Victoria Beckham-inspired parachute dress

Do you remember a few weeks ago I blogged about some VB dress designs. Well, I was at the annual Homecraft Textiles 50% off sale and I found some fabric that I thought would be good for making a version of this dress (source):

The fabric was a nylony, parachutey type of fabric. I love this type of fabric, although I never really know what to make from it. I liked the two colours together, grey and deep, dusty blue, and I decided to use the grey for the skirt and blue for the top of the dress. The only reason for this was that the grey was thicker fabric and better suited to the skirt. 

I changed the style of the dress to have a lower neckline as I think this suits me better. I also added some little sleeves, which were cut as part of the top.

I made the top based on a t-shirt pattern and just added a bit at the front to accomodate the gathers. From the above picture I think maybe I added too much. I am not pregnant!! The gathers are made by stitching facing to the neckline, threading a ribbon through the front part of the neck facing and stitching in place at the shoulder seams.

The skirt is made with a rectangle of fabric sewn into a cylinder. I attached the skirt to the top and elasticated the lower edge of the top.

I like that this is such a simple design, which is easy and comfortable to wear. I wore it here at a very casual evening BBQ at the river, but I think it could be dressed up into a smart casual outfit. And the cost? Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was a bit cheaper than the VB version. Mine cost me $4.

It was a gorgeous evening. I'll leave you with a picture of our view as we ate our picnic, just after seeing a dolphin come right in to shore chasing a fish - bliss!

I just popped....to the Op Shop

My favourite op shop/thrift store had some other delights too (see the skirt I bought and have already refashioned). They often have good fabric at this one and this visit was no exception. There was loads of linen in lovely sorbet colours. I wanted it all, but couldn't quite think what to do with it so settled for only about 90% of it in various colours! I also found some cute striped, checked and spotted fabrics for only 50c a small bundle. How could I resist!

Then I found a beige latte sheet with a pretty pintucked and lace border. I'm sure I can make something summery with that...

...and in the clothing section I found stripes, stripes and more stripes - a Billabong scarf, a seersucker pillowcase to make boy's shorts, a stripey hoodie with spotted hood (way too big for me but begging to be taken home from the $1 rack and refashioned) and a stripey tank.

What a scoop!!

I just popped....to the Op Shop

I am lucky to live near several large and exciting (for me) Op Shops (or thrift stores). Whenever I feel at a loose end or in need of some retail therapy, chances are I'll head to one of them. I always find something, actually usually several things, but I think it's totally justified to buy something cheap and donate to charity at the same time!

I always buy my fruit and veggies at a large warehouse market. I love it there as there is lots of fresh, locally grown produce as well as huge sacks and bins of dried food like rice, flour, beans etc. that you can serve yourself into bags. The kids LOVE that part, but I try to get there on my own for obvious reasons! Anyway, after the 'ordeal' of buying groceries I always reward myself with a visit to a small op shop nearby. This is what I found today:

Two pillowcases ($1) just begging to be made into a summer skirt or girl's dress.

Some green linen fabric ($1) and some hessian ($3), both are very large pieces.

A pretty scarf ($2).

A nice top with an pleated neckline ($5).

And a rather good designer label! OK, this was $10, which is a bit over my usual op shop budget, but it's my birthday this week so I'll have a splurge :)

What a lovely time I had  ❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

Fabric shopping in Bali

I've been a bit quiet over the last couple of weeks as we have been away having a fabulous holiday in Bali. Before we left I had written down the addresses of fabric shops that I'd hoped to visit - there is apparently a whole street full of fabric shops in Denpasar. However, travelling with two young children didn't make it possible to get there :(

On the last morning of our trip I decided that I would just be too disappointed if I didn't see any fabric at all, so I left hubby and the boys in the hotel pool (that's our room in the picture - gorgeous!) and hired a driver to take me to nearby Kuta to a large shop there called Alta Moda (in the new Galeria mall). I was able to spend an hour browsing the three floors of fabrics (I could have easily spent longer there). As soon as I entered, an assistant came to help me. I had expected this from reading about the store, so I was quite happy to ask her to help me find what I was after. She was very helpful and polite, as all the Balinese seem to be. I had hoped to find some Metalicus-like fabric (two-way polyamide stretch), but they didn't have exactly that. I did find similar and lovely stretchy fabrics though, which I bought. Most of the fabrics there are medium to light weight, nothing really suitable for winter, but a massive selection for spring and summer. There is also a large selection of suiting and evening fabrics, which I hardly looked at. There were loads of patterned fabrics and I'm sure a quilter would be very excited in there. There were certainly loads of fabrics that I have never seen here in Perth.

The shop is very fancy, with mirrors everywhere. I wandered around the three levels and chose various fabrics that caught my eye - several stretch knits, lycra, linens, an interesting cotton with patchwork and ruffles, a lovely large net-type fabric and more. The fabrics I chose were priced between AU$2.50 to $7 per metre. So cheap! Every time I chose a roll, the assistant would take it downstairs for me. When I had finished choosing, I sat in a fancy chair and a flurry of activity began. I was brought each roll of fabric in turn and asked how much I wanted of each. Then seven assistants worked to measure, cut, package neatly in individual bags and record the details of each fabric! I ended up with 11 fabrics, mostly 2 or 3 metres of each, for a total of AU$82. I was pretty happy with my morning's efforts.

Next time I go to Bali I will definitely be going to the Denpasar fabric strip. Now I've had a taste of what's on offer I want more!!!! I hope this post will be useful for people interested in buying fabric in Bali. I searched the internet for hours before we went away and found very little information. If anyone has comments, questions or more info about fabric shopping in Bali (or anywhere), I would love to hear about it.

Stay tuned for the creations I make with my lovely new fabric.