Saturday 8 October 2016

Living in the 70s - a floral dress

A roll of fabric on the clearance table at Spotlight caught my eye. I pulled it out and was immediately reminded of a 1970s curtain - or maybe a doona cover. So I put it back and went home, only to find that images of the blue, green and yellow vintage print kept popping into my head. Those who spend way too much time obsessing over fabric will understand that I was compelled to go back the following day and pick up a couple of metres. And yes, it does resemble a 1970s curtain, but in a really good way, right? And I just love the colours - perfect for spring.



My first thought was to use the fabric (a bargain at $4 a metre, by the way) for a dress in a similar style to the poppy one I made recently. I used a bodice from a Japanese pattern, lengthened it, and added a gathered skirt with piping at the waist. This time I made the skirt wider and included in-seam pockets. The bodice is lined with voile, closes with an invisible zip and has a little stamped cat tag on the inside (because our home is ruled by our cats). I didn't do quite as great a job with the zip this time round, but given the length of R's hair it's not likely anyone will ever see this little imperfection! And because I'm already lamenting the fact that the perfectly-fitted poppy dress will not fit R for long, I made this one a good few inches longer and a little wider. I don't think it looks too baggy, and it should be good for next summer too.

I gave R some 'punching balloons' to keep her amused during her brother's (very long) cricket match today. I must say, they are pretty irritating things, especially when they are being 'punched' right next to your head as you attempt to watch your son batting. They also make a terrifyingly loud bang when they pop, which, of course, occurs when the balloon is right next to your head.

So now I can stop thinking about blue and green flowers and swirls and move on to finishing R's yukata. But I'm not quite done with this fabric yet - I have just enough left to make a skirt for my little niece, who saw the fabric when she was here and pronounced it beautiful. Such good taste and only four years old!

8 comments:

  1. I like this fabric also. #loversofthe70scurtainsunite Oh, the print doesn't actually remind me of curtains hehe Such a lovely and comfy dress. Hope R will get to wear it for a long time!

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    1. Thanks Jenya. Good to know I'm not the only curtain-lover around :)

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  2. It's gorgeous. Your fabric placement across the zip in back is pretty fantastic too - I'm impressed!

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    1. Thank you Masha. I just cut the back pieces on a fold so they *sort of* matched. I can't remember why I didn't cut them to match perfectly; maybe because I hoped to have enough left to make something else... I always try to be frugal with fabric, which is probably why my cupboard is so full of useless not-big-enough scraps!

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  3. I would have bought that fabric too, fabulous. Great dress as wise to make it bigger, children grow so fast.

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    1. Thanks Louise. Isn't it awful when they grow out of your (or their) favourite things too quickly... or when they insist on still wearing a dress from two years ago even though it's now ridiculously short :)

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  4. Our 70s kitchen curtains were great big brown and orange letters. Alphabet print wouldn't make as nice a dress as this!
    Love a simple dress shape fir a bold fabric.
    Can't wait for the full story behind that amazing Japanese outfit.

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    1. Brown and orange - so 70s. We had bathroom blinds with plenty of brown and orange, they may have been Marimekko - some kind of big bold print, anyway. I will get around to writing about the Japanese outfit soon - it was a labour of love!

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