Colette Voucher WINNERS! + Vogue 1108

Thanks guys for all your lovely words of support (and angst) over google reader breaking up with us. It was daunting at first, but now I've embraced other site readers and I have come to realise that google reader and I were just heading in different directions. Thank you also to the two tubs of ice-cream that supported me through the trauma.

COMPETITION WINNERS!

So with out further ado, here are the four lucky readers who each win a $50 e-voucher for Colette Patterns. Each winner was randomly selected using www.random.org 

Betty Stitchup

Aisha K

Miss Jackson

Eve and the apple tree

Congratulations lovelies! Please email me at julia@juliabobbin.com to redeem your prize.

This week I wanted to share with you a little Smurfette number that I made quite a while ago but haven't blogged about. When I say a while ago, I mean before I housed a human in my gutsies and these photos were taken back then also.

But hey, it's blue, it's pretty and it looks very Mad Men-ish don't you think? Very similar to this green number that Joanie-Joan wore in the promo shots:

Except that in Joan's photo she hasn't had one two many wines before taking the shot...

The Pattern
The pattern is Vogue 1108 and is lined, with an invisible zipper at the side. The bodice has a foundation with boning and a big crazy pleating system which ended up making a really nice feature on the front of the dress. Pattern pieces all start to look the same, so it was a real treat opening up the front pattern piece of the dress, which looked like a broken tree and wondering how the H it's going to end up looking like a dress.

The Fabric
A silk dupion that remarkably I got on sale; that never happens to me! I love dupion as it shapes so well and really knows how to absorb a colour.

Stash busting 101
I used a combination of left over silk scraps that I had in my stash to make the foundation. The foundation is hidden between the shell of the dress and the lining so it didn't matter what colours I used.

Instead of using silk organza for the interfacing, I used 'shapewell' which is a sturdy interfacing with the same sort of qualities as organza but a heck of a lot cheaper.

Pattern Changes/Alterations

The dress has self piping along the neckline which I omitted. I thought there was enough going on with the dress that I didn't need any extra details.

The hem sits a bit longer on me, instead of above the knee as the pattern describes and I like the little extra length. This could have more to do with my short-ass-ness than anything else.

I sewed both shoulders closed and bagged them out, instead of keeping one shoulder open and finishing it with hook and eyes. I thought that it made the dress a bit neater and finished, and it was easy enough to lift the dress above my head to put on, instead of stepping into it.

When I first made my toile for this dress (how very disciplined of me!!) I found that I was swimming in the upper back and that the shoulders kept sliding down my arms. That was with the bodice at a size 12! I have a short torso, but this was just cray-cray.
I ended up reducing the back by a whooping 7 cm on both sides. Other reviewers also found the back a bit big so be wary when making this dress and make a toile first! You can see in the above photo how I reduced it at the back and then created a new cutting line, filling in the space that the dart created. I drew diagonal lines in the space so that you can see. I then transferred these changes onto the facings, foundation and linings.

I used shapewell interfacing again instead of organza for the bow which reduced the floppiness. I also tacked the top of the bow to the dress to avoid it collapsing.

Conclusion
I really liked the elegance of this dress and how it turned out. I got to try out boning for the first time, and I loved how the dress fitted and sat so lovely once it was added.
The dress was a massive effort with 28 pattern pieces that needed to be cut out, two different types of interfacing, lining, foundation and dress fabric. Thank God I made this dress BEFORE the baby was born!

So guess what?!! Only one more week until the MAD MEN CHALLENGE BIG REVEAL!! The dresses are AMAZE-balls! I am so impressed with the number and the quality of entrants that my brain hurts. HURTS I tell you. Thanks to everyone who took part; I can't wait to share them all with you next week.