Have a look at this Marni dress that appeared in the latest In Style Australia magazine. Notice anything in particular? It's a rather plain, almost shapeless shift dress style, in a so so print highly reminiscent of the 1980s.
It is however, $1315 and it's made of polyester! Yes, POLYESTER!
That is just plain craziness for a dress that is very simple to make, and would use probably no more than 2m depending on your size. For us sewers we could make it out of a lovely quality silk with custom fitting and still have money left over for shoes and a bag and this month's mortgage payment.....
So I showed my husband this photo and told him to stop complaining about my fabric and pattern stash, I'm actually saving us money!
In contrast, I whipped up this skirt using some roughly textured linen in a grey with black and white thread slub running through it purchased from an op shop sometime last year. Because I didn't have all that much fabric, the pattern (Vogue 7937) was an excellent choice, because it comprises of six narrow panels, with two vents at the back (I made version A). The panels of the skirt made it easy to get a good fit, and the yoke facing instead of a waistband is super comfy.
Modelled here by moi accessorised with a $10 knit top bought on sale, a leather plaited belt from an op shop and blue strappy leather heels bought about two years ago from David Jones on sale. Just call me thrifty!
Adorable!
ReplyDeleteI love that Vogue pattern...your skirt is great.
ReplyDeleteYep, I'm with you about how sewing really can save you money! Of 3 daughters only one got a wedding dress that cost over $300 because the material she picked was a bit more... ahem, it was $1500 or more if we were to have bought it on-line! I used to tell my girls to find something they liked and let me see a picture of it and away we would go! Good for you.
ReplyDeleteFunny, we have a lot of the same patterns... plus since I worked at a fabric shop I could get a lot of them for free! Everytime the new patterns came it they had to get rid of some of the old to make room, the outdated ones. So, they would get thrown out. We got to puruse them first and take home what we wanted. At one point one of my daughters and I both worked there and soooo she had an entire pattern cabinet (the metal ones like at the store) almost completely full plus I had 3-4 huge storage containers full. Since she got married and we widdled them down... I have mine more organized so I can actually find things now. You have done a great job with your sewing... so any pictures of your closet? LoL