Vogue 2899...or the dress that almost wasn't

Boy oh Boy!!!!

I made a dress, I made a dress. Did I tell you I made a dress? No seriously, did I tell you I made a dress?

I did, I did, I did make a dress.

I made this one

I am writing this post at 6am, in my cousin's house in Birmingham. What am I doing in Birmingham? Oh well, I came for the weekend. This year marks the 50th anniversary of my high school. I mentioned before that I went to an all girl's boarding school back home in Cameroon. I spent 7 sometimes miserable and sometimes exciting years at boarding school. Most of my friendships were forged here, and almost all of my closest friends today all went to this school

Saker Baptist College (my school) was created in 1962 by Baptist missionaries, and we even had some missionaries from the UK. So, those of us based in the UK decided to celebrate our school's anniversary, and we are having a convention this weekend. Friday was a common meal, Saturday involved games, and a gala night. Sunday, a church service, and a barbecue. I am probably going to skip church, as my whole body is hurting from all the dancing I did. It is not everyday that I have the opportunity to make a fool of myself on the dance floor. Mr. Dibs is on babysitting duties this weekend, while I run wild. Yay baby!!

Now back to the dress. I LOVE this dress. I felt really confident and sexy when I wore it to the party. My sister kept telling anyone willing to hear that I made the dress myself. I got so many compliments, and many people begging me to make the exact dress for them. Something which I am not keen on, and I told them no.

Did I love making it? Not so much!! I actually finished it on Saturday morning on the way to Birmingham. As soon as I got on the train, I whipped out my tools, and got down to the business of sewing the hems on both the dress, and the lining. People thought I was bonkers.

The actual pattern is not difficult to make, but it is VERY time consuming. There are 10 pieces I think, and almost all of them are cut twice. One is even cut 4 times. Not impressed!! I started it effectively on Wednesday, and on Thursday, discovered that I had not cut one of the back pieces. I combed my house  for the pattern piece, but alas, could not find it. So off, to John Lewis I went, to buy a new pattern. I need to be more careful with my patterns, as I have also managed to damage the bodice front of my Cambie pattern. Not cool, I know. At one point I thought about stopping work on the dress, and caving in and buying a new dress. In the end I decided to stick it out, and push on. It is amazing how the thought of shelling out some good money for a dress from the high street and seeing 10 other women wearing the same dress at your party can inspire one to sew on.

I did not sleep on Friday night, just trying to work on the dress. I was mega stressed I tell you. Mr.Dibs was angry with me for putting myself in such a situation. Oh Mr.Dibs!! Poor sod. He had to look after Noah all night, and Noah would not sleep. The little munchkin finally slept off at about 2:30am. I had to take him off Mr.Dibs, because I sensed he was on the verge of throwing my son out of the house....I am not even joking. His sighs were so loud.

Writing this post now, I have realised I did not take any pictures of the back of the dress. You can see more of the dress here ( I ADORE the colour she used here), and here ( This is where I first saw the pattern). I used a soft lycra fabric bought from this ebay store. Like I said before, it is not a difficult pattern to make, but you need alot of patience. I decided not to use a zip as the instructions directed because I could not be bothered to fight with my invisible zipper foot at 2am in the morning. Since it is quite a stretchy fabric, I got away with it. The instructions for the strap and draping at the neck were quite simple, but I had to sleep on them, as my brain had stopped processing any form of information at 4am. I finally figured out how to do them when I woke up in the morning.

Will I make this dress again? Probably. I really love it, and I think the compliments I received at the party have gotten to my head. I would love to make it in two different colours, black and something else. I don't look forward to the work involved in it though. My mom has to come visit us soon from Cameroon, so I could psyche her into sewing it for.  

Right, I am off to bed now. 

Enjoy your sunday.