Well I am so stoked about this little number. I will wear this again and again. Causal or fancy. I love the sleeves and I love the length and I love the bow and I love the waistline. I am so proud of my workmanship on it; I feel like I'm wearing a bought dress! Could be the new little label I have on the inside! (see January 2015 dress)

The pattern is actually for a size 16-22 but I made some guesses and then accommodated with extra fabric and trimmed later where necessary. 

It took me about 9-10 hours to make. Bit confusing in some parts but I finally got the hang of it! After this dress my slip-stitching game is very strong. It's where you go in and out of the edges and the technique makes it so you can't see the thread. 

There is something about this material that is so soft and malleable. It was so easy to work with! I have a bit leftover so might need to make a circle skirt. 

The pattern says to include a petticoat but its a little warm for that right now! Do you think it needs a petticoat anyway though?

Materials: Rose Doona cover from RSPCA Sherwood ($5), sewing pattern from Indooroopilly McIntyre Centre (50c), zipper from Everton Park Lifeline (20c) 
Cost to make: $5.70

Well I have been meaning to make this dress for a while and how delightful it is. 

I'm ever so happy about the skirt part as it turned out to be a circle skirt design (which  I love). The back of the bodice goes high enough to protect from the sun and the sash at the waist cinches in nicely. 

Floaty and fun and relatively easy design. Took me approximately 6.5 hours to make, while enduring this crazy heat that Brisbane is having! 

It has plenty of armhole space and dips in a little so may need a strapless bra. Maybe next time I will use a brighter print but this makes it nice and casual. 

This is also my second cheapest dress!

Hope you had a Happy Christmas and have a Happy New Year everyone!

Materials: double flat sheet donated by Gemma H (thank you!), interfacing donated by Pat, sewing pattern from Eatons Hill St Vinnies (25c), assorted buttons from collection
Cost to Make: $0.25

I know what you're thinking; that can't possibly be a bed sheet someone got rid of! Well it is actually offcuts of fabric that a friend gave to me. I have had it for a while, but the two pieces I got were one narrow piece that measured 30cm x 2m and the other was a 1m x 2m piece. A little tricky to fit a pattern on if it had a long or flared skirt! Especially as the zebras only go one way. But I just this month found this Vogue mod dress pattern that had a straight cut and short length and thought it would be perfect! 

At first I was going to make the yoke or collar a different colour, like a bright red or orange, but then thought it might be a bit tricky or limiting for the wearer to coordinate accessories. I personally would pair it with a large bright orange necklace. Plus then I use more of this fabulous zebra material! 

It may look quite basic, but there is also a lining underneath and there was a lot of hand sewing that needed to be done; especially slip stitching. Slip stitching is when you have to sew but not show any thread. All in all it took about 8 hours so not altogether too stressful; a very pleasant project. 

Plus there are pockets and zebras! No one can be unhappy in a zebra dress with pockets! 

Materials: zebra offcuts fabric donated by Miranda (free), sewing pattern from Grovely St Vinnies (50c), large zip from Reverse Garbage ($1.50), 1/4 of lining fabric from Grovely St Vinnies ($1.00)
Cost to Make: $3.00

Busy times! Managed to make this dress in about 10 hours but was still a little strapped for time with all the catching up I had to do after being away. 

The material on this one is fabulous; higher thread count maybe but I'll never know because it didn't come in the original packaging haha! It was very forgiving material and was very easy to work with. 
The sewing pattern was a bit odd though; there was this one part about the facing on the inside that was quite unclear and I'm not sure I did it quite correctly but the end product is delightful. 

I decided I always do flared dresses and needed the challenge of a tight dress, plus the buttons make it a bit tricky to pull off, so I picked this particular dress. Even though on the pattern there are other lovely designs which I will definitely have a crack at another time. 

All in all it is quite splendid indeed. 

Materials: half of a purple flat sheet from Sumner Park Vinnies ($2), sewing pattern (20c), buttons from Keperra Lifeline ($1), interfacing donated by Pat
Cost to make: $3.20