Put a Bird On It

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Seaside Dress – City Chic

Shoes: Wittner

The moment I saw this adorable dress on the City Chic Facebook page I knew it was probably going to make it into my wardrobe. I loved the neckline, the colour, the print, and the shape.

In person the dress is everything I’d hoped and more. The fit’s absolutely perfect – I bought the XS, and it feels like it was made for me. Like my bunting dress it’s smocked at the back and is made of a fully lined cotton. As you can see – or not! – the spaghetti straps are placed at exactly the right place to conceal my bra straps, which means I don’t have to sacrifice comfort to submit myself to a strapless bra.

The skirt is full, and gathered, but doesn’t puff out too much over my hips, and as an added bonus there’s amazingly deep and functional pockets!

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It’s a dress that makes me think of sand between my toes, picnic blankets, the smell of sunscreen, and licking ice-cream off my fingers. Throw a light cardigan over the top in the evenings, and you’re set for an evening out.

The blue will go well with my current passion for bright yellow accessories, but I also thought I could wear it with my DIY’d pink coral necklace, or belted with a red ribbon and some red ballet flats.

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I do love the white piping around the neckline and the edges of the pockets. It’s an often overlooked detail that gives the dress the feel of quality and good workmanship.

I know some people aren’t big fans of the smocked back, but you might like to give this one a whirl – It doesn’t buckle or warp, as it’s just a small panel about two inches wide. Enough to give the bodice the ability to fit a variety of shapes, without having to resort to a stretch fabric.

And what a fabric! I was glad it was a slightly darker blue than the picture on the website suggested, because it’s a really punchy cobalt. The random scattering of birds is a nice change from the repetitive geometric prints usually seen. And it goes really nicely with the Pigeonhole earrings that I teamed it with today!

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Earrings: Pigeonhole

Meanwhile! Once again I’ve been nominated as one of Navabi’s Best Curvy Blog of 2013, making me eligible for the opportunity to win a trip to London for the London Fashion Week.

If you’d like to vote for me again, I’d really appreciate it! The link is here

navabi Curvy Blog Award 2013

Space Cowgirl

Dress: DIY

Shoes: Wittner

Well folks, here it is! I took your suggestions on what I should do with my new Spoonflower fabric, and came to the decision that a dress was the way to go.

I used my well-worn Colette “Macaron” pattern a third time, and I think this has been the most successful of the three dresses I’ve made. It’s a bit shorter than I’d normally wear (due to limited fabric) and I haven’t QUITE nailed the bodice (blame the boobs) but overall I’m pretty happy with the fit.

After quite a bit of deliberation I finally decided to make the contrast shell in a pale blush pink – it’s my new colour crush, and it worked much better than stark white.

The Spoonflower fabric that I used was called “Star Forming Region“, and I bought it in the cotton-silk blend. It’s got a lovely drape to it, and a bit of a sheen too. At $27 a yard it wasn’t cheap, but two yards was plenty to make this dress.

My poor Macaron pattern has been cut and pinned so many times that it’s starting to look a bit limp and well-worn. I’m actually thinking of buying myself the Peony pattern next, and then I can head back to Spoonflower and spend hours – no, probably days perusing the many options: A Pantone colour chart dress? Indulge my obsession for The Wizard of Oz with a sunny Yellow Brick Road dress (With a red sequin sash, OMG)? Bookshelves? Bunting? A gorgeous abstract print?

Decisions, decisions!