The beaches that surround my new home are mainly shingle, made up of millions of shells and pebbles. Many of the pebbles are flint and I’ve been having fun collecting a myriad colours.
A selection from the beach
Mostly they’ve been piling up around the house, but this gem in my latest haul inspired me to draw this.
The front panel reminds me a bit of the Polly Top from By Hand London. http://byhandlondon.com/products/polly-top
I’m breaking a long sewing/blogging hiatus with something nice and simple.
I’d earmarked this Burda pattern for a wollen woven top that I didn’t get round to making last winter.
Burda Shift Dress Line Drawing
http://http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/shift-dress-092012
Then inspired by a suddenly remembered spread in a fashion magazine, the first few exercises in Colette Pattern’s Wardrobe Architect series, and an article in InStyle about current denim trends, I came up with the idea for an jean-y version I could throw on or style up.
A page from my inspiration book
I tried to incorporate some of the features from my inspiration dress; all seams have a dark red top-stitching and I finished the openings with a facing flipped to the outside. However, as the fabric faded a little in the pre-wash, I had to abandon the super-smart denim look and so I left the edges of the facing raw, they’re fraying nicely. The straight seams are flat-felled and the darts are clipped close to the top-stitching.
Here’s the dress on a lovely breezy beach walk. I’ve also worn it with tights and a long-sleeve jersey top underneath. I will see if I can style it for a night out, but I can’t see me wearing it to work though! Or at least only on a dress down day.
Material Girl 