Interview Dress: Atelier Brunette Bettine

This post is going to get a bit personal so please bear with me.

I have had this beautiful Atelier Brunette 'like a dandy' fabric for a while now. Its really lovely and light, it feels a bit like a really good shirting cotton. I had originally thought of making a 50s style dress but since decided it was too delicate for a structured bodice.

I then recently go offered a job interview, but I don't do interviews very often (I think its now 3 in 10 years!) I obviously didn't have anything to wear. I decided to team this fabric up with my recent obsession for sewing the Bettine dress. The lightness of the fabric works really well with the gathers but it's structured enough to look a bit more formal. 

I'm really pleased with how this came out especially as I made the pocket version. Those pockets! they really are a brilliant addition to this dress. Sadly now when I put the other versions on I wish they had the pockets as well! The fabric is amazing as well, I genuinely can't think of a fabric that I've enjoyed sewing with more it just behaved perfectly, I'd definitely recommend giving it a whirl, the extra little expense is totally worth it. 

So now your desperate to know and I'm sorry to say that I didn't get the job. I'm not going to lie about it, I'm thoroughly pissed about that. The job would have been a promotion in my area of work which I believe I thoroughly had worked hard towards but sadly wasn't meant to be. I'm trying to look on the bright side and move forwards but i am still a little bitter. I keep telling myself it will hopefully lead to something better but only time will tell.

(I want to add an extra line to this, I am editing this post a week after i wrote it and I am much less bitter, and feeling ok in where I am at the moment so its not all dome and gloom).

Thankfully this set back hasn't killed the dress, I have worn it twice since that dreaded day without that bitter feeling because it just makes the perfect summer work staple, it really is such an easy pattern to wear. 

So that's it for my little ramble, but before I go, I am sure you've already noticed but can we just take a moment to marvel in my pink and orange hair (excuse to angle!!). I'm torn between it being amazing and really badly executed, and sadly I had a massive allergic reaction to the orange, so its likely to not last long but we can enjoy it while it lasts xx

Pink Cherry Print Crepe Bettine

Its been an eventful month; Great Britain voted to leave the EU (the less said about that the better) and we have had the final of the GBSB (well done to Charlotte). So with all that going on, and a little bit of work behind the scenes on an exiting project has meant I haven't had chance to show off much this month but I am going to remedy that with this dress made from the most gorgeous fabric I think I have ever laid eyes on. Honestly, I tried to take the pictures for this blog 3 times and just none of them do it the justice it deserves.

So the fabric: Its some beautiful polyester crepe which I purchased from the Sew Over It online shop. Sadly I believe it has completely sold out, with no obvious sign of there being any more (sorry). However I don't feel too bad showing it off because I stalked instagram for 3 months trying to get hold of it and my patience finally paid off. Because this fabric was so hard to come by and so pretty I wanted to make sure I made something good with it. I didn't want to make a blouse as I just don't wear them and I really liked the idea of a dress. It was suggested by Lisa on her Vlog that she might use the Bettine pattern which is what made me buy it. It is a nice floaty drapey dress which works brilliants with the crepe fabric.

Just like the last one I cut a straight size 3 and it fits just about fine. I could do with doing some fit adjustments on this dress; not doing a bust adjustment means the neckline falls back on my shoulders, the arms are a big tight and the skirt maybe needs to be a tad wider in the hips. The fabric is a little sheer so I am wearing the dress with a full pink slip from M&S. This does make the dress sit a little differently as it slides up to my natural waist instead of clinging to my hip which has made this version sit a little differently to the green viscose version I last blogged about. I will see if I can be bothered to tackle these adjustment this next time I make it (probably not!).

I hope you think this is a fitting use of the fabric, thankfully I have enough left to make something else; I'm thinking some kind of floaty cami top would suit it very well. I just need to find a suitable pattern.

Have you sewn up your favourite fabric or is it still sitting in a drawer waiting for the perfect project? I know we are all guilty of hiding away our most coverted buys in fear of not doing it justice but go on, take the plunge!

Bettine wearable toile: AKA the Robin Hood dress

Sorry to start with such a posey photo but its quiet flattering so I'm rolling with it! This is my first version of Tilly and the Buttons Bettine Dress which I made as a wearable toile (something you are getting used to seeing me doing here!). Its actually a pretty good version and my god this dress is easy to wear! Its made from some green viscose that again I just bought off eBay.

I have been wanting to make a green dress for ages as green really suits my colouring but is not a colour I would normally be drawn to when clothes shopping. I really like this shade of green, its a sort of emerald colour and it goes really well with the pink (that pink belt is an awesome pairing though I'm not sure everyone would agree). However the first time I tried this on after making it Mr Fox turned round to me and said 'Oh hello Robin Hood, you look like your getting ready to star in a panto'! I don't really think that was a compliment but do you know what I know exactly what he means, it pretty much summed up what I was thinking as without the belt it does look a bit like that.

But anyway lets not let that deter from this actually being a dress I really quiet like. This is an amazing pattern, really simple, easy to follow (as always from Tilly) and really quick to make. I made it much harder by using french seams rather than the overlocker (something I probably wont bother with next time) but it still came together really fast. Tilly has said on a number of occasions this is the most comfortable dress you can wear and she is not joking! You just slip it over your head and head out the door. The top is drapey giving lots of room for movement, the elastic belt helps flatter your waist and the fitted skirt makes a lovely shape around your bottom half. I sewed a straight size 3 because there is lots of room in the top for me to not need a FBA.The sleeves are perhaps a little tighter than they should be and its a little snug in the seat but I don't think I will bother making any adjustments for the next version. Its summer after all I'll just finally try and get round to loosing that 3lb i've been meaning to get off for the last 2 months (as much as you can 'mean' to loose weight whilst eating chocolate!).

As mentioned above the fabric is a lovely drapey viscose. I chose viscose as the fabric I have for my proper version is a polyester crepe so I needed something which had a lovely drape and viscose does that. It does however have a tendency to fray so I used lovely french seams throughout. The other issue with viscose is it has a tendency to stretch when you sew it. I didn't use interfacing on the facing piece as suggested because I wanted to keep the bouncy nature of the fabric so I self faced it with another piece of viscose. This did mean my inside facing is not as neat as I would have liked but it was a lesson for making up my crepe version.

The other odd thing I thought about this dress as soon as I put it on was 'do you know what this dress really needs? Pockets'. I can totally see why the pattern comes with a pocket variation I would love to just sink my hands into a lovely deep pair of pockets on the front so I definitely need to plan making one of these vertions. I have some lovely Atelier Brunette fabric which I think would suit this pattern very well. I think this dress is something which definitely benefits from a print fabric.

So on that final note I am giving some serious thought into adding some kind of embellishment to this dress, its something I don't normally do (hand sewing urgh!) but I am not really sure what or where to start? So if you have any ideas of how I could embellish this dress to make it a bit less plain then PLEASE leave me a comment. I am possibly thinking of a sort of black floral trim around the neck with maybe some pink sequins/beads hand sewn on?