Thursday 24 April 2014

The Inspector here was just warning me that I had to watch my step. You see, back in France, he's known as King of the Tango.

Isn't this week great - a week with public holidays on either end! It's also school holidays of course, so I've taken the whole week off to look after my little darlings (mostly). We've done heaps of pottering about at home, but today I took my youngest (or should that be younger?) out for a touristy excursion to the Sydney Opera House end of the city and Cockatoo Island.  I love being a tourist in my own city :).

The Cockatoo Island outing is one I've been promising for a few weeks, and the timing worked out well with the Sew Dolly Clackett challenge; dresses are due by c.o.b. today, so I wore the dress I'd finished literally 5 minutes before we had to dash out the door for the train this morning. There was crazy GBSB-style hemming involved: pedal to the medal!

Panther on the Island dress, front view

I wanted to use one of Roisin's favourite patterns (of course), and the one I've made before is By Hand London's Elisalex.  First time around I have to say the Elisalex bodice was not a great fit for me so I used my trusty Vogue 1193 DKNY dress pattern to adjust the bodice's princess seams, side seams, armhole shape and length. The Elisalex skirt is also waaaaay too long (and I'm 5'9") so I lopped off a few inches from the bottom (first time around I removed length from halfway down the skirt as I wanted to keep the lovely tulip shape, but this time around it's more a "fit and flare" dress).





Panther on the Island dress, side view

This is not my house, by the way, it's the Cockatoo Island Military Officer's Quarters (c.1845-57 ie very historic by Australian standards).

The first thing everyone notices about this dress is of course is the dress fabric, which is a Pink Panther quilting cotton.  I was a bit dubious about how this soft fabric would work as a dress, but being lined in a proper lining fabric seems to make all the difference in how the fabric wears, and it ironed very nicely. I wore this dress traipsing around the city and up and down Cockatoo Island all day and at the end of the day it's only looking wrinkled on the back from sitting in the train. The dress got a lot of stares through the day from teenagers, but absolutely no derision :).  So I guess the Pink Panther is either cool or very strange?

Panther on the Island dress, back view

My pattern matching was reasonably successful... except on the centre back, where years of "just in case it's too-tight" practice now has me sewing in invisible zips with a less than 1.5 cm seam allowance, even when I've cut the fabric pieces for pattern matching assuming the full 1.5 cm allowance. Oh well :(.

All in all, I have to say this is a really flattering silhouette, and wearing an interesting print dress is F.U.N. - I'm sorely tempted to make a few more of these dresses!


There's one more thing still to say... Roisin and Nic, I've never met you, but I just know I can trust the internet and twitterdom that you're lovely people, and I hope you have a FANTASTIC wedding and a very happy married life! Hip hip, hooray!


Now if you're still there, it's time for your close-ups:

Something so very, very painful, so hideous, your father will have no choice but to cooperate.

Back

Front

Lining




And that's all!


Thank you and goodnight :)


- Gabrielle x

27 comments:

  1. Wow amazing fabric! Your dress looks gorgeous too - inside & out! I'm loving seeing all the dresses in the Flickr group.

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  2. I love it! I'm too chicken to wear a fabric like that but your dress looks so fun and the shape is fantastic on you.

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  3. You look really cool! And the lining is amazing. I haven't been to Cockatoo Island - it is going on my list for my next Sydney trip!

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  4. Thank you Kathryn there are probably a few fit adjustments to make for next time, but I was really pleased it worked out this well. And surprised at how wearable a big, in-your-face print can be... Yes, the flickr group is really inspiring - so many lovely dresses!

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  5. Thanks Robyn! I thought the biennale would make a good test run - you know, lots of arty people :). I'd still expected to get some comments or giggles but there were none; people are pretty polite... You know this shape would look lovely on you too!

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  6. Thanks Rachel, I felt such a poser though - there were heaps of people around! I like the lining too, it's just a mix of some offcuts from other projects from my stash.

    I really recommend Cockatoo Island - it's an absolutely fascinating place and so much of the history has been preserved. When your daughter is older you should take her on the convict trail!

