My First Minerva Crafts Blog

Well good day everyone! 

I wanted to share with you my first Minerva Crafts Blogger Network blog on here as I’m so honoured to be there. As I’ve said before- I love being part of this lovely community so when I got invited to join this amazing blogger network I was over the moon. Click here to see the blog post on Minerva where you can also buy the amazing ‘kit’ I used to make it with too! 🙂

 So my first make is the infamous Walkaway dress (Butterick Retro 4790) which is one of the first sewing patterns I bought when I realised I might actually be able to make it. As a lover of vintage clothing this 50s style dress is right up my alley and suits my style very well – especially as I am a singer/songwriter and this is exactly what I like to wear on stage. 

 The fabric choice was easy as I totally fell in love with this art deco inspired dahlia print quilting cotton – it’s isn’t stunning?! It was a dream to use – it cut, presses and sews up beautifully. I will definitely be using more quilting cotton for dressmaking in the future. I love the way it has stability for structure but still a bit of drapey stretch to fit the body nicely. I also love the linen look black cotton which was also was very easy to use – its got a great texture but still soft and moves well.

As I am an ‘adventurist beginner’ (love that label!) I think this pattern and chosen fabrics suited my level very well. I was a bit terrified when it came to the bias binding part of edging practically the whole dress but luckily I have a brilliant bias binding foot for my sewing machine that even made that bit a doddle… well a part from the few bits I had to sew over again to attach properly that is! I watched this handy youtube video tutorial on how to use the foot, which helped a lot!

This was also my first time sewing button loops and I followed the instructions like a hawk here and used my machine (after I remembered to put the feed dogs down and stopped breaking needles- oops) to sew on the buttons.

Apart from a bit of gaping on the neckline (I think the linen style bias binding might have been a bit stiff and heavy for the quilting cotton) I am so happy with this dress. The fit is brilliant and I didn’t have to change anything for the size 12 – I was a bit scared half way through that it would be way too tight but as long as I stay off the chocolate before wearing it I’m ok… just! 😉 

 I have already worn it for 2 shows in London and Manchester so here are some pics of the dress in action… 

 Credit Ric Harris 

 Credit Mel Mudkiss Photography 

 Hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures with dressmaking. I have just finished my next project – my first knitted sweater and I can’t wait to share all the swings and roundabouts of that!

Thankyou for reading!

Love and bobbins!