I thought I would share some photos of this week’s dressmaking adventures. I love making clothes but it is extremely tiring at times so I don't do it very often. I have gained skills over the years which have become extremely useful in making my own clothes. I remember when I made my first skirt, it was a complete disaster, however I learnt a lot from my mistakes and the skirt turned out well. Looking back I do laugh at some of the things I have made. My best advice for anyone wanting to start making clothes is to take a class! Books are great but having someone there to guide you is invaluable. If you can't afford to attend a class (they can be pricey on top of materials) then it’s best to use YouTube! I recently needed to refresh my concealed zip knowledge and found a great tutorial to help me.
The blue dress was made one afternoon after a trip to my favourite shop for a zip. I ended up leaving with a big bag of fabric! Whoops! I love vintage fashion and as you can see the two dresses below are very 1950s in style. I find it really difficult to find clothes I like at an affordable price, so making my own is a great alternative. Dress making can be expensive but if you're clever about where you shop and what fabrics you you use, you can make savings. My top tip is to try and recycle fabric, zips and buttons from old clothes if you can. I have been pretty lazy with that recently, giving my clothes to charity when I moved house.
The cream dress was made for a photo shoot I am going to do soon. I make bridal accessories and I needed a dress for a model to wear. I spied a dated wedding dress in need of TLC in a charity shop recently and even that was £100. I can't afford to buy a dress or even hire one, so I made one which was actually a really good idea! It fits the style of my future brand and I made it for around £20! It is made from satin and has spotty lace type fabric over the top which reminds me of my Mum’s wedding dress. Ohw I love how a basic cut can look so stylish and chic!
I managed to make two dresses for around £40! Kaaapowww! I doubt I could buy on decent dress for £40!
Abbey
x
I seriously need to start back with my sewing again... haven't done any in the longest time! Your blog is so brilliant - you're very encouraging :) I'm top-heavy so finding dresses that fit me is a complete nightmare... you're encouraging me to start making my own clothes and tailoring the ones that I have :) xx
ReplyDeleteThe cream one is GORGEOUS Abbey! Flipping drool worthy. You are so talented. I just don't have paitence to sew something THAT big...I'd be too scared to try!
ReplyDeleteI love the wedding dress! its so pretty, and it reminds me of my ballet dresses with the spotty fabric! I have neither the patience or the skill to make my own clothes other than a little bit of DIYing!
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