'Where the Fox At?" Cambie Dress

Welcome to my fantasy airstream home. This is what dreams are made of....

I'm excited to introduce you to my new dress, it has super cute yellow foxes on it:

I've been wanting to sew up the Cambie pattern since Tasia and Sewaholic released it many, many moons ago. It has such a fantastic design including a heart shaped neckline, gathered wide shoulders with capped sleeves and either a pencil or gathered skirt:

I knew it was the perfect pattern to show off my super adorable Japanese cotton that I got on a work trip to Japan (alas I didn't really see anything of Japan except the conference centre BUT I did make it to a fabric store in the evening. YAY!). I picked up and have been hoarding this fabric for the perfect project. I knew I wanted a pattern that had a straight up and down design that would really show off the foxes (without two many pieces or darts so as to distort my wee foxes). And the Cambie pattern is perfect for such a fabric!

I knew I had to take pictures of such a special dress in a special location. Enter the Notel in Melbourne which consists of six airstream trailers on a rooftop right in the heart of Melbourne city centre. I was lucky enough to make it to Melbourne before the pandemic really took hold.  The ambiance of the hotel is really neat with the building behind the airstream painted in pink hues and a little patio area for each airstream:

There's a tennis court in the middle and each airstream is pretty comfortable. There's no one on site but you can order food in advance from local restaurants and you can order that your mini fridge be stocked up (though they provide some nice free goodies).

From the rooftop you can see the skyline of Melbourne and one of the airstreams even has it's own hot tub.

I'm definitely going to come back next time I'm in Melbourne...it's such a cool and funky location and fulfilled all my vintage airstream trailer fantasies :)

I paired this dress with a me-made jacket I made from a 1940 McCall pattern (check out the blog post here). 

Overall, the instructions on the Sewaholic patterns are impeccable and this dress didn't require any major fitting alterations. Though I do notice that the front bodice gapes ever so slightly, so in future iterations I will probably just take some width out of the bodice top front. I love that the pattern includes instructions for lining the bodice...it makes it look really pretty on the inside too.

I'll definitely have to try the pencil skirt version at some point as well. It's such a flattering design.

So I'm curious if there are any unique or unusual hotels/accommodation that are on your travel bucket list (for when we get to travel again....)...I like to dream of new locations and would love to hear where you really want to go and stay!

McCall 3823: The Perfect Staple Dress

I'm absolutely in love with the design of this dress. And the plain navy fabric means this will be a staple in my 1940s wardrobe.

This dress was made using McCall 3823, a pattern from the year 1940. I made an exact copy of view B on the pattern envelope in navy blue.

The dress features a lovely shaped neckline (almost a heart shape but a small one) and a button down bodice. Both the bodice and the skirt are pleated to match each other. This dress has 3/4 length sleeves --or bracelet sleeves as the pattern calls them.

I made this dress from a very lightweight wool that I picked up on holiday in Florence many moons ago. It's so lightweight that it's silky and buttery smooth and a dream to work with. 

The fabric held the pleats beautifully. I first pinned down the bodice pleats and sewed them.

The back has pleats as well and I just love having a plain yoke and then having the pleats. The skirt matches this design as the top part of the skirt is smooth and then it goes into an inset skirt piece with the pleats.

Here is the bodice top coming together:

Sewing the yoke to the pleated section using a lapped seam takes some slow sewing but the fabric helped immensely as it was easy to iron in place prior to sewing:

Yay!!! I paired the dress with some light pink details -- a small light pink belt, vintage navy gloves with little light pink flowers on them and some light pink/nude1940s style shoes from Bait Footwear.

We took these photos in Falkland,-- a small village in the Kingdom of Fife area of Scotland. Some of you may recall that when I first moved to Scotland, I lived for a short time in this picturesque village.

It was so lovely being back. This village is such a gem. It has some incredibly nature walks, a historic palace, cobblestone streets and a proper village square and lots of little nooks and crannies that are so beautiful. And it's small--only about 1,200 residents.

The amazing Darja Bilyk and a lovely friend of mine took these photos and I'm so in love with them. She captured the beauty and mystery of Falkland.

I also had my dear friend Ariana from Vanity Thrills style my hair before this shoot--I just love her 1940s styles: 

This is right on the corner where Vintage Quine is--a lovely vintage store in Falkland. 

This is Falkland Palace in the background...where Mary Queen of Scots and her parents would come for their summer holidays:

Yay! I can't wait to try different ways of styling this dress. 

I might also make another version in a lighter colour so that the details really stand out. What colour do you think I should make?