A good cause and some odd fabric

manson dress in progress

I’m sure, by now you must have heard about Karen’s (Didyoumakethat) Made Up Initiative, a brilliant scheme to fundraise for the National Literacy Trust. And by the looks of it, heaps of you have signed up already: 114 donations to date and £1,224 so far.

As much as I’d like to partake, sewing challenges, blog hops and other sewing teasers don’t get much of a presence on my pages, mostly because of time restraints but also because I just like to do my own thing in my own time. I’ve got deadlines coming out of my ears on a daily basis and to self-inflict any more would be ridic!

But, and this is a big BUT for sure… this challenge is different. It relates to a industry where I am strongly connected and brings both work and personal pleasures together. I can’t bear the thought that children be deprived of such a basic life skill especially in this country. Access to books and help with reading should be a given, not just for the privileged. The National Literacy Trust helps to make this happen, all the while inspiring and motivating children to read for enjoyment by engaging them in fun and exciting workshops.

So what have I pledged? It’s an odd one. Not one of my run of the mill vintage makes, not a boring pencil skirt for sure; no quilt block (even though the last one I made was in January!), no funny hats and I need a little recovery time from the Boer War jacket already…

It’s a new dress for me to wear to a Marylin Manson gig coming up in November! And there’s a few birds being killed with this Made Up stone!

I’m working with this very odd fabric. It’s a hundred percent synthetic, don’t you know. With a bit of elastine thrown in for good measure. Kind of pleated with splashes of silver paint thrown all over it. No prissy prints for Marylin, oh no! I found it in A-One Fabrics at least four or five months ago and have always wondered what I could do with it. Little Miss O has presented me ‘that’ screwed up face and steered me with a ‘walk away from the goth fabric’ grab of the arm each and every time. But I literally went running back to the shop when I found this damned good reason for it.

The pattern? Drum roll… It’s a Burda pattern at long bleedin’ last. From Burda Style March 2015. I’ve been longing to work with another Burda pattern. The only draw back is the pain of tracing the wretched thing but when I think about it, I trace to preserve most of my vintage ones, so it’s no different really. If you can get over the spaghetti junction of other lines set to confuse you!

It will look kinda like this but with no sleeves…

burda maxidress 03 2015

I’ve made a wee start. And already realised that I’d overlooked the pain in the backside bit which is the matching of the ribbons. This is the back centre seam. Not done very well!

centre back seam

I hope to make some headway today. It looks like a doddle but I’m not going to count my chickens just yet!

Has the Made Up Initiative inspired you to make something new?

10 Replies to “A good cause and some odd fabric”

    1. Thanks hun. It’s the polar opposite of quality but I’m hoping the effect will be spot on. It does look bleached here. More silver in real life x

  1. That fabric looks amazing – and your dress is going to look super cool. I reckon the fabric will distract everyone from any small misalignments with the stripes, so I don’t think you need to sweat the matching too much – I know it’s hard not to though!

    The Made Up initiative sounds like a terrific cause and I thought seriously about making my own pledge, but I think I should instead take the opportunity to contribute to raising literacy standards closer to home. So far I’m thinking of the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (www.alnf.org) – but I have no idea what I’ll make.

    1. Thanks Gabrielle. It was indeed distracting enough not to even need a hem, let alone worry about misalignments. Although I did make sure to line up the back centre seam. Good luck with whatever you make next. Always too much choice, never enough time!! 🙂

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