Stripey contenders

I found a few contenders for tee shirt inspiration:

Elizabeth and James Slouchy tee... I really like this one because I like bateau-necklines. But you have to be careful with them if you're large in the chest. The pocket is jaunty and cool, but I definitely have too much going on bust-wise for that to work. I would basically be filling it with boob. Actually, do I like this shirt, or do I just want to look like this model? Oh well, I guess this one's a pass.

Anthropologie Deckside Scoopneck. This is a better neckline for me. That pocket, again, mocks me. Would have to go. I like how the sleeves are sorta ruched-up. You can't see very well in this picture but there are little buttoned tabs that keep them up like that. Just makes it a bit more interesting than your standard long-sleeved tee. I could use cute buttons on the tabs. Hmmmm...

Anthropologie Elf Owls Scoopneck. Good fitted shape. I like that the neckline ribbing is diagonal like that. I like that it's got colour piping between the neckline ribbing and the body. I think that's a nice finish. I wonder if I could sorta combine these last two shirts. The neckline piping could match the colour of the buttons I use on the tabs.

This here is a tee from Burda magazine, pattern 108B out of the February 2009 issue. I could easily deepen that neckline, make it more scooped and change the finish to a ribbing band, and I could draft the sleeves longer and wider on the outer edge, then add the tabs. I'm confident it would be a good fit because Burda's always are for me. Might better muslin though just in case. One thing I want to be sure of is that I'm able to match the stripes properly at the armholes/sleeves. If it's not right, it'll be so very "Oh look look I sewed it MYSELF!!!!!!"

Stripe stars.

I'm so excited! Last night was BurdaStyle club at Tessuti. A week or so ago, Lisa posted about her fab stripey top on the Tessuti blog. I fell in love with the magpie stripe fabric she made it with and last night I bought some! It's so Frenchy-fabulous:

Fab Tessuti Lisa

I am actually having to restrain myself from making the very same top as Lisa (especially as the Tessuti girls put the pattern for the top up on the blog! Go look!). But I won't cos I'd feel like a dork copying both fabric and pattern exactly, and actually I think with my figure I'm better to go with a bit more of a fitted, closer shape. Maybe like these French femmes:

Fab Brigitte Bardot

Fab Jean Seberg

Fab Jeanne Moreau & friends

So this weekend, my task is to a) get Simon to download A Bout de Souffle, Le Mepris and Jules & Jim from that wacky Russian website he gets movies from for $0.40 each and have a mini French FilmFest, and then to b) devise the perfect tee pattern.

Dress is finished!

I want to be one of those gals whose blog features cute themed photoshoots, staged and shot by her compliant boyfriend, complete with peppy props, or a cute animal to pose with! and a nice backyard. Instead, I can't get ten pics out of Simon before I've frustrated him to hell with my art direction and he has retreated, pouting, to the comfort of one of his guitars; Edie, though certainly cute refuses any involvement except to distribute her fur over my garments; and there's no corner of my backyard that doesn't have either horrible plastic furniture, a Hill's Hoist, or a forgottern jerry-can (?!) angling to get into shot. Oh well, whatevs.

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with how the dress turned out. The waistline is set a little higher than other dresses I have... I think slightly lower is more flattering for me, but this higher waistline is more where the fashion is going these days. Maybe it's a matter of what you're used to, too.

Speaking of photoshoot awkwardness, how awesome is this clip of Kristen Schaal (she's Mel in Flight of the Conchords)?

Butterick 4443

After about five different drafting attempts, the bodice pleats have been perfected. I think the problem looked worse than it really was with the muslin because the calico fabric is so crease-able; the Liberty lawn is so fine the folds just form smooth gentle curves. That bodes well for ease-of-wear, I guess it means the dress isn't going to wrinkle easily when I move around in it.

The blue lines you can see are from washable fabric marker. I needed to use it to get the pleats in the two centre panels lined up perfectly. It was quite fiddly. Schoolpaste was also involved.

I've been using size 70 needle, and Gutermann's cotton thread, which is finer than their polyester.

The next big decision is what fabric to use for the skirt. I've not had much luck locating any plain-coloured lawn cotton. I was hoping to maybe match the red berries on the print. There's a few online places I could try, but without seeing it in person I won't know if its exact, and it'll look naff if it's not spot-on.

Ah, Sunday night

We've had a really tiring weekend. One of those ones where there's been lots of stuff we've had to do, and a few things we wanted to do, and cramming it all in just tuckered us right out. There was a lot of driving around for poor Simon and the traffic in Melbourne was insane this weekend. I DID get to the Como market (it was ace!) and bought some cute shoes (bargain!) which I'll take pictures of once my camera batteries recharge. I got the bodice of the Liberty dress perfected, sewn up in the proper fabric, pictures of which will also be forthcoming.

Time to relax. Simon is watching a loud film about cars that turn themselves into robot people and then run away from Megan Fox so I'm confident his brain activity has pretty much flatlined, which is the best thing for him right now. I'm happy to finally have some time to get stuck into this month's bookclub book.

I'm really enjoying this book, just from the first few chapters I've been drawn right in. Should be able to get a couple of hours in before bedtime.