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  7. Look at that post time. You really were up sew late last night. Love the dress, especially the beautiful inside finish. I've missed the deadline for Sew Dolly Clacket myself :-( but been loving all the amazing dresses popping up in my blog reader.

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  8. Yes, I know! I started trying to write this at about 4pm yesterday, but that didn't sit well with my daughter... And when the kids were in bed, a neighbour popped over to talk boundary issues! That's life :).

    Thank you, this dress may have converted me to fun prints :). It's a shame you missed the deadline - I know you already have a couple of elisalexes that look beautiful on you, but another would have been nice!

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  9. You look so good in this dress! Methinks the black background made pink panther cool and sophisticated. And oh my goodness, your lining looks exquisite. What fabric did you use for lining? Those teens might have been thinking of asking you where you got this fab dress :)

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  10. That is so cute! Love the shape and the fabric is very out there!

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  11. Gabrielle Corbett24 April 2014 at 15:32

    Thanks Erin, I do hope the black background does that! The lining is stuff I found in my stash - I had leftovers of black polyester lining that I thought would be good for the bodice in case some of it showed around the neckline, and a bigger piece of heavier teal blue lining that I was saving for a coat. The blue stuff might be rayon? It's definitely a better quality than the black. Maybe the teen girls were, but the (young) teen boys mostly just looked surprised :)

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  12. Gabrielle Corbett24 April 2014 at 15:35

    Thank you Gail! I suspect it's a pretty universally flattering shape... and yes, the fabric is out there :). This is one dress that's not going to be worn to work!


    BTW I'm working on a dress with that lovely blue floral fabric of yours from the Sydney Sewists High Tea meet-up - it's such a pretty fabric; I'm trying to do it justice with a pretty dress!

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  13. katherine.peter24 April 2014 at 20:16

    What fun! I can see why you got lots of looks!

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  14. I. Love. It! I want one just like it. Crazy prints rock, and those teenagers were all insanely jealous. Long live the crazy print, fit and flare dress!

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  15. Yes, loads of fun - though I really would like to have known whether people were more surprised or pleased to see the pink panther out and about...

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  16. Thank you Jillian, I'm now a convert to the crazy print. AND the fit and flare. I hope you're right - I'd love to see more crazy print-wearing teens! I did see some very trendy people at cockatoo island - so maybe....

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  17. Fabulous! First I´ll state the obvious: The print is awesome! But then the dress is really very pretty and the finishes are perfect!

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  18. Fun print and a really lovely dress! I don't think I could carry off such a print but it suits you. I was a little confused at first with your photo. It did not look like your regular backdrops!

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  19. Gabrielle I love this dress. The shape and style and silhouette work beautifully and the fabric is hilariously fun. I need to make me some dresses too .... sigh.

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  20. Super fun outsides and beautiful insides, and a great fit to boot. Just perfect!

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  21. Hi Gabrielle, what a cute dress! I wanted to ask you about another picture though. You're wearing a yellow dress in one of the photos with some orange sandals that have a chunky white jagged sole. I LOVE those. Could you tell me who makes them/sells them?
    Many thanks!

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  22. Thank you Merche, it's a very 'out there' print for me :). I'm glad to hear you like it!

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  23. Well you never know until you try, right? I didn't think I could carry off this kind of print either but it's really grown on me... Yes, this building is even more ramshackle than my home, hehe. I was trying to find a door and some steps on Cockatoo Island that would match the style of Roisin's, and this is the closest I could find.

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  24. Thank you Emily, it sounds like you need a pink panther elisalex in your wardrobe pronto! Really, this style of dress looks to suit everyone, and the crazy prints are lots of fun even if just for the looks you get :)

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  25. Thank you! Very silly, but very fun :). I'm trying to improve my fitting skills these days - takes longer, but it's more satisfying wearing something you made if you managed it to fit, isn't it. Pants though... still working on those fit issues!

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  26. Thank you Emma :).

    Yes, I know the ones you're talking about. I got them from Wittner and I think they also had them in white and maybe black. I got them last year though in early summer - not sure if they'd still have them as everyone looks to be stocking winter stuff now, but perhaps they have an outlet store where they'd have the summer stock?

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  27. LOL you're probably right!

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