Sewing for myself at last...

Late in 2011 I went back to work. A few months before, I thought I would mentally prepare myself by sewing myself some new work clothes. I found a great pattern online for a dress http://selfishseamstress.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/a-frock-by-friday-coffee-date-dress-explosion/ and then found this fabric through an etsy seller for a bargain price (even after factoring in the postage from the US). The colour hasn't shown up very well in the pictures - it looks a little washed out here. Anyway I thought it would make up into a unique kind of dress. I was very happy with the finished product. Not being one for frills and such, I left that part off the dress and kept it plain. I figured that the fabric was enough decoration anyway. The picture of the dress really doesn't do it justice - it looks heaps better on.

The next on the list was this super easy top posted on Sew Mama Sew. I used the fabric to the right for this one and it turned out really cute. With a white camisole underneath it works well.

Next was this red and white print dress. I used wide ribbon for the shoulder straps as strapless doesn't really work for me. I used elastic thread and found the waistline difficult to keep straight. I'm not completely happy with the fit of a dress, but I've worn it a few times with a short sleeved bolero and it looks okay.

This top to the right looks absolutely nothing in this picture - it's another one that really needs to be shown being worn to see how it fits and falls. I made it from instructions from the book 'You Sew Girl' by Nicole Mallalieu. I was especially excited to finally learn how to bind sleeves on stretch fabric.

Another pattern from Nicole Mallalieu's book, I loved making this panel skirt. I had bought the bird print fabric for another project that I hadn't ended up doing and only bought a fat quarter, so I improvised a little with the panel and binding. I was so happy with how this turned out - it is a perfect fit!  There wasn't actually a pattern for it, instead there was a complex formula based on different measurements and then you cut out a circle based on this. Such a great skirt to wear too.