Dresscode orange

Orange is the must have of the season in The Netherlands. We are not just talking dresses. Orange is a neutral in our streets. This is what our quiet village looks like these days:

This is considered modestly decorated, in the cities the streets look like this:

Foto:ANP/Marcel van Hoorn

A few weeks ago I discussed Dutch women's World Cup fashion, but let's not forget the guys. This tasteful 'cheering suit', believe it or not, was completely sold out by pre-order. Sorry not sorry, boys!

Boys and their toys: stylish accessories for cars.

And we all eat orange pastry. By the bucket.

It's matchday and since it's a well known fact that Team Holland has 16.8 million coaches you understand I have important meetings coming up. Must discuss tonight's line up with family and friends, tough decisions to make! 

The Furry Assistant, ready to beg for orange cookies.

Hup, Holland, hup!

Edit: 
Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. 
Team Holland lost the semi finals by penalty shoot outs. 

Lace Moneta

A few weeks ago I wanted to make a new dress for a special occasion. Sometimes I select a pattern before buying fabric but his time the fabric led the way. When I discovered this blue stretch lace I knew it would be perfect for a Moneta dress.

I underlined the bodice with a very lightweight jersey in dark navy.

 All seam allowances were catch stitched to the underlining. These are the shoulder seams, you can see the clear elastic used for stabilizing sticking out on the right side.

For the sleeves I used a single layer of the lace, the neckline was turned under as per the instructions and also hand stitched to the underlining, a nice and clear finish.

This dress is a remake of my Floral frenzy Moneta, with a slightly more scooped out neckline on the front. The neckline is staying nicely in place, even when I'm bending over to reward the furry assistant. 

For the skirt I chose to use separate layers to keep a flowy effect. In order to prevent extra bulk at the waistline and hips I drafted a straight skirt for the lining. Both skirts have French seams. I gathered the lace overskirt and sewed both skirts to the bodice, adding clear elastic.

Easy to make, a pleasure to wear!

Saved by the scissors

A few weeks ago I was cleaning out my closet and found a dress in the far corner. It was the kind of dress that adds five years and twenty pounds to your appearance. For said reasons I'm not going to model it on da blog, but you get the picture. No?
Now you do:

 

I was ready to toss it but then it crossed my mind the polka dot fabric could be re-used for facings or pocket linings. Okay, toss the bodice, keep the skirt. 

On closer inspection of the construction I got a new plan. I'd been wondering for some time whether or not a peplum top would work on my body type. So instead of throwing the bodice in the bin I tried out some peplum variations. Added a gathered piece of muslin..nahh. Looked as frumpy as the original. I tried a half circle, better! I even started to like it! 

As you can see the (wrap)dress had a slight A-line skirt so there was not much to play with once I decided to go see if refashioning could rehabilitate this sad piece of RTW. I drafted some pattern pieces, shaved, hacked, cut, added a back seam, all to make it work. 

The original waistband was a bit large so I used the ties to create a better fit. Hence some extra wrinkles, but I'm okay with those. In fact they remind me of the little pleats in the bodice of Vogue 8379, a wrap dress I made last winter.

I'm happy with the result and I have already been wearing it a few times, together with my Mabel skirt. A fun project!

Happy sewing!