No ? Neither did I, when I set about creating this blouse.

And when Marte announced her Compagnie M Sewing Contest, the part of me that can't resist a deadline kicked into action. (I'm a journalist - I simply do not function without a deadline.) And I had such a sense of vision about what I wanted to create, that I couldn't help but start cutting up this stone-coloured cotton linen blend.
I've entered this blouse in the contest - see here

Ever since I made my first Louisa dress, from Marte's simple and perfect dress pattern, where I added a front placket, I had pondered taking this idea further.

 The asymetrical collar was 'borrowed' from Straightgrain's Tinny dress. I made a size 5, cut large, and Missy is only 3 so this is a little big on her.

I sewed this like a demon over a couple of evenings, broke a couple of needles, stitched my finger etc... Then I faced a photographic nightmare. Missy has been ill this week, a fever and a cough, and not in the mood for pictures. And it has barely stopped raining for a second! Literally. There are homes just a few miles away where sandbags are their only defence against the surging River Severn. So work has also been busy for me - reporting on what's going on.

Then this afternoon, it stopped raining for five minutes (yes, really) Missy seemed a little brighter, and I lured her outside with sweets. But brushing her hair properly was a step too far. And we could really only stay out for a few minutes in her new blouse. There's a fierce gale blowing too! So these photos will have to do.

The first Monday of the Month - and that means Take One Dress! Take One Dress is the monthly series on As-it-Seams, offering a chain of inspiration to bloggers. (See here for details).

And I am so thrilled that Marta from Do Guincho said yes to the challenge. Marta  lives in Portugal and sews for her two daughters. They look like really fun girls, and she's one of those bloggers that I wished I knew in real life - playdates and sewing chats with Marta would be amazing!

Last month Natalie, the girl being La Gang a Nat, not only made this lovely outfit for her little girl but also choose a superb vintage dress to be an inspiration for my creation.

Natalie’s dress had lots and lots of details I could use, but I decided to pick my favorites: color combination (pink/blue), big box pleats and contrasting zipper.

I’ve started by drafting my ideas on my sketch book (I knew from the start I wanted to use a lace zipper) but then a package from my friend Constanca arrived with these great vintage patterns she bought in New Zealand… One of them was just the right one for my outfit! Lucky me!

And I also already had the right fabric to make my Take One Dress outfit: a blue and white polka dot fabric from my grandmother’s stash. But this was not any polka dot fabric. Actually I had two pieces of fabric: one with “condensed” dots and another one with fewer dots per square meter. But the two of them together looked great.

As the fabric wasn’t enough to make a dress I decide to sew a tunic instead and match it with a pair of basic pink corduroy shorts (using the same self drafted pattern I've used for this denim shorts). I have to say I am in love with this outfit! It has just the right amount of vintage felling but it is also super comfortable! And now I fell like adding lace zippers to all my clothing!

Unfortunately Ines was not in the mood for a photo shot. These photos were taken under my bed sheets as this was the only way I could make her have fun while I was trying to take photos of her new clothes…

Well, choosing a dress to inspire Jenya, the great Russian/Australian blogger from While She Was Sleeping, was a lot harder than I thought. Especially because Victoria and Natalie had made such a great job choosing the previous dresses…

So I e-mailed Victoria asking her to give me some directions and she told me it could be anything! In her own words: “I don't mind what the next garment is, just as long as you think it's inspiring, it can be something you own, but I did also think it could be a historic outfit or film costume or anything really!”.

A film costume would be great, I thought. But a TV series costume would be nice too… I immediately though about Mad Men! Besides liking a lot this series, I love the vintage but modern filling of the costumes. So her it is! This is a dress for Miss Holloway (in a great illustration by Stanley Chow) but, Jenya, fell free to check out other Mad Men costumes and be inspired by them.

Happy sewing, girls!

 Marta! I love it. A box-pleat and exposed zip in one! Genius. Thank you so much for taking the creative story to the next chapter.

And I'm inspired by your Madmen dress - and excited already about Jenya's creation, due to be posted here on March 3. Follow As-it-seams on Blogger, bloglovin, facebook etc if you think you'll need reminding of the next installment !

And if you're inspired to sew along, there's a Take One Dress flickr group. And also let me know and I'll share your creations here!

See you March 3! 

which inspires

December - As It Seams Christmas Dress 

and  also inspires

January - Natalie of Nat and the Gang's beautiful Mara blouse and skirt

January - Natalie presents her Take One Dress as inspiration for Marta at Do  Guincho...

Now Marta.... where will this take you? I am so intrigued to see the Do Guincho stamp on this!

It's Kids Clothes Week, which means loopy women (and men?) across the globe are sewing like crazy.

Except me.

The aim is to sew for an hour a day, all week. Oh, if only I had that hour!

