As this is a weekend I organise, it is of course no ordinary weekend! Due to some moustache jokes last year, Friday night this year was Moustache Night. Although my 'tache wasn't handmade, I was sporting a rather fetching t shirt which I had embellished with fabric and metal accents...
Saturday night is always themed, and people are crazy enough to join me in wearing some amazing costumes. I try to make my outfit, or at least part of it every year. This year was no exception, and I went into overdrive and made both mine and my friend Debbie's dresses.
Hers was a doddle, and looked amazing as she has a stunning figure - it was a pleasure to sew for someone who would do the dress justice.
Mine gave me no end of trouble. The skirt part was easy, but getting the bodice right proved to be too much for me. The red fabric was a slightly stretchy mesh with circles applied to the surface so it was 3D. Matching the pattern was tough, and when I attached the red fabric to the lining, it wouldn't match up properly so the bodice has an unflattering baggy appearance. Perhaps I should have interfaced the red mesh to prevent stretch? Anyway, I will never try to sew a fitted bodice with a stretch fabric again. I'm thinking of detaching the bodice and finishing the skirt so I can wear it with a different top as I do think the fabric looks cool... but it can hibernate for a while first.
Some of the girls who came have also blogged about their weekends, and there are some lovely photos of layouts they made:
And the layouts we made with our mystery kits have been featured on the Gotta Craft shop blog, as Sandra supplied the papers for the kits (I am the headless one with a LO about Lisbon - it was day 3 and I was looking a bit rough!!): http://gottacraftshop.blogspot.com/2011/11/take-one-collection.html
Only 357 days until next year's retreat, I must be off to get planning!
Both of the dresses look amazing, you are so talented
ReplyDeleteGoodness what talent, oh Gaye, you and Debbie look gorgeous
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