Friday 11 April 2014

Back to The Sewing Machine

For a while now you might remember I have been trying hard to loose a substantial amount of weight, because of this my sewing journey stopped until I had reached a comfortable point where I wasn't
 dropping a dress size every month.  I'm really pleased to announce I'm nearly at my destination on this crazy journey and I feel I can happily start making clothes again.

I know for certain this blog will be having a lot more posts about my sewing, so please bare with me while my blog attempts to find its perfect identity and works out what is going on, there will be a big variety of posts between now and who knows...

The first dress on my new wardrobe list was the cappuccino dress by Liesl Gibson for Oliver and S. 

I'd been looking for along time for the portfolio dress created by sew lisette for Simplicity (2245) but being out of print couldn't find it anywhere within a normal budget. When I saw Liesl Gibson had released a really similar but much improved pattern I jumped straight on the band wagon. 


It is the long anticipated pattern to replace the out of print portfolio dress (simplicity 2245) that I wish I had brought several years ago. I know so many people in the blogging world wanted to mark this portfolio and I'm sure as many will be making the new cappuccino. 

I used some basic cotton that I had in my stash to whip up this first number. 

Although really basic in colour, the style made me more than happy! With in 12 hours I was already onto making my second. I found the first one had some real pattern issues for me, I needed to create a full bust adjustment on it to make it fit a little better.

I used the same fabric again for the second pattern but to make it easier to tell this apart I also used a fabric of the same construction but red in colour.

Seriously, I'm not sure the dress can get any cuter than this. 

This time round I attempted to make the longer sleeves, I'm confident to say that this pattern will become a wardrobe staple for me and I'm already planning a few more versions of this to ensure I have enough wear out of the pattern. I love the tunic version that is also available and plan on making some changes of my own to play around with different constructions etc.

I love how easy it was to construct this dress and how it seems to be able to be dressed up and dressed down.

The red version was a little tight on the red fabric, and I love the cuteness of lining the pockets in something different, however I've so far worn this dress twice and both times someone has asked me what's white inside my pocket...

Of course I gave them the standard answer of CHICKENS!!! What else would a girl have in her pocket?


I've said it previously but I will say it again, this dress is amazing. If you've previously been on the fence about this one I need to tell you that you should get off the wall knowing your bare feet will be more than comfortable in the grass that is this amazing dress.

I will be looking out for Liesl Gibsons other patterns in a few weeks as well. Amazing!!!

2 comments:

  1. They look fab! I love the chicken pockets, great idea

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  2. I was very much sitting on the fence about this new pattern - I too have been hunting for Lisette Portfolio for some time. I wasn't sure if I liked the new neckline on the pattern, but your red and black dress has changed my mind. It's lovely! Thanks for sharing.

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