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

'Kitty' dress

I have just posted some 'Kitty' dresses to Midnight Black in NSW.

This new style is made from soft Japanese 100% cotton, is half lined in the same fabric and has an invisible zip closure in the back.

The broderie anglaise that I have trimmed the dresses with has a sweet heart shaped pattern through it and is really lovely.

If you're not in Sydney and would like to buy a 'Kitty' dress, visit my online store and buy one from here.

Pilgrim's dress made from a 1960's bedsheet

My super talented friend, Pilgrim asked me to make her a summer frock made using one of the many beautiful pieces of fabric from her stash.

First, I machine washed the fabric using hot water and just a little washing detergent and fabric softener. I would have liked to have tumble dried the fabric but as I don't have one, I line dried the fabric piece.

Finally, to ensure as much shrinkage was taken out as possible and to make the fabric easier to work with, I pressed and steamed the fabric with a hot iron.

We chose a simple boat neck strapless design as the fabric print was quite bold. The skirt is a simple gathered a-line shape and the centre back has an invisible zip.

Princess seams allowed me to get a nice fit in the bodice and I lined it with 100% Viscose lining.

Hopefully I can post a photo of Pilgrim in her new dress later in the year as the weather gets warmer.

For now though, forgive me for the iPhone photo of the dress and be sure to check out Pilgrim's amazing website, draw! pilgrim.

New dress in a limited run of three

At first glance, you may think that this dress is no ground breaking design. This is true, however, what makes my dress stand apart from the others is the fabric.

This dress is made from the highest quality cotton sateen, which means it's cotton with about 5% spandex/elastaine in it. It is thick and a dream to both sew and wear.

I have only half lined this dress keeping in mind that not everyone wants to wear a lined dress. It has an invisible zip closure in the back and leopard print trim. The 2 inch wide belt is included and I have not added belt loops to this dress, allowing the owner to wear the dress with or without a belt.

You can see a close up of it here and it is available from my online store.

Oh, and it's in limited run of three, I have already sold two so there is only one left!

Jennifer's wedding dress and the 1930's heirloom lace

When Jennifer and I had our first meeting, all was going well. Jennifer wanted a 'non-wedding dress' made from 100% Silk Dupion using a 1950's inspired pattern. "And I would like to incorporate this piece of lace that belonged to my great grandmother, it's been in our family for years and it's very, very old".

I instantly got stage fright and I must admit, went into a little panic. As I composed Jen's quote I worked out the best way that we could get the most out of the piece and after the quote was approved, Jen set out to have the lace professionally cleaned and dated.

The National Gallery dated the lace as early 1930's, which made me feel a little more relaxed as I would have felt a little nervous cutting anything that was from the year 18-something.

We agreed to a simple design and let the lace be the main focus of the dress. The silk was purchased at Tessuti in Melbourne and I wish that you could see the true colour of it in the photo, it is divine! I bought the 100% Viscose lining from Harvey's in the Nicolas building and used a heavier lightweight woven interfacing (that sounds strange, I know) for the bodice.

I gathered a rectangle piece of the lace onto the midriff to ensure that we got the maximum use of the piece, the invisible zip was inserted into the side seam.

Jen wore a very cool pair of black and gold metallic snakeskin stilettos and accessorised the dress with an antique brooch.

To see the backview of the dress click here.

Thank you so much for making me a part of your special day Jen! x

"May I have straps with that dress please?"

The answer is YES. Well, in most cases. When Sean wanted to buy his gorgeous girlfriend Yani a Peta Pledger dress for her birthday, the one request he had was that she did'nt want a strapless dress.

Yani chose the Antique Pink Hawaiian Bark Cloth 'Lucky Diamonds' dress and I made it with removable straps.

For an additional fee of AUD$10, I can turn any of my strapless dress designs into a dress with button on-removable straps.

And remember that all custom made dresses have the option of sewn in or removable straps, providing the design allows for it.

Non-wedding dress looks charming

When Sally and I sat down for our first consultation, the first thing she said was something like, "I know you don't make wedding dresses but...". As I generally don't make wedding or bridesmaid dresses, I was hesitant at first, but in the end was really glad that I took on this project.

Sally chose an existing design from my online folio and I have to say, this was one of the most stress free and delightful projects I have ever worked on.

Throughout the construction of the dress, we nicknamed it the "non-wedding dress" as I know that I would have suffered from anxiety if I attached the word "wedding" to it.

We chose 100% Polyester Cream coloured Shantung and used 100% Viscose lining. We decided against 100% Silk as Sally wanted to keep creasing to a minimum. A white petticoat was worn underneath and our original idea of a sash, ribbon or self covered belt was discarded on the wedding day, which I think worked well.

Sally's sister Claire accompanied Sally to all of her fittings which was great as it was good to have a third person to help with fitting and styling decisions.

Red shoes and her mothers re-worked wedding veil completed the outfit beautifully.

Sally, thank you so much for choosing me to make your "non-wedding dress", you looked as perfect as I imagined on your wedding day and I look forward to seeing more photos soon!

Because the simple frocks in life are often the best...

The reason this blog post bears this title, is because I was pleasantly surprised that my client for this garment, Juanita chose to wear the dress with minimal jewellery and minimal tizz. The result? Perfect for the occasion it was made for!

