Wednesday, April 23, 2014

The "Roisin Getting Married" dress


Pattern: Emery dress by Christine Haynes (purchased here).
Size: 6
Alterations: did a 1,5cm FBA following this brilliant tutorial; used the skirt of Deer and Doe's Sureau dress; moved the zipper to the side; lengthened the sleeves by about 3cm.
Fabric: a fantastic Liberty for Dsquared cotton batiste (made in Italy!) purchased via my sponsor Supercut.

Did I ever tell you I'm a HUGE procrastinator?
Well, I really, really am. So it's no big surprise that my entry for #SewDollyClackett (hosted by Rhinestone and Telephones) is going live a few hours before the deadline, even though I've known for two months that I wanted to take part!

Roisin has always been such an inspiration to me, so of course I wanted to pay tribute to her and make her a little virtual wedding present :D

I knew since the beginning that I wanted to use the Emery dress pattern (already sewn up once here), one of Roisin's favorites, but I wasn't sure about the fabric.
I needed a cute print for sure, so when Supercut got this unusual Liberty cotton in stock, I just knew it was perfect!
By the way, if you want it, go and get it now, because it's available in a very limited quantity. This stuff is pricey, but totally worth the price.
The fabric was quite lightweight though, so I lined the whole dress in white cotton batiste, which worked perfectly.

The dress came together pretty quickly, as I had already made all the fit alterations I needed back in November and didn't need to look at the instructions. For this version, I moved the zipper to the side because I hate the contortions that back zippers require, and I used the skirt of the Sureau dress because I wanted less volume than the original, but I'm not entirely happy with this choice. I think the original skirt of the Emery just gives a better visual effect overall, more harmonious.

I really wanted to take better photos for this little dress, at least posing in front of my house door, Roisin's style, but with so little time I had to compromise. I also wanted to wear a pair of kickass pumps, which are one of her trademarks, but I simply don't own any! I tried to compensate with my favorite (and most only expensive ones) peep-toes that I own.

But, hey, at least I'm grinning! It only took three years of blogging to post a smiling pictures of myself. I never, ever grin in photos for two reasons: first of all, I'm not a good actress, so laughing alone in front of the camera comes out forced and looks fake, and secondly... it's silly (and I swear I'm not fishing for compliments) but I don't like my smile!
But now I have two photos of me grinning that I like, which are also evidence that I'm not always so serious :D

So, did you guys took part in Sew Dolly Clackett? Which are your favorite projects?
I'm running to the Flickr group to finally spy what everyone else has been making, you should too!

30 comments:

  1. Fishing for compliments aside, ;), you DO have a lovely smile. And this emery is gorgeous. Yet more proof that I need to make this pattern!

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  2. This is so cute - I love that fabric & your photos are always lovely, smile or no smile! There are so many gorgeous versions of the Emery popping up as part of sew dolly clackett!

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  3. You definately have a lovely smile, and your dress is gorgeous.

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  4. I love this fabric on you and these are excellent smiling pictures - I was actually wondering why you looked different in the first picture!

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  5. i vote for the grinning photos from now on! and dress is nice too

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  6. I'm glad I'm not the only one who leaves things to the last minute! I went for an Emery dress too, blogged here
    http://vintagerockchick-gill.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/shes-my-inspiration.html
    I love your version with the less 'puffy' skirt - I might have to give that a go

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  7. I did the same thing as Laura - wondered what had changed in the first picture (has she dyed her hair? Her eyebrows look great. Has she done contouring with her makeup?) and then realised it's because of the smile - you look great! The fabric and dress looks great too

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  8. I love how everyone is showing their love for Roisin's big day. I've loved all the variations I've seen, and yours is up there with the best! I also love seeing you smile/grin ;)

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  9. Ditto the other comments about wondering what was different in your first picture - it's a beautiful change :) Love this dress - the fabric is so cheerful!

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  10. You look beautiful! I also feel this way about my smile in pictures - but others don't see what we criticize in ourselves!

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  11. Very cute dress, smile, and LOVELY fabric! You are going to love wearing this dress I bet.

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  12. What gorgeous fabric. So pretty, and it really suits the dress. And your smile is lovely! I have to say. I feel silly NOT smiling in photos! But you look great either way, so do what's comfortable.

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  13. I completely understand the not smiling in pictures... I tend to look serious myself, and my boyfriend takes the pictures! Your dress is gorgeous!

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  14. Only you can transform such a boyish fabric into a stunning feminine dress! I love it!

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  15. Great dress! :) It takes me such a long time to take photos of my makes because I feel so silly grinning at the camera so I know how you feel!

    And the fabric is so great!

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  16. Lovely dress, I'm sure Roisin will like it! And don't worry, even though you're not grinning in your pictures (I understand it's not easy not to feel awkward), you still smile and you're never actually pulling a 3-foot-long face, which is OK!

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  17. Great dress! I love the fabric! I also hate to smile in front of the camera when taking pictures for the blog, but I realised that most pictures where I dont smile look so grumpy that I always end up picking the smily ones. :)

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  18. Complimenti Anna, molto molto carino anche questo vestitino... anche il sorriso - è vero è molto difficile non sentirsi dei completi idioti di fronte alla macchina fotografica, io avendo studiato anche fotografia sento sopratutto la frustrazione di "non vedere". Ciao!

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  19. Such a cute dress Anna and you look adorable!! I think it's a brilliant tribute to Roisin. And I too procrastinated ...no idea why, maybe I had too much choice ??

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  20. It's a really cute dress - I love the fabric! I think there's something about Sew Dolly Clackett dresses that means that you have to smile when you're wearing them because they're so fun - mine definitely has that effect on me!

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  21. This is such a lovely dress, and your smile is even lovelier! I'm so sad that I couldn't find the time to make a Dolly Clackett dress, but I'm really enjoying seeing all the Roisin tributes pop up online! This is really, really sweet and looks so nice on you.

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  22. Fabulous! Fabric, fit, everything - wow. And fabulous smile too:)

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  23. Love it and that print is adorable!! I too procrastinated so instead of about four dresses I had planned I only got one planned one done and then one other (unplanned). Still I have more fun sewing ahead :)

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  24. Gorgeous Gorgeous Gorgeous! Absolutely loving that unusual Liberty print made up in this dress, it's a wonderful mix of yours and Roisin's style. I especially like the first photo - you have such a beautiful smile!

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  25. I love the fabric so much, and it works perfectly with this pattern! Fabulous!

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  26. great fabric choice and beautiful dress - very Roisin. Cute shoes too

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  27. love the dress and your smile!!! :)

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  28. Ahhh - this is such an adorable dress! Really beautiful fabric, and a really beautiful smile - more smiley pics please! Lol, I can talk, I usually end up deleting all my smiling pics because I think I looks odd smiling too - but then my post ends up making me looks like I'm a grumpy cow, so I throw in a token smiling photo. Doh - I feel your pain!

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  29. Gah i adore this print. It's crazy without being crazy -- it grabs my attention but doesn't at the same time. It's a perfect oxymoron of amazingness.

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