The Facts
Fabric: 5.5yds All That Glitters Red & Black Scroll Flocked Taffeta $35.70 (£22.15). I actually bought way too much in the sale so will be able to make something matchy matchy with the remainder next year.
Pattern: Sort of frankensteined from Simplicity 2444 and Vogue 2902 and things I’ve learnt during the year.
Year: Contemporary/retro.
Notions: Zip $0.99 (£0.62), thread.
Time to complete: 20 hours.
First worn: 31st December 2012 (me, last minute?)
Wear again? Yes, whenever I get the chance and don’t feel like death warmed up.
Total Cost: $36.69 (£22.77)
The challenge: “Happy Holidays Dec 31″
I got 67 garments and a crown ain't one.
Ok, I lie….the crown is one. Can you count a crown as a ‘garment’? I made it as part of the Diamond Jubilee challenge outfit….from a Butterick sewing pattern….I even sewed some of it….so I’m going to call it an honorary garment. And anyway I need it to make my end of year stats chart true:
I like numbers, but pictures are good too:
But anyway, back to the final frock of the year, and a glimpse into my closet…..which now seriously needs a clear out and New Year’s tidy:
I saw a dress in a Harpers Bazaar magazine earlier in the year, Salma Hayek was wearing in a stable, brandishing a riding crop. It was a beautiful red evening dress with black velvet flocking….not too dissimilar to this fabric, a larger pattern but this is near enough for me. And this dress is made copying my previous favourite dress of the year, my Papa Was a Roaming Gnome polka dot dress. I just finally managed to perfect the fit on the bodice this time…the Gnome dress is a little tight, I have to sit up properly and breathe in to make it comfortable….this dress was comfortable from the putting on.
Which is useful, because currently I feel awful. Like death warmed up. Do you know how when you stop the whole world catches up with you? Well, I stopped for Christmas Eve through until Boxing Day…..and a minor cold I’d been coping with got to my lungs and wreaked havoc with my asthma. So in these photos I’m actually feeling a bit pooey….and I haven’t bothered to put a full circle petticoat on.
What a delightful photo of me coughing my guts up.
So do you know what I’m going to do this next week? This first week of 2013? I going to sleep, and when I’m not sleeping I’m going to sit on the settee and eat chocolates and watch tatty television. I possibly, only possibly….if I get bored with doing glorious nothingness…..I might open my present from Father Christmas (and my family, and my parents and my parents-in-law…..thank you all very very much) my first ever serger/overlocker. I’m ever so excited about it. I reckon it’s going to half my sewing speed for garments in the future.
But that’s for later in 2013. Before then I have to catch up on curtains for Melchett, my youngest, finishing off decorating my bathroom, and spreading colour throughout the rest of my house (it’s typical Arizona latte brown throughout and you know I’m slightly partial to more exciting colours than that), fixing my flush on the downstairs toilet and other delights I’ve been putting off until the 52 weeks of the 2012 Sew Weekly challenge were finally over.
But worry yourselves not…..I will be carrying on creating costumes and garments galore next year. I hope to be a much bigger part of the Sew Weekly Community (I’m so sorry I haven’t had time this year to contribute to the discussions and commenting on the wonderful creations that you’re all making that don’t get enough limelight) and as I plan to make quite a few bigger projects (suits, I want to perfect suits……and there WILL be a Bowie sew-a-long some time during 2013), you can catch up on my progress and other general ponderings here on my blog.
Until then can I repeat my thanks I’ve been saying for several weeks now – THANK YOU MENA! Thank you for coming up with this wonderful adventure in the first place…..I’ve learnt more than I could ever have imagined and tried making styles I wouldn’t have tried without the prompting of the weekly challenges. Thank you to my wonderful family for putting up with me and my moments of “I can’t do it, I can’t go on. It’s all gone wrong. I’ve broken my machine forever. Etc” I love you all so much. Ok, I’m gushing now and that means I’m going to need my inhaler in a moment, so I’ll shut up and wish you all an exciting 2013. Reach for that dream, dream big and love one another!
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