Sheer Sheath Dress - June's Make of the Month

* Things have been really busy (good busy) with custom orders and showcase events so I have missed a couple of #MakeOfTheMonths. 

• For March, it was supposed to be a clamshell purse. I got as far as drafting the pattern and cutting out a muslin before I had to put it aside for more pressing work.
• For April, it was a new take on the popular tulip iro and buba sets (google it - very lovely). I created the iro (wrapper) but it turned out a bit bigger than I wanted. It's in my pile of to-be-adjusted clothes and I still have to create the matching buba (top).
• For May, it was a men's blazer which was to be a birthday gift for one of my favorite people. I've cut out most of the pieces and hope to finish it up in a couple of weeks so hold on ...

Last week though, I had a selfish self-love moment where I put aside the work I was doing for others for one night to do something for myself. That became June's Make of the Month: a sheath dress in African print fabric (thank you, Aunty) with an organza overlay. 

The evening started thus:
(walking into my sister's room)
Me: I've decided to make a dress tonight - should only take a couple of hours ...
Sis: OK ...
(8 hours later)
Me: Done :)

**  Enjoy the pictures below :).
I'm thinking of entering this into the PGS (Pretty Girls Sew) Sew Challenge for this month.

*** Check us out on Instagram @zichie_designs.

Out and About (Church) in My New Dress

Views From the Top

Front, Side and Back Views (Different Light Exposures)

My dressform will be wearing this for a while ...

Leather & Metal Skirt: February's Make Of The Month

*   The #MakeOfTheMonth for February was a Leather and Metal Skirt. The leather part of the skirt was inspired by See Kate Sew and because I always want a little something special in my handiwork, I decided to add gold groomets around the bottom of the skirt.

**  February and March so far have been busy (good busy) so it took me a while to get this done but I’m glad I saw it through. I am currently working on 5 hours of sleep in 2 days but I wanted to get this post up .. then I'm out for the night. 

The project for March is in progress and I hope to have it done in time for next week’s post. Enjoy the pictures below :).

*** Check us out on Instagram @zichie_designs.

 

Wherefore art thou, Romeo?

Twirling ...

 

Spots & Stripes Dress: January's Make Of The Month

  * At the beginning of this year, I set a goal to have a #MakeOfTheMonth every month. This will be something I make because I want to - not because of a client's order, special request or for sale on the Etsy store.

** The #MakeOfTheMonth for January is a Spots & Stripes dress that I sketched on a post-it note sometime in 2014. The design was for a fit and flare dress with spots on the bodice and stripes on the skirt. I didn't get a chance to do anything about the sketch till now. I did change the original design by adding stripes to the bodice and I think that was a smart choice. Enjoy the pictures below :).

** Check us out on Instagram @zichie_designs.

I was going to get regular polka dots and a matching striped fabric but these 2 together caught my eye and won't let go.

The initial plan was to have an A-line skirt but I've recently been wanting to make box pleats so I did.

As I previously mentioned, I was going to make the entire bodice out of the spotted fabric but after I took a 2nd look, I decided to bring the stripes up into the bodice.

 

I wanted to do something different for the back so I added a cut-out but I made the band wide enough to cover any bra straps. :)

Final Look: