Friday 4 October 2013

The hunt for Red October...

...is over!

Thanks to tabathatweedie, I discovered that I'd inadvertently joined in with a sewcialist sewalong!

I don't use twitter - it's as much as I can do to keep up with blogging, Ravelry, Facebook, Instagram and, well, real life let alone another social media platform! So I've been blissfully unaware of twitterings about red being a neutral colour.... And all the while, I've been making my own little neutral dress...


 
At our mini meetup a few weeks ago, Amy brought along her Belladone pattern for me to peek at and Helen kindly gave me some amazeballs fabric that she had spare. And although I hadn't planned it, I was so excited about the combo that I immediately set to work!

I did have a few teeny tiny problems along the way. But only because I'm stupid and got the right and wrong sides of the fabric mixed up...

Oops, wrong way round!
 
By this point, I'd already bound the seams so I spent ages ripping everything out and redoing. Annoy-ing.

Much better
 
After that though, it was pretty much plain sailing. I've never used so much bias binding in my life - 10m!! I wanted the inside to be as nice as the outside seeing as I couldn't be bothered didn't want to line it.


How cute is the back cut out detail? It really makes this dress special. But it's not indecently big or low so you can still wear a normal bra - win! What a shame it's turning colder now though, I'll be covering it up with a cardi over the winter. I can't wait to wear it by itself next summer to show the diamond off now!



There's only one thing that I'm not one hundred percent happy with - the stormtrooper shoulders make a return again...

 
I know I'm late on the Belladone bandwagon but this is an awesome dress! Eleonore has done it again with a fabulously easy-to-follow pattern that makes it a pleasure to sew. And the finished dress is brilliant!
 

Sorry about the quality of these photos - my laptop isn't working so I've had to do the whole post on my phone which makes for rubbish photo clarity.

Also, I was sorry to hear that the author of The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy, passed away yesterday, hence the inspiration for the title...

18 comments:

  1. I LOVE THIS!! Seriously, it's one of my favorite things you've made! Red is such a great color for you.


    Re Stormtrooper shoulders: you're not alone. Last week I was walking with a friend; I was wearing a t-shirt dress and she turned to me and said, "Are you wearing shoulder pads?" Uh . . . no. Those are my shoulders! At least I knew I'm not making it up when I complain about my shoulders!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yaaay. Looks so good. Maybe a narrow shoulder adjustment on your next one if shoulders are bugging you? You're too nice to be a stormtrooper! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your dress looks absolutely lovely and I am impressed with how you finished the inside (I usually tend to ignore the inside, uha). One question though, because you haven't lined your dress will the skirt not cling to your tights? That's what I am always worried about! Or are you wearing a half slip? I just bought a lip yesterday and have to admit I felt a bit like a granny when putting it o ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is lovely, it suits you so well and is an excellent use of the fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Gail, it's one of my favourites as well! The other favourite has to be my second sureau, also a deer and doe pattern. Ha ha, maybe we should start a stormtrooper club!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love this pattern! I can't believe it's taken me so long to join the party!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ooh, I'll have to look into that. Thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was worried about it sticking too but it doesn't! I think it might be because it's more structured/slightly heavier fabric? I hate wearing slips, would prefer to put up with a slight sticky situation 😃

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks Roisin, I'm so pleased about the fabric as well!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My face is melting from all the awesome! It is so lovely inside and out!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is just SO beautiful! Love it, love it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. beautiful! and so cute with your red shoes and tights.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks to you I got to take part in Red October!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ps I didn't realise until you put a photo up that this comment was from you! Thanks for the lend, it's turned out to be one of my best makes ever!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi! I saw your dress on the sewcialist blog round up - it's absolutely gorgeous! The fabric is just perfect for the Belladone, I think yours might be my favourite version yet :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Jo, thanks 😊 that's so lovely of you to say!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you so please leave me a comment. Thanks!