Fake dotty day dress

Do you remember in October 2012, I first started my sewing class and chose the Simplicity 2215 skirt as my first make? Well, guess what? I actually, finally finished it eight, yes eight, months later!!

 

My class is only once a fortnight (with breaks over Christmas, Easter etc) and with five or six other members and a very particular teacher, the going was ssssllllloooowwww....

But, I am learning loads of techniques and it's such a laugh.Gill, the teacher, who used to be wardrobe mistress for one of the Birmingham theatres back in the day, likes us to do things her way and so I haven't really worked on the skirt outside of the classes.  Instead, I've just got on and sewn whatever I've wanted to get my fixes!

The reason I call this the fake dotty day dress is that the first time I wore it, I paired it with my Sorbetto made of the same fabric and with a belt on, it does look like a dress. I wish I'd done something else with my hair that day, it looks awful in the photos above. But it was a work day after all so it was a case of shoving it up into a messy bun and just getting on...

It does look just as good with a different top

Oh, it is definitely polka dotty, the
previous photos are blurry! 

Um, I'm going to let you into a tiny secret. Even though I was really careful and thought I had paid attention in class, the waistband is about 3 inches too big! Don't think I'll be getting an A star for that, right? Whoops!!

Oh and one other little thing - my design came third in the sewcialist logo competition! The winner was Joost, with an ingenious design that can be personalised with different colours - I've already got mine up on my sidebar. Go and get yours!

I'm a Sewcialist Logo Finalist! (Please vote...)

I can't believe it, I've actually made it to the final of the Sewcialist logo competition!

For those of you who don't know, the term "Sewcialist" was coined very recently to represent any sewer/sewist who also uses social media to interact with other like minded individuals. The official definition is this:

If you use social media to chat about your sewing (any kind of sewing) you're probably a #sewcialist. Sewing + Social = Sewcialist

Cute, eh? Well, a comp was set up to find a logo. On a whim I entered. I'm rubbish at graphic design so I never thought my entry would get picked...

But it has and here it is:

I basically wanted to keep the logo very simple and recognisable. Every sewcialist will at some point use a computer to communicate about their creations or engage with other sewcialists. Although there are lots of different hardware options to enable us to do this (smart phones, desk tops, tablets etc etc) I thought the world at large would be able to immediately recognise a standard laptop to represent how the online community interacts.

The sewing machine in the middle was the obvious choice to represent what sewcialists do at the very heart of our creativity. It’s actually based on my Janome 525S machine! The dot and dash circle enclosing the logo represents to me the cutting lines on patterns!

So, if you like it, please do vote. You've got until 8 May. Here's how to do it:

Go to one of the sewcialist jury blogs below and comment on your favourite, including the # of the entry and the designer’s name.

I'm entry #3 and could really do with your votes as I'm up against some brilliant designs!

• @DDisciplines of Disparate Disciplines
• @Ladykatza of Peanut Butter Macramé
• @sewyourownway of Sew your own way
• @GillianCrafts of Crafting a Rainbow
• @Prttygrievnces of Pretty Grievances
• @laurahoj of Make it yourself mom’s diary

Thank you to everyone who votes!