Beckiejo's Kelly Green dress for Miss Pinup Victoria

Beckiejo presented me with a beautiful pair of emerald green shoes and asked me to design a dress around them.

She wanted something that could be worn with or without a petticoat/underskirt and something 'classic'.

I decided early on that I wanted to use a medium to heavyweight stretch satin and 10 colour samples were sent to Beckiejo.

Kelly Green was decided on (although my terrible iPhone photos do not reflect the true colour of the dress) and a toile was made in calico.

I used a darted boat neck bodice that had a high neckline - front & back, but as you will notice if you scroll down to the next blog post, I liked the 'v' in the back of Sheena's wedding dress and modified Beckiejo's design for the final toile.

The fabric is 97% Polyester/3% Spandex Satin and a dream to sew. I was nervous about sewing a full circle skirt in this fabric but it was not difficult at all.

I did not line this dress, which is uncharacteristic for me, but used a neck and armhole facing. I finished off the dress with a handmade belt with diamonte vintage style buckle.

Beckiejo was Miss Va Va Voom Victoria and Miss Classic Pinup Runner Up at the 2010 Miss Pinup Australia competition and handed her 'titles' to this year's winners.

Photo credit for photo of Beckiejo wearing her Miss Pinup sashes: Lizey Weber

Limited edition 'Rocker Girl Jane' dress in Midnight Rose

How this dress came about has a cute story behind it. I bought a roll of this cotton sateen rose print fabric in November 2010. I did'nt get around to making the intended dresses as other work had to be done first.

So, the dress was going to have capped sleeves, a full skirt and boat neck bodice. My friend Joy, who also runs a vintage inspired clothing label and also happens to share my birthday, made the same dress using the same fabric and neither of us knew we had the same roll of fabric or our intentions for how we were going to use it.

Instead, I have turned the roll of beautiful fabric, which I have named the print Midnight Rose into 12 'Rocker Girl Jane' dresses.

They are fully lined using cream coloured lining and come with a fabric covered belt in black for a little contrast.

Available in size 10, 12 and 14 you can buy one from my online store, Darling Central in the ACT, Thread Den and I Dream A Highway in Victoria.

Photo credit: Helen McLean Photography

Styling and model: Candice DeVille

Hooray! Gemma Jones has released three new Gocco prints

The awesome Gemma Jones has released three new Gocco prints for sale in her etsy store and I am excited!

As some of you may know by now, aside from the fact that Gem is my friend, I am a really big fan of her artwork and her little collection of prints featuring pennants and beautiful 1960's inspired girls has not let me down!

Pictured is 'Hooray', printed on a page from a children's novel titled 'What Katy Did'. I have ordered all three and I will be stalking my letterbox until they arrive.

You can buy 'Hooray' (pictured) from here.

'Like' from here and 'Yes!' from here.

Note that all images are Copyright Gemma Jones 2010/2011

Mad Men, Cocktails & Dresses on draw! pilgrim

Go and visit draw! pilgrim and check out her super cool Mad Men inspired blog post. It features delicious cocktail recipes and some of my dresses!

'Frankie' top in Black coming soon

Here is a photo from my recent shoot of Beth playing it up for the camera.

Oh, and I am going to make the 'Frankie' top in black soon, I promise!