Hoppo Bumpo (n): A children's game. Played by folding one's arms and hopping on one leg. Aim is to bump opponents, so that they lose their balance. Last person standing wins.


December 20, 2009

Empire dress



0300 hours Saturday 12 December: Hoppo Bumpo secretly tries on the period costume - a Regency-era empire gown - in the dead of night. Completed only moments earlier, its to be delivered to its new owner in just 4½ hours.

She puts the memory of sewing the dress three times (two toiles and a final garment); a complicated bodice alteration to increase the bust by 4 cup sizes; slippery satin fabric; the hand-dyed lace incident and other craftsasters behind her .... and smiles.

Its the first dress she has made. And it has been, she thinks, just like hitting her head against a wall: fabulous when it stopped.

Folkwear #215 Empire Dress
In all seriousness though, the pattern itself was very good. I would cheerfully make this again ... so long as no complicated alterations were needed! I wouldn't hesitate to sew anything from Folkwear again. You can find my review of #215 over at PatternReview.com

11 comments:

  1. Looks lovely! Would love to see more of it :)

    Glad to know you like those patterns. I ponder buying one, but am a novice and hesitate to spend so much money on a pattern, plus materials, in case the pattern overwhelms when I take it out of the envelope and I end up shoving everything in a drawer and trying to forget about it. Having read your review, I will now revisit the pattern website...thanks!

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  2. Well done! Hope to see a full-length photo of the dress later :)

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  3. ooh looks great! well done on finishing it :D

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  4. Hurray for finishing it it!! But I want to see all of it! The little bit looks amazing.

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  5. Congratulations! What a fantastic achievement!! The small peek you've given us looks lovely.

    Thanks for taking us on the Empire Dress Journey - for those of us who are notorious for starting things and giving up when it all gets too hard: this is motivation to keep on keeping on, even if a project is put into solitary confinement for a little while to maintain a semblance of sanity!

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  6. Fabulous! I'm going to try this - I'm re-reading P&P at present and want a Regency dress!

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  7. Well done!!
    I sooooo would have given up by now. You're a champ!

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  8. OMG, that is great, seriously gorgeous, I need one. Thanks Liesl, you are on fire!!
    P.S. assembly line of shower caps going on at my place...I have been dreaming of them...sad really.
    But seriously thanks again for your tute!!
    Have a Merry Merry Christmas!
    Cheers!
    Chele xxx

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  9. Looks great and I love the lace too, very feminine and sweet, even if it was a pain to get to that point! Big craft pats on the back for you! :)

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  10. Thank you for your lovely comments. It was a great relief to finish it! Unfortunately, at the the moment I don't have a full length photo, but I will try and get one.

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  11. Oh, congrats on finishing it! I know the sweat and tears that went into it and I daresay there is even some blood there...but I am sure that they will all come out in the wash- it looks fabulous!

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