Pink snake

When I saw this piece of fabric in the op-shop I had no idea what to make with it but I bought it anyway. It is slightly stretchy satin in snake skin print and it is PINK (I love pink!) At some stage I wanted to use it to line a jacket but changed my mind before cutting anything. A few weeks ago I went to my stash hoping to find a match for top 115 from Burda 6/2014 and decided to give it a go.

The results are ok. Not great, not amazing but ok. I made no changes to the pattern. It is a very easy make and it doesn't  take long - perfect instant gratification project. I should have used different fabric though...  I'll definitely make it again but in thinner and drapier fabric - it will look better. I will probably add 1-2 cm to the back piece as the back is a bit wrinkly. On the other hand it might be just the photo/pose thing. I was struggling with taking photos using timer and fighting with battery that was almost flat. Probably pulling it down on the back would solve the problem - I should have looked in the mirror first ;) Anyway here it is:

Everyday dresses

I'm not sure if those dresses are good enough for the first post here but on the other hand they are also the most worn items I made myself. Dress 106 from Burda 5/2014 is very simple - 3 pattern pieces, 4 elements to put together. It takes about an hour to make this dress - unless you cut your pieces in wrong way and have to re-cut them ;)

First dress is made of cotton jersey bought in Spotlight - I fell in love with navy and pink peacock-like pattern. I originally bought it for some kind of wrap dress but changed my mind. The cleavage in this dress is very wide and deep - i took at least 6 cm off the width of the front piece and it is still not right. It also tends to move a bit exposing bra straps. I kept the original length of the dress - it is longer on my then on the model in the magazine but I prefer that length.

Photos are not amazing, I know. I had to take them myself and most of them ended blurry and terrible. Next time I will just wait for my partner to play a photographer ;)

My second dress is made of some sort of stretchy double-layered fabric bought during The Fabric Warehouse sale. It is so soft and nice in touch that I couldn't say no to it. I omitted gathering on the main front piece this time and cut out a wedge to make the cleavage more shallow. I also made this dress shorter and some days I think it's a bit too short. The length of the sleeves is due to my silly mistake - I cut out the first piece in a way that it stretched lengthwise not widthwise... I didn't want to waste the fabric so I cut the sleeves out of that piece.

The true color is shown on the photo above but this one shows the texture of the fabric better. It has lacy top layer and knit bottom one. I used french seams to make this dress - it was my first time doing it and it wasn't the best decision as this fabric is not thin enough for that. Anyway, I learnt something new making that one :)

And here are my dresses just hanging out :)

Hello

Let me introduce myself: my name is Marta and this is my first post on my new blog! There are some things you should know about me:

• I'm Polish and I moved to Wellington, New Zealand a few years ago. Never regretted my decision!
• English is my second language so I expect there will be some spelling or grammar errors (hopefully not too many!)
• I've been blogging in Polish for about 2 years now. At first about scrapbooking and making cards and then about jewelry. 
• I don't like bilingual blog posts and I lack the skills to create button that changes the language of the entire blog, hence I thought about starting this one
• In 2013 I received a sewing machine for my birthday- one of the best gifts ever! My baby is Janome DC 2050 
• I don't have much experience sewing, I'm self learner but so far I've made several wearable clothes I'm happy about. 
• One of the reasons I want to make my own clothes is my body shape - RTW clothes rarely fit me properly. I always thought there was something wrong with me but some time ago I realized the problem lies in the clothes!
• Why Silly Billy Sewing? Despite Urban Dictionary' definition I am not a mountain goat with down syndrome (WTF?!) It's just what my better other half is often calling me and it seem like a good name for a blog.

I think I've got basics covered. Thanks for visiting!