scroll down for the full @vincentnijman photoshoot

Ciao dearest Needleworking Friends and Fellow Hive Enthusiasts!

This is my best stripey dress yet: even better than the last one I made – even though that too was the best I’d ever made for that time!

I wrote about the beginning of this latest one, in a post a couple of weeks ago - and mentioned it again in last week's post too – and this week, whilst sitting in bed with some kind of flu-related purging catharsis, I’m ruminating on how I made this one.

It feels a bit ‘cheating’ in a way, as I began with a pre-made form; the rather small tunic/ dress that I added layers to – rather than constructing the thing from scratch.

I love doing this! Finding a relatively funky-but-non-functional item: making something much better than it was before; tweaking and adding to it, until it shines with uniqueness and authenticity, and makes a far more interesting garment.

cutting into an old blouse, to re-use these beautiful thick stripes

the cut piece, two of which went either side of the lower front of the (new) dress

sewing a hem on the edge of the thick stripes...

Because I do ‘undesigning’ rather than designing a thing, the outcome can be unexpected, or rather, I cannot know for sure if it is going to go in the direction that I think it is going. This is like painting spontaneously, where I simply keep adding layers and marks and going over things before, until it somehow comes together. A lovely metaphor for life!!

sewing the edges of the contrasting stripes together

and cutting a length of the old trousers, sewing it together length-ways, then cutting along the length of it - to make it long enough for the bias-binding border at the bottom of the new dress

rather complex construction, of this new lower part of the lengthened dress

It basically has a whole length of new material attached to the bottom of the original tunic/ dress, which was more complicated that I expected, to construct.

The new lower section of fabric is made out of multiple pieces of contrasting stripey fabrics – some of it from the same older garments that my last stripey dress was made from, and some from other black-and-white pieces that I was harvesting specially for this project. A pair of not-very-attractive-at-all elasticated-waist trousers, and the back of a beautiful silk blouse (which unfortunately was falling to pieces in other places). The cuffs of afore-mentioned blouse, plus a stretch of the first-mentioned trousers, which I used like a homemade bias-binding, to edge the whole skirt.

making a new button hole..

I found a spare button attached to the label of the first garment, the tunic, and added it on the front to create a more closed look – the new length needed to be finished, obviously….

And I thought about whether or not to add these pockets. In the end, though it was very messy trying to get one slippy fabric to attach neatly to another slippy fabric, the pockets do sit rather wonderfully – they balance and accentuate the mix of stripes: the lighter vertical stripes versus the heavier edging and borders to the centre buttons… and the lighter accents of the straps from old cuffs, then these creamy silk pockets, which bring it all together. I may sew them in, in the following week...

the lighter fabric on the straps are the old cuffs from the same silk blouse that I took the pockets off of

The first time I held the dress up, having completed the bias-binding border along the bottom of it, and sewn in the new lengthened straps (above: made with the old cuffs), I was very pleasantly surprised to see how well it sits! It was better than I expected – sometimes garments can be quite clunky when I first stand back and look at them - or even they are not symmetrical, so this was a really nice result.

It’s a simple-but-elegant dress, as I found out when I finally put it on yesterday – it sits low on my chest, which is a style I’ve not worn before – and it will be perfect with the right top or vest underneath it.

It can be dressed up or down, made elegant for an evening out, or put together with a poloneck jumper under it and winter boots, in cold weather. I like very much this kind of versatility in clothing: being able to use a garment in contrasting situations. And I like that it is rather figure-hugging and even revealing: this makes me feel that, occasionally, I love to fully occupy my sensual body, and to express even some sassy-sexy style, as I head out with my man for a night on the town village.

We had fun photographing yesterday evening, as an epic wind had been blowing all last night and today, and it got the skirt flaring up beautifully!

many thanks to my beloved, for the photoshoot with the finished dress!

I hope you like the new dress as much as I do – but this might be difficult, as I like it so very much! Hehe! Looking forward to seeing what you all make this week in #needleworkmonday !

With Love!

www.claregaiasophia.com