Juanita supplied the shot blue/purple 100% pure silk for this dress. Upon advice from the retailer she bought it from, I did not pre-shrink the fabric and I did not use any water or steam during the construction and pressing process.

I lined the bodice in blue 100% Viscose for comfort and the skirt in a matching bemsilk lining.

After alot of consideration and discussions with other dressmakers, I decided not to bone the bodice as I wanted to avoid that bridesmaid/1980's party frock look. The bodice is fused in a medium weight iron on (I can hear some of you gasp at that) interfacing and the invisible zip is in the centre back.

We agreed on a rounded 'collar' around the top of the dress and decided against a matching belt.

The Paper Plane sterling silver necklace is by Australian jewellery designer and maker, Victoria Mason. Please check out her site, her work is delightful.

Rachel's birthday dress and the anxiety of...

making the perfect dress for her. We discussed her 'birthday' dress in great length for many months and after one failed attempt, we came up with this one.

The dress is made from 100% cotton Hawaiian barkcloth and is fully lined with tailor's quality viscose. The pencil skirt is perfect for Rachel's bombshell figure as she has height and a wonderful figure 8 shape.

I made the dress with regular straps, and Rachel made mock ties for variation using some spare fabric. I kept the neckline modest as Rachel wanted a 'spillproof' garment.

On the night, many compliments were shared and lots of fun was had.

To see the dress in full, click here.

Natasha's Early 1960's inspired dress

I made this dress for Natasha with the late 1950's/early 1960's in mind. Many people assume that once 1960 ticked over, people stoppped wearing fuller skirts, which is not so.

This dress is made from Black 100% Polyester Shantung. Some of you may shrudder at the fact that the fabric is Polyester, but I find that this particular make is not the yucky-feeling kind. I half lined the dress in 100% Viscose to try and offset the Polyesterness of the fabric.

Boat neck and princess seams allowed me to have a firm bustline and a little room in the waist for sitting and dancing. The centre back has an invisible zip closure.

Tash and I wanted to create a full looking skirt without it being too big, so I made an a-line skirt and included a separate petticoat/underskirt with the design. This gives Tash the option to 'dress down' her dress if the occasion comes up.

A 1 1/2" wide self covered belt finishes off the dress perfectly.

Thank you to Al and Natasha for supplying me with this beautiful photo.

Super Surprise inside a recent Thank You card

I received this lovely Thank You card from a client yesterday.

When I opened the little envelope inside, I was speechless to the point that I could not call her and it took me 24 hours to text message her to say thanks.

There is a saying that you should be careful what you wish for, well I wished to appear in Frankie and I wished that I could go and see the Stray Cats...if only my wish for world peace and an end to poverty could come true.

To the beautiful person that sent me this, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Blog Love is so Lovely and so is this dress...

Andrea, has an Etsy store called DreamsandJewelry and a beautifully laid out website/blog called Anything Indie. I was lucky enough to be featured in her Valentines Day Gift Guide. Please visit both as the quality of Andrea's work is exceptional.

The 'Be My Valentine' Lucky Diamonds dress is made from 100% cotton. I have again used a high quality viscose lining, which makes this simple dress a dream to wear. The centre back has an invisable zip closure. I have chosen not to topstitch the waist seam as I wanted the dress to be as 'smooth' as possible.

Thank you so much to Andrea and please be sure to check out her store!

Ch-ch-ch-CHERRY BOMB!

I could look at cherry printed fabric for hours. I can honestly say, it is one print that I never tire of. I have made this 'Rocker Girl Jane' dress using a beautifully smooth cotton. I have lined it in white polyester and used an invisible zip purchased from Harvey's in the Nicholas Building (I find the meshy Birch ones from retail shops scary and unreliable).

I have made it my goal to make up most of the cherry fabric that I have stockpiled by the end of [Australian] summer...we'll see how I go.

Speaking of cherries, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Justine from 62cherry and her ace husband Simon for setting up this blog for me as well as my website. Please click on the 62cherry link and check out her online store (I have bought 4 items from it already) and her very cool, very crafty blog too.

A beautiful dress for a beautiful Artist

My friend Samantha Sultana and I have done a collaboration and this is the finished product.

I have made the dress from vintage-look Polyester Taffetta, flocked with black spots. I love how the full circle skirt makes that sound as the fabric moves. The straps are made from velvet ribbon and I have made a 2" black, fabric covered belt to accentuate the small waist.

Samantha is a vintage inspired sleepwear and accessories designer, the brooch that she has created for this dress finishes off the outfit perfectly. I hope this colab is not going to be a one off thing!

Vanessa's new dress

Two Sundays ago, my gorgeous friend Vanessa asked me to make her a new dress by the following Friday. No problem! Ha, good old Murphy's Law ensured that my son Bastien came down with the flu that very same night.

So with only 1 week and an unwell baby I created this simple, yet stunning dress using genuine Hawaiian cotton bark cloth. The dress has halter style straps, a high split in the back. I made a 1 1/2"self covered belt (not pictured) to complete the outfit.

As you will discover during my blogging journey, I am a brilliant dressmaker and a terrible photographer!! Let me know what you think...