Over Christmas I had a major move round in my sewing room which involved emptying my fabric cupboard so I could move it. The nice side to this was I fell in love with a lot of fabrics again!! In amongst the piles of fabrics I found this gorgeous purple corduroy, it’s a needlecord one in a beautiful shade of what I would call damson, the more pinky end of purple!! I also realised when I was cutting it out that it has a slight width ways stretch, it didn’t cause any problems sewing and hopefully will make it extra comfortable to wear.
Last week I decided to make a dress, having looked through my patterns and worked out that some had several pieces missing (!!) I decided to make another dress from Vogue 2412, this will be the fourth dress I’ve made from this pattern, and I didn’t even buy it in the first place, it was on the swop table at a sewing meet-up a couple of years ago. I’ve made two in boiled wool and one in a sort of suede-feeling fabric, between them they have been my staple dresses over the winter, comfortable and easy to wear but smart too.
I decided on a different collar, a stand-up one – mainly because the other collar piece was missing – I really must learn to look after my patterns better!! Having made it several times it was a fairly quick make, I used my overlocker to finish the seams in side.
In the pattern the hems are just top-stitched up, I decided to have a play with my new sewing machine. I used one of the decorative stitches instead, it’s really pretty. I tried it on the sleeves first, I liked it so I did the hem the same way. The only issue I found was that the machine did seem to ‘throw’ the fabric to the side slightly on the same bit of the pattern each time, so it’s not quite as even as I would have liked, I do really like it though, it just gives an extra touch to an otherwise plain dress.
I’ve discovered that purple is one of those colours that is a nightmare to match buttons too. There are so many different shades and the wrong one looks awful! I looked in my stash and couldn’t see anything, so I popped into Ilkley to Boyes, thought I’d found a good match, brought them home to see them again in a different light and they looked awful!! I wanted to wear the dress today as we’re off visiting friends, so I was short on time. I managed to get off work a little early and flew down to Samuel Taylors at the bottom of Leeds, despite having dozens of purple buttons, nothing was right, I started looking at greys and black, in the end I bought some matt black buttons. I came home and decided to have one last look in my button stash and I found these, they’re actually vintage buttons as I bought a big box of them off e-bay and whilst they’re not 100% perfect, they look pretty good!
The sun has finally reached our garden, having hidden over the other side of the Chevin for the winter, so I managed to get outside for the photo! It was pretty cold though, hence the chilly stance!
thecraftycreek 
Pin wake is so comfy in the winter, you look very smart in this!
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Great colour for you, Margaret, and a lovely style – very figure flattering! Although you were cold without a coat, we appreciate your sacrifice so we could see you in sunlight. 🌞
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A perfect winter dress. I like everything about it. The stitching around the hem and cuffs make it look Haute Couture. The high collar is right for winter too.
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Lovely colour! I’ve always liked needlecord despite its fluff-magnet talents, and it’s perfect for a cosy winter dress.
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Dress is wonderful I love the finishing touches.
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love the colour, fabric type, style and vintage buttons!
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Love the color, Margaret! The dress looks like it fits well, too! Good job! 🙂
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Love this dress, Margaret! And your story of the buttons made me smile, because haven’t we all done something similar?
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Thanks Anne, glad it’s not just me that buys two sets of buttons and then uses some from the stash 🙂
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Lovely dress, I love cord and the buttons are great.
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I’ve got some lovely purple needlecord too which I’ve made a skirt with but still have some left. It’s a slightly deeper colour than yours and I didn’t need buttons with the skirt but I did buy these for a purple knitted jacket I made, which are lovely, just in case you aren’t completely happy with the ones you used and think they’d be a better match https://tinyurl.com/s9hhke5
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Thanks for the button offer, they do look gorgeous but I really struggle with matching colours on the computer – I once ordered about six different green fabrics and still didn’t have the right shade!!
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Gorgeous color ~ great dress pattern that’s gotten a lot of ‘wear’
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Haha… you have brought back some memories with your mention of Samuel Taylors… who would have guessed that they are still there in Leeds – it must be 30 years since my last visit to the shop. Is it in the same place, on the corner there?
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It’s still on the corner and probably hasn’t changed a bit since you last went in, it feels like it is in a time warp 🙂
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I must go back and visit Leeds again… none of the family live there anymore, so there aren’t people to draw me back, but I would like to see how it’s changed.
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It’s a great city, but I am slightly biased 🙂
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Love the dresses!
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Thank you!
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