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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Ciao bella, my first Belladone..


Update: I completely forgot to add the Sew Weekly Reunion facts for this post, so here we go!

The Facts
Fabric: Cotton with a little stretch from Schreuder in Rotterdam
Notions: Green invisible zipper, pink bias tape and fusible tape to prevent stretching
Pantone Challenge colors: Vivacious, Emarald and Mykonos Blue
Pantone colour chart
Pattern: Deer and Doe's Belladone
Year: 2012?
Time to complete: About 5 hours
First worn: To dinner with friends in Italy
Wear again? Yes! I already have twice :)
Total Cost: Around 30 euro's excluding the pattern

Some of you already guessed it, but I made a Belladone dress! This has only been my second Deer and Doe pattern which I made, but I’m amazed by how beautiful and easy to sew their patterns are! I finished my Belladone dress within a week, and it was mostly done in 15 minutes of sewing after work/while my bath was filling/before bedtime.. 

Small bits but I’ve been enjoying those more and more recently.

At the same time I was knitting like crazy trying to finish my sisters bday present, (I didn’t finish it in time, but it is finished now!). 
Knitting the sleeves..
And the Belladone sewing was proving to be very relaxing. The pattern instructions are very well written and I hardly had to use my seam ripper, Yay!

The fabric is cotton with a little bit of stretch, so I stabilised the edges of the dress. Offcourse I forgot to stabilise the back pieces and did so after I stitched them (not sure if this will hold up, but I don’t want an extra thick line of stitches on the back.. )

The armholes and the neckline are finished with bias tape, which I folded to the inside, so it isn’t visible from the outside. It still makes me very happy when I see it however :)

Since I got my new sewing machine in January my invisible zippers haven’t excactly been invisible. I was getting really fed up with this, so I invested in an invisible zipper foot for my Pfaff. I bought the foot after sewing this zipper however, so it is not super invisible, but good enough to be allowed to stay like it is.
Semi invisible zipper..
 I’ve gotton loads of compliments on this dress, also in the fabric store in Italy they really liked it, which is always nice! My grandma said that she thinks that the armholes might be a little bit too tight, but when I look at the pictures I’m not sure I agree.. Also when wearing it, it doesn’t feel too tight all the time, only when I make strange arm movements..  

Yay! Pockets!
The only thing I will alter for a next make is to lenghten the bodice by 1-2 cm, now it ends just a bit above my natural waist, nothing too bad, but something I will fix next time.

This will also be my entry for the first Sew Weekly Reunion challenge, which is to use the Pantone fall 2013 colours. When I saw this fabric I thought the pink is like the Vivacious colour, the green resembles Emerald and the blue colour made me think of the Mykonos Blue.. Great fabric for this challenge!

Next up are some fall sewing plans which I’ve made (and I’m hoping to stick with them). For most of them I already bought fabric in Italy and I’m curious to see what you guys think!

27 comments:

  1. Such a pretty dress, Kim! I really love that fabric!

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  2. So beautiful! That fabric is perfect :) And I love that your Grandma weighs in on dress fittings ;)

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  3. Oh die jurk is zo mooi! Enne, ken je deze al: http://www.woolandthegang.com/shop/t/women/jumpers-and-sweaters

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  4. The dress looks stunning!

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  5. Love the belladone, great fabric and it looks fantastic on you!! I've got it on my list to try - just have to man up for my first attempt at invisible zips!

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  6. Thanks Gail! The fabric is really soft and great to wear :)

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  7. Thanks Sally! Haha, yeah my grandma loves it too! There were a couple of her girlfriends with us on holiday and she proudly pointed out to them whenever I was wearing something I had made! Very proud :)

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  8. Thanks Louise! I've found the Colette tutorial to be very helpfull (http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/tutorial-installing-an-invisible-zipper), if you follow their steps it is not as difficult as it looks! Would love to see your Belladone..

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  9. Dankje Saar! Oeeh die site ziet er goed uit! Heb al ees iets van hun bekeken, lijtk op We Are Knitters waar ik mijn wol en patroon vandaan had.. Ze hebben ook al gebreide truien zag ik, scheelt weer werk ;)

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  10. Thanks, I'll check out the Colette tute! Belladone is next on the list just need to finish my Mathilde blouse first....

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  11. oh wauw, wat gaaf geworden zeg! Perfecte combinatie zo, die stof en het patroon. Super!

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  12. Ha ja inderdaad. Ik werd nieuwsgierig en ben internet afgestruind. Ik heb nog meer van zulke websites gevonden, maar jij bent t breien al zat ;)?

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  13. Haha nee hoor, heb nog twee truien en een sjaal op de wachtlijst staan :) maar het zou soms wel extra lekker snel gaan als iemand anders het zou doen..

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  14. This is perfect! The fabric is gorgeous and goes so well with the pattern. Belladone is one of my favourite patterns anyway and this is one of the nicest ones I've seen. And you have reminded me that I have the fabric already to make another myself.

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  15. Thanks! The pattern is awesome indeed, I really want to make another one soon.. But I don't have a fabric in mind for it yet.. Curious to see your fabric!

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  16. Absolutely delightful dress. I bought the pattern some time back but have not attempted it. I really should sew it up soon, esp after seeing this version:)

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  17. Looking forward to your version! When you've constructed the back piece it is quite simple from there on :)

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  18. You look so damn cute. https://www.facebook.com/SassySewingBees

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  19. Just lovely! I am currently at work on my Belladone. I love the fabric you chose.

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  20. Ooh can't wait to see your version!

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