The Day and Night Dress Challenge
I have some exciting news! I’m a member of the blogging and vlogging team for this year’s Day and Night Dress Challenge run by Elizabeth Made This. It’s an absolute honour to be part of this team – I’m in the company of so many talented dressmakers.
The good news is that the challenge isn’t just for the #dayandnightdresschallenge team: you can take part, too! In fact, you’re encouraged to get involved and put yourself in the running for a whole host of incredible prizes.
But what’s it all about? What am I planning to make? Read on to find out more…
What is the Day and Night Dress Challenge?
The theme of this year’s challenge is “Coffee and Cocktails” and the idea is that you make yourself two lovely new dresses: one for a coffee date with your favourite people and another for a slightly more formal, night-time event.
Elizabeth explains it in more detail in her official announcement here: The Day and Night Dress Challenge 2018.
Watch the Video!
As promised in my video, I’m sharing close-up details of the fabrics and patterns here on the blog. I love to see those sorts of details and I hope you do, too.
My Coffee Dress
I love going out for a coffee with friends! The introvert inside me is actually a little surprised at the truth of this statement, but it’s true. Whenever I’m roadtripping, I love to stop at interesting little cafés and sample their wares. If you’ve been watching my vlogs for a while, you’ll know one of my favourite cafés of all time is The Giddy Goat and here is what I’d love to be wearing next time I drop by.
That is some gorgeous Cloud 9 fabric that I have been longing to sew up for ages now. I love everything about it: the background colour, the bright colours in the print, the fabulous swans (even if they’re the wrong colour to be Australian swans).
But what sort of dress will it be? I am aiming to make a simple dress with a fitted bodice and a gathered skirt (and pockets, of course) using Gertie’s Ultimate Dress Book. As we speak, I am well into the process of sewing up my toile and I am excited about how it is all coming together. I’ll be doing a review of the toile once it’s finished, so make sure you stayed tuned for that.
My Cocktail Dress
It took me a while to work out what I wanted to sew for this dress. I don’t go to many cocktail parties, but I do love a good wine tour with my friends, so I was trying to imagine what I’d like to wear on one of those. Inspiration struck quite by surprise when I was going through a pile of thrifted goodies in search of some fair isle knititng patterns. Instead, I found this vintage Butterick 5869 and knew instantly that it was just the ticket.
I’m planning to sew up View A with a shorter hem and I think it will be perfect. You may be able to spot that it claims to be ‘super quick’. This is mostly due to the fact that there are three entire pieces for the dress: the dress piece, the sleeve and the belt.
Have a look at the size of the piece for the long sleeve – it’s almost as big as the dress piece! There’s no doubt about it: designers in the 1970s knew how to do sleeves.
The pattern and its epic sleeves may not pose too much of a challenge, but my fabric might. It’s a lovely, flowy piece of floral fabric I purchased from an op shop towards the end of last year and it looks pleasant and innocuous at first glance.
On the plus side, it dries super quickly and is completely averse to wrinkling, so I’ll have no trouble squeezing it into a suitcase when I’m packing for my next wine tour. On the down side, I fear it is going to be a little contrary when I come to sew it, so I may be back to tacking, french seaming and endless complaining… much like the process of sewing my Lottie blouse during Vlogmas!
Those are my plans for the Day and Night Dress Challenge. I’m excited to get them sewn up so I can share them with you towards the end of February. Until then, I have an easy way for you to stay up to date on how it’s all going – just head on over to my brand new facebook page.
Join my facebook page for regular updates
That’s right – I have started a proper facebook page for Sew Old Fashioned! I’d be delighted if you’d check it out and give it a like. I’m planning to post a lot of informal things over there: behind-the-scenes images or links to blog posts and videos, as well as regular live videos where I share things I’ve found in op shops or tell you what I’ve been creating lately. And I will be sharing updates on my Day and Night Challenge dresses there, too.
Click here to visit the Sew Old Fashioned Facebook Page.
Are you going to take part in the Day and Night Dress Challenge? What do you think of my plans? Let me know what you’re planning in the comments below.
2 comments
What a terrific challenge Katie 🙂 love the fabrics… 😀
I can’t wait to turn those fabrics into dresses! Are you thinking of taking part in the challenge yourself?
Thank-you for your comment. 🙂