Finished Project: My Red Hot 'Chilly' Dress

After what feels like a lifetime, I've finally finished this project! 

What was meant to be an altered version of a 1987 pattern, it's now morphed into a 1947 dress!

It's such a dream to wear, and I love the snug fit around the waist.

I've already worn this once to work this week, and I know I'm going to get loads of wear out of it.

If your wondering about the title, it's because I've recently joined the Sew Weekly and decided to submit this dress for this weeks 'Down Under' theme!

What A Weekend!

This week has been a hectic one to say the least, with plenty of exciting things happening.

This week saw my husband & I celebrate 5 years of being together, his 25th birthday, one of our best friends birthdays, and a welcome home party for two of our friends who have spent the past year traveling around Oz & Asia.

Not only that, but we've put a deposit down on a brand spanking new car (which is being built in a factory somewhere as i type!), so it's been a bit of a busy (and expensive) week!

Needless to say not a lot of sewing has been going on, however I have finished my blouse muslin and am very happy with the way it's turned out despite the minor alterations I had to make.

My chosen fabric has been cut out ready to start this week, 

and I managed to pick up some of these babies at the weekend to..

So I can have my very own leopard print buttons!

My red 1947 Butterick dress only has the hem left to do now, but I can't quite make up my mind about how I want to do it? I'm thinking binding the seam with some red ribbon I have, but I just can't decide!

Either way, it WILL be done this week!

I've also had a few fabric bits given to me by my mother-in-law this week that she managed to grab from work. It's mainly home furnishing type fabric but that doesn't mean I can't find a use for it somehow?!

Top Left - Cream lining for curtains

Top Right - Rose Printed thick cotton

Bottom Left - Pink & Red polk dotted cotton

Bottom Right - Dark Grey Wool Blend/Possibly Tweed?

Any ideas on what I should do with them?

My Red Dress Pt 2

Another brick wall for me to hit into!

While the pattern/sewing itself is going rather smoothly I seem to be unable to find a zipper for it?!

When I was at the aforementioned fabric shop on Saturday I browsed their rather limited selection of zips. No concealed zippers in the colour I needed for this dress, and no concealed zipper in the size I needed for one of my next projects. Typical huh?

I rather naively thought "ah no problem, I'm sure I have what I need at home anyway", WRONG.

However it is true, that I do keep my zipper collection rather full (to try and avoid this situation ironically) I don't happen to have ANY red zips.

Therefore this dress is going on the back burner for only a week, until I can get to another shop I know of in the nearest city.

This is what it looks like at the moment..

Just the zipper, some slipstitching, and the hem to do now.

I've also got my next project lined up to start this weekend using the Simplicity blouse pattern I just bought. It's so good to be sewing again!