Saturday 19 December 2015

A dip-dyed dress and a kitty bag

First day of summer holidays - yay! Unfortunately it's a stinking hot day - over 40 degrees as I write this - and we're all staying inside with just the odd foray outdoors to hang up washing, rescue wilting plants, retrieve cats etc. I dragged R away from her cubby-house building and persuaded (ie bribed) her to try on this somewhat experimental dress.

Inspired by Toya's stunning dip-dyed dress I had a go at dying some cotton lawn before cutting out the dress pieces. As you can see the results are somewhat stripy and not nearly as amazing as Toya's, but I do love the shades of purple (Dylon intense violet, in case anyone wants to know). The pattern is from this book, which was part of a thoughtful and generous Christmas gift I received from... me. The book has some great patterns, but I am mystified by the use of American food products in the photographs. Was the stylist perhaps a huge fan of Lays chips and Hershey bars? Or is there some uniquely Japanese logic to their inclusion that I don't understand? Anyway, this is top #6, lengthened. I added a few centimetres' width to the front and back pieces for extra body, and the fit is pretty good except that the armholes turned out surprisingly wide. The pattern is almost identical to the Citronille Marie that I made a couple of months ago. It looks cute worn as is, or tied around the waist with some hastily-made tassels on a string. Probably loose will be the way to go, especially given the hot and sticky weather at the moment and the fact that Morry thinks the tassels are a cat-toy and has already had a good chew on them.



Some time ago I saw this fantastic cheetah bag on the Kids Clothes Week site. I checked out the original tutorial and made one for R, using linen for the outside and synthetic fleece for the inside. The fleece gives the bag a good, substantial structure and it feels soft and appropriately cat-like when you put your hand in it. I added press-studs at the ear-tips so the bag can be (kind of) closed, which also prevents the ears from flopping. Despite my less-than-professional embroidery skills, I really do adore this bag and R loves it, too. I made it a few months back and haven't blogged it til now, but what do you know, the purple embroidery makes it a perfect match with the dress!



I have another outfit ready to be photographed, but it's too hot to do anything right now, so I'm going to have to close this hot laptop and retreat to the airconditioned comfort of the loungeroom, which I have been avoiding so as not to have to listen to the sounds of Return of the Jedi being screened at full volume. Melbournians, I hope you're keeping cool today!

6 comments:

  1. Gee you give such thoughtful presents ;) I like the result of fabric dying. The dress looks comfy - perfect for this weather! That bag - meow! awesome :) Funny you should mention Star Wars - my hubby is escaping heat at the movies watching the new Star Wars movie :) I want to see it toooo!!!

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    1. Thanks Jenya. Movie theatres have a special appeal on hot days, don't they! My daughter has recently become a Star Wars fan so I think we'll all be seeing the new movie this summer. Hope you get to, too :)

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  2. Oh, I love the dress. It really suits R - the shape and the color, but particularly those flutter sleeves. Lovely!

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    1. Thank you, Masha. The sleeves are really nice, aren't they - just the right amount of 'flutter'.

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  3. That's a great dress, such a lovely shape. I'm not surprised you both love that cat purse, it's gorgeous.
    Morry has grown so much!
    We hid indoors all day, then set off for the beach this afternoon. Got there just as the cool change and big rainstorm arrived. Doh. Least it's nicer now!

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    1. Thank you Shelley. Morry has grown, but compared to our other cat (the same age) he's surprisingly small, which makes him extra cute!
      Pity about the beach, but never mind, at least we can enjoy some milder weather. Have a great xmas/new year/school holidays :)

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