Pattern Review/Hack - McCalls M6893 Skull Lace Applique Dress

Now anyone that follows me on Instagram or Twitter would've seen my many posts about a bridesmaid dress I've been making.  The only remit for the dress was that it had to be black.  As the wedding was in October I decided that I wanted a long dress to suit our British weather.  And then, of course, I played with the idea of getting skulls into it to create an 'alternative' bridesmaid dress.  Not everyone's cup of tea I know, but I was thinking more Alexander McQueen style than teenage goth. 

I decided to start with McCall's pattern M6893, using the long full skirt and bodice D for the elbow length sleeves. 

 





I also had a vague plan of a black skirt and a black lace top over a nude bodice but that was as far as my planning went. 

After searching around and failing to find some black lace that I really liked I decided to look into lace applique and opened a treasure trove of possibilities, there is so much out there!

I ordered an awful lot of lace applique pieces, my main choices were butterflies, flowers and yep skulls.  I also ordered some white lace appliques - like the two doves holding wedding rings  (how appropriate, right?) and dyed them black using Dylon's fabric dye for hand use in velvet black.  The instructions on the packet are super easy to use so don't be intimidated about dying your own fabric to suit your needs.

After knocking together a quick toile of the bodice piece I set about pinning the lace pieces to my mannequin to try and build up what sort of pattern I want.  This took me a long time, I'm talking weeks here, of putting some pieces on then leaving it to see how I felt about it after a couple of days.  I actually really enjoy this sort of thing, it's kind of like a puzzle trying to get all the pieces to fit together and also to follow the natural body shape.  The large skull piece on the back meant that I had to move the placement of the zip from the back to the side seam.
 

Then it was on to making the actual dress.  I made the bodice out of some nude satin fabric.  I ordered multiple samples to make sure I got just the right colour to suit my skin tone. 

I made the tulle overlay using double seams rather than a French seam and trimmed close to the stitching. Then I lined both top pieces up on my mannequin and pinned them together matching the bust darts and side seams.

I hand tacked every piece of applique in place onto just the tulle not the under bodice so that the top would have some movement.  Then started the long process of hand stitch each in place.  I wanted to do it by hand to make sure it was absolutely neat, stitching around the outer edge of each piece.

  

I even found some gorgeous lace ribbon with skulls in it to put around the bottom of each sleeve.  So pretty!  Once everything was sewn into place a trimmed away the excess tulle and any lose threads.

I had originally planned just to have a satin skirt, but with the tulle bodice I decided to add a tulle over lay skirt to bring the whole dress together.


So the fully finished dress.  I don't have any good quality full length photos at the moment as trying to take good photos in winter light is impossible.  I'll update them when the weather is more co-operative! But you get the general idea.

This was probably the biggest project I've done so far and took me a good couple of months to get finished.  Has anyone else made a bridesmaid dress or used McCalls M6893 for a project?

Update: Got a couple of photos from the big day, gives you a proper idea of the final lace effect :)

Love F*2DIY4 x
@fashiontodiyfor #fashionDIY

Pattern Review: Vogue Pattern V9021

I've been meaning to try this Vogue V9021 pattern for a while now and when I saw it was half price over on jaycotts.co.uk I finally got round to buying it. It's part of their Very Easy range so as I was at a loose end this weekend I decided to give it a go.









The sewing part only took a day, which is great because my sewing projects normally take weeks.  It was nice to have a finished dress so quickly!  There only fiddly bit in this pattern is making sure that the dart lines match up on the top and skirt when you're connecting them.  The pattern tells you to baste first which allows you to make sure that everything lines up perfectly - this was especially important with my chosen tartan fabric (I do like to make things hard for myself).

The only change I made to the pattern was to use a concealed zip instead of the standard one hidden by a fold as the pattern suggests but that's just down to my personal preference. 

Overall I'm pretty happy with the result, what do you think?

The back and hem need a bit of a press but I was too excited and couldn't wait to share this with you as it is :) 

I'd definitely recommend this pattern.  Not only is it relatively quick and easy but the shape of the sleeves are both stylish and eye catching.  I'm already planning a pattern hack with this, a chiffon version with a full circle skirt perfect for summer.

Have you made this dress up?

Love
F*2DIY4 x
@fashiontodiyfor #fashionDIY

Pattern Review/Hack - Amy Butler Bag

New year, New handbag.  You can never have too many handbags, in different colours, shapes, sizes, fabrics....  So why not sew your own?

 

 

 

This Amy Butler sewing pattern is available over on Sew Mama Sew and it's completely FREE! It even comes with two different strap lengths so you can decide which is best for you (or make both!?).

This pattern is well written and easy to follow. We made a couple of changes to the original design; we changed the shape of the flap to a curve, rather than the cut out shape of the pattern. This did mean we had to lower the 'tags' where the handles are sewn onto the bag to accommodate the new shape.

Secondly, instead of using 'Peltex' as the instructions call for, we improvised with super stiff interfacing. We used strong interfacing (as the pattern suggests) to line the majority of the pieces, but then instead of Peltex we used strong interfacing ironed onto pieces of cotton. This was far more cost effective and provides enough stability to shape the bag. To support the bottom we cut a piece of plastic and slid it in between the layers before attaching the lining to the outer bag.  You can just use a piece of cardboard for this if you don't have any suitable plastic to hand.

We chose to make the bag out of a faux suede fabric and to cover the bag flap in skull studs.  If you want to attach studs yourself its best to do this before you start sewing any of the pattern pieces together, just be sure to take the seam allowances into account when deciding on the layout of your studs.

We love the inside of this bag thanks to the bold contrasting neon yellow lining and the two divider pockets, one of which has a zips.  Compartments are key to a great bag and this pattern has it right.

You will need a needle that is able to cope with thick fabrics once all the layers are built up especially when attaching the flap to the main bag.  Also we decided to hand stich the final gathers in the side as it simply wouldn't fit under the sewing machine foot!

The possibilities of adapting this pattern make it essential to your fashion DIY collection.  Especially as it's free, you have nothing to lose!

We'd love to see any bags you've made yourself.

Love
F*2DIY4 x
@fashiontodiyfor #fashionDIY

Instagram - November Round Up

Here's a quick round up of our Instagram feed for November: 

1. Nautical Anchor Buttons.  We settled on the matt ones for our McQueen coat.

2. Our founder now writes for Oxfam fashion!  Her first post about band t-shirts can be found here: http://goo.gl/PBpl96 

3. Love little touches like this from independent sellers.

4. Our Alexander McQueen inspired coat is finally finished! We used McCall's sewing pattern M6800.

5. Had to take a shot of the inside of our McQueen coat.  Just look at that gorgeous lining!

6. You can find all the details of our pattern match and pattern review for the McQueen coat here: http://goo.gl/iGCGfL
7. The Clash: taking part in 6 Music's Band T-shirt Day.

8. Three gorgeous necklaces from Sour Cherry.  Support your local businesses this Christmas :)

9. A little preview of our next tutorial. Can you guess what it is?

 

Come join us on Instagram: fashiontodiyfor or use the tag #fashionDIY so we can find your makes :)

Love,
F*2DIY4 x
@fashiontodiyfor #fashionDIY

Instagram - September Round Up

September, the end of the summer and the beginning of autumn.  See what we got up to on our Instagram account: 

From top left going across the rows:

1. We tried out Essence's DIY gel manicure range. Does the manicure last 10 days like they claim? Here's our review: http://goo.gl/L7OChI

2. The gel manicure looks amazing with a high shine and professional finish!

3. Remember to clean your makeup brushes at least once a month. We recommend using a gentle baby shampoo.

4. A second By Hand London Georgia Dress Pattern Hack! Details on what we did can be found here: http://goo.gl/lEQd2F

5. The front of our By Hand London Georgia Dress Pattern Hack.

6. New Chelsea boots and Dinosaur socks. I'm ready to face the day.
7. The next three patterns we're working on. We have a couple of McQueen inspired projects coming up soon...

8. Some pretty black lace we used for a quick and easy pencil skirt.

9. Our finished stretch lace pencil skirt. So quick and easy to make and a staple in any wardrobe. Tutorial will be up soon.

 

Come join us on Instagram: fashiontodiyfor or use the tag #fashionDIY so we can find your makes :)

Love,
F*2DIY4 x
@fashiontodiyfor #fashionDIY

Pattern Hack/Review: By Hand London Georgia Dress Babydoll

As you know by now we are huge fans of By Hand London's Georgia dress pattern.  We reviewed the pattern for you and took on our own hack of it, resulting in these two beautiful dresses:

One of the reasons we just had to buy this pattern was because of the gorgeous babydoll pattern hack over on By Hand London's Blog.  We thought it was about time we put it to the test.  You only need to extend the back bodice piece to make the bow and make a circle skirt instead of the skirt with the pattern.  They even provide an app to work out the circle skirt for you so you don't have to calculate it yourself. How neat is that?!

The instructions on the blog are as easy to follow as the ones in the pattern.  We were very impressed with the result and if you have the Georgia dress pattern then you must make this version of it too.  Just look at the results:

Love,
F*2DIY4 x
@fashiontodiyfor #fashionDIY

Instagram - August Round Up

We've had a very busy August!  Here's some fashion DIY highlights from our Instagram account. Enjoy:

From top left going across the rows:

1. This 'Famous Frocks' was a gift from a friend and looks amazing. It has patterns for iconic dresses, like Marilyn Monroe's 7 Year Itch one and Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's!

2. This months Charity Shop Haul. Remember to use #CharityShopHaul on Instagram and Twitter to share your bargain finds!

3. Our finished Crystal Skull Ring, which is nearly impossible to photograph because its transparent! Tutorial to make your own is here: http://goo.gl/RjnWBy

4. The first of our By Hand London Georgia Dress Pattern Hacks! Details on what we did can be found here: http://goo.gl/SIzrF4

5. And a photo of the back because you've just got to love that bow!

6. Technically not a fashion DIY, but this stylish Tunnock's Milk Chocolate Tea Cake coffee mug has really made the morning commute much more bearable. And it was new from a Charity shop!
7. Statement Studded Shoes. Make your own with our fashion DIY tutorial: http://goo.gl/ZfTt16

8. Turquoise manicure with silver glitter accent nails. Very summery.

9. Our Black Tie Wedding Guest Evening Gown finished.  Made with turquoise lace and diamante beads.  We based this on a Badgley Mischka for Vogue V1374 pattern then altered it to fit our design. Find out more about what we did here: http://goo.gl/1qq7l6

 

Come join us on Instagram: fashiontodiyfor or use the tag #fashionDIY so we can find your makes :)

Love,
F*2DIY4 x
@fashiontodiyfor #fashionDIY