious fabrics from Tissura

Anyone who is experienced with sewing and dressmaking will be able to tell you that the choice of fabric for any project, whether it be a jacket, dress or curtain, is very important. Choosing a lightweight cotton fabric for curtain doesn’t help serve its purpose; using heavyweight fabric for an evening gown makes it impractical. Finding suppliers who offer a great range of beautiful fabric can also be a tricky task. Most sewers are fascinated by haute couture designs, so it’ll come as no surprise that Tissura is the company that can supply you with the same high quality luxurious fabrics, directly from the manufacturers, that premier fashion houses use.

Shopping edit: choosing sustainable and ethical fashion brands

Since I starting making a more conscious decision to go cruelty free, and vegan where possible (see here), I started giving more thought to what this choice actually meant. It’s one thing to choose products that don’t involve cruelty to animals, but have you ever wondered how your purchase consumption of products impacts on the world?

Tartan tea dress: inspirations behind the project

I’m constantly on the look out for new designs or fabrics to inspire my next project. Since I got married and made my own tartan shawl in the OH’s family tartan, (see photos from our 2015 wedding here and wedding sewing/DIY projects here), I keep thinking about how I can bring in more of Scottish culture and history into my designs.

One that I feel personal about is the OH’s family tartan. Unfortunately I learned from making the wedding stole (see here) that the family hunting tartan is not one that is sold commercially so will cost more for this particular tartan to be sourced (the half metre of light woolen tartan fabric cost me about £36 for the stole). Even if I can’t use the OHs’ family tartan, I figured I can still use another tartan for my next dressmaking project.

Updates on my cut out back dress: how to machine sew a buttonhole

I bought a vintage pattern for making a cut out back dress a while ago but I never had the chance to really use it. I hadn’t found the right fabric for the dress I had in mind (see my previous post with inspirations here).

When I did finally find fabric that I really liked, I didn’t hesitate to buy it online. The only issue was it was in quite see through printed chiffon fabric. With the cut out back dress, I would definitely need a lining, but I would also need to work out the logistics on how to hide the sewing on the seams.

Looking back on our wedding: tips for planning your big day

Time really does fly, whether you’re having fun or not! It seemed like just earlier this year that I was planning our wedding and today we’re celebrating our first wedding anniversary!

Your wedding day is one of the most important milestones in your life (including starting university or college, starting your first job, finding your first love, having your first child…the list goes on) and it involves, like with other important milestones, a lot of preparation, stress and high emotions. With all the planning involved, I thought it might be helpful for prospective brides to hear some of what I learned from spending 2.5 years planning our 2015 wedding.

New dressmaking project: 3D chiffon flower dress

One of the downfalls of trying to find inspiration for keeping the creative juices flowing is finding new projects. That’s one such dilemma I find myself in. After taking a hiatus from sewing after all the dressmaking I had done last year for our wedding, I found myself in a quandry. I just couldn’t find the motivation to start sewing again. None of the fabrics in thes hop seemed to catch my interest. I needed something, anything to bring me out of this sewing block. Until I found similar fabric to this in the shop.

Costume wardrobe crush: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I don’t go to the cinema very much anymore, it seems like such a high price for a ticket to watch a film which might be good (or not). I only ever venture to the big screens for a film that really catches my attention and I just have to see with friends. Otherwise, I wait till I’ve read the reviews and decide if I want to get the DVD when it comes out. This year, my one ‘must brave the crowds to see’ film was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I couldn’t be more delighted.