It was my son's birthday last weekend, which took up most of the previous week planning and creating, and it's left me behind with the other stuff - like work. (Starwars theme - We made a Deathstar lampshade and a Yoda birthday cake, among other things) 

And now sewing is barely happening.

I  have a very complicated sewing project underway, which requires thought, planning and concentration. Hopefully I'll blog about it in 2014, but sadly not in Kids Clothes Week...

Then last night - I finally managed a frenzied sewing burst - and amazingly produced something that I think will be the most wearable and valuable addition to Missy's wardrobe that I've yet made.  Warm and comfortable!

I set about refashioning a woollen jumper of mine. It looks awful on, too boxy on me, but the wool is good quality and I couldn't bear to just get rid of it.

So,  I hacked it up with scissors instead.

I shrunk it first on a hot wash in the machine. Then cut bodice pieces out of the front. I cut raglan sleeves from the existing sleeve, and used the surplus 'fabric' from the top of the sleeve to create triangular inserts in the side seams to give it a 'flippy' shape. I put two more smaller triangles in the front, again to add shape, and attempted to do something clever with the stripes. I love the swing silhouette this now has!

Two rather nice buttons, hide my sloppyish sewing.
I 'hemmed' it with red strips cut from another re-purposed woolly jumper. The zig-zag stitching has made the hem all wavey - not deliberate, but I like it.  Like a flower, said Missy.

And Voila...

Not much more than an hour start to finish, and Missy has a new cosy stylish sweater that looks a zillion times better than this ever looked on me.

And much as I love sewing beautiful dresses, this is actually the kind of thing she will WEAR....Warm, practical...and I do love the flippy triangles.!

I'm inspired! This revelation that I can sew with old sweaters has opened a whole new door for me!

Now I'm eyeing up my winter woollies in a whole new light - and am on the verge of reaching for the scissors. Snip.... snip! Woollies beware!

Bonjour! I am Natalie from La gang à Nat and I am completely thrilled to be visiting my friend Victoria on her blog today.
She wrote to me in early December and showed me this amazing vintage dress that she picked up in New York City in October. I loved it immediately! (And WOW Victoria!! You look amazing!!!)

Based on those elements of inspiration, this is what I created... Taa-daa!!!

 

As soon as I saw Victoria's dress, I knew I wanted to try out Compagnie M.'s Mara Blouse pattern. Although not triangular, the insert was perfect and definitely gave the garment that vintage feel. For the main fabric, I chose a soft green corduroy that I had on hand at home. 

I was all set on using some plain white cotton fabric for the insert but then a little package arrived in the mail all the way from England: you see, a few weeks earlier, I had won a fat quarter of Kokka fabric on Victoria's blog and it was so lovely that I knew I had to use it here. Look how sweet it is!

Walking in the frest with friend

(giggle giggle, love those Japanese fabrics, typos and all!)

 

I made zero changes to the Mara Blouse pattern as I felt it had the exact vibe I wanted for my garment. Lovely insert, long sleeves, sweet buttons, a bit of piping, some home made bias tape and voilà! (Short sleeves would have respected the inspiration dress much more but as it's insanely cold in Canada right now, long sleeves made way more sense.)

  

I was planning on making a simple a-line skirt from the same green corduroy fabric, to resemble the inspiration dress. But after finishing the blouse, I completely changed my mind, dug through my pattern stash and came upon the Girly Pleated Skirt by Heidi and Finn. Perfect! Those darn little knife pleats took forever to make but were so worth it! I decided to add two fabric covered buttons in order to rock the vintage look even more and tie it in with the blouse.

 

I really dig how this turned out! I love how it looks on Gaëlle (who was moving so much during the photo shoot that it was completely impossible to get a full body shot of her...sigh)

My Inspiration Dress So now, in turn, I am passing on the baton to Marta, an amazing sewist from Guincho, Portugal. Marta, this is a very special little dress here... It might not look like much but I wore this dress as a little girl, almost 40 years ago now. In turn, my daughters have also worn it (as well as a small fleet of dolls along the way).

Characteristics of this dress:

*The piping and zipper look black in the pictures but they are actually navy blue.

 

Here I am celebrating my 2nd birthday in 1974 with my cousin Josée. Her dress is really sweet as well, no? And how about that stylish wall paneling? 

 

 I can't wait to see what you come up with Marta! I know you'll give it your Do Guincho twist and it will be phenomenal. I can't wait to see what you come up with And if anyone else feels inspired by this vintage little number, sew along and show us what you created! 

Thank you so much Victoria for having me here today! 

 Bisous, Natalie XX

Thanks Natalie!
I love that you have come up with something so totally different from my interpretation! (see here)

Do come back on February 3 to see where Natalie's inspiration takes Marta of Do Guincho! And if it inspires you too, sew-along! I'd love to see your creations on the Take One Dress Flickr group. And keep track of Take One Dress over on my facebook page.

Take One Dress