Experimenting with lace + the 'w' word

THE 'W' WORD
I have recently spent a little time researching and thinking about my 'w' dress (I get a little sick of hearing the wedding word so I will refer to it as 'w'). One major problem I am having with my research is that I have cast these huge self inflicted expectations upon myself. I feel like I should be making my ultimate  dress... this is where my predicament begins. I would love to applique and even embroider the fabric, but I just know that this is impossible. Time restraints teamed with a tiny budget is what will dictate the outcome of the dress. So I just have to get over this 'ultimate' thing and see the dress as being the 'ultimate dress... for this period in my life with time and budget constraints'.
So I am still experimenting with fabric manipulation techniques whilst clamping down on this 'ultimate' expectation.

THE LACE TOP - COLETTE LAUREL PATTERN
Rather then sewing from my own self drafted patterns I have began to sew from published clothing patterns again. My sewing skills are in need of some work, so this is my solution, and of course looking up sewing blogs. I didn't realise how many sewing blogs are out there now. A heap of good info! 

The Colette 'Laurel' pattern was a nice basic pattern to use for creating this simple silhouette. Perfect for experimenting with appliqueing. 
Whilst 'w' dress fabric shopping, I found a few different types of lace to muck around with. This particular lace is a guippure lace. It's a great one for appliqueing as it is easy to cut out. I entered this top in the Colette Laurel pattern competition (along with a crab print dress, but I will show that one off later) which you can find here.

SEWING THE SKIRT
Whilst visiting Hamburg the other month, we popped into Kleidermarkt. My favourite second hand store in Hamburg! I headed straight for the reduced items and found this sweet skirt. When I got it home I realised that the waist was tiny! So after calculating the best way to increase the waist measurement, I got cutting (this is always the scary part).  It actually worked out... except for the fact that when I sit down it looks as though a large bulge is coming from the stomach area. I suppose I just can't sit down. Problem solved:) 


 

TUTORIAL FOR APPLIQUE LACE
is on its way!