See my vest, see my vest...

(Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

I've managed to finish off a couple of projects this week.  The first was this dress that I've had cut out for a while.  It looked like it was going to be pretty easy - and I guess it would have been if I hadn't have kept making silly little mistakes.  This was Simplicity pattern ("easy to sew" they boast on the front!) 2270.  I don't know what was going on the day I sewed this - I started with sewing the pockets on upside down and it all went downhill from there really.

The finished product is nice but I think it looked better in my head.

I changed the front from a gathered neckline and put a box pleat in instead as I wanted it to have a bit more of a retro look.  The armholes are finished with bias binding but I think if I was to make this again I would line the whole dress instead, especially for cool weather.  But this will be ok I think - it looks good on its own or with a skivvy under it so it'll do.  Plus I also have a cardigan and a coat to make yet, both which are going to match with this dress.

I really wanted the dress to have a flower on it but wanted to do something other than the usual yo-yos I put on everything.  I found this tutorial for tea cup flowers and thought one of these would be perfect!  I made mine with 5 petals though, and added a self covered button for the centre.

The fabric was Riley Blake Pink Cowboy Plaid from their "Wanna Be A Cowboy 2" range.  The brown is Brown Cowboy Dots from the same range.  I bought a few fabrics from this range actually - I love them!

The second project this week was the Peikko Vest from Ottobre Design 06/2009.  I think this vest is the cutest!  I want to make one for myself.

This was made with some faux fur from Spotlight, and lined with some stretch suede fabric.  Have I mentioned how cute it is?

I'd never sewn with fur before and was a bit worried that I (or my machine) might not be up to it.  But it was really easy to put together.  One thing I found really useful was making sure I had a comb on stand-by and combing all my seams as I sewed them.  I didn't have a walking foot but I used lots of pins and just took it slowly.

One other, very important piece of advice - don't wear black if you're sewing with white fur!

I just had to share this cute pic of Ellie.  She is growing so big now!