Once again it’s been ages since I updated my blog, and once again I have a number of finished garments that need to be blogged!  It’s been a weird old time here in Victoria.  We’re now up to 53 days without a locally acquired covid-19 case, and we’re nervously watching a recent outbreak interstate.  School has finished for both Clare and Stella, I’ve just finished work for the year, and Christmas is nearly upon us.  Coming out of lockdown has been really strange.  It’s been great, but it hasn’t been easy.  So much congitive dissonance and conflicting emotion.  I’m also thinking of those of you in places around the world where the covid-19 situation is much more dire than it is here.  There really aren’t adequate words to describe 2020.  So I’ll move on to telling you about Clare’s graduation dress.

At Clare’s school there is usually a graduation mass and assembly, with families in attendance, where awards etc are handed out. There is usually also a Valedictory dinner, that parents and staff also attend. Because of covid-19 restrictions this year’s events were smooshed into one graduation ceremony held after VCE exams were finished. Only year 12 students and their teachers could attend in person, but family could watch on a live stream link. Although I completely understand why things had to be that way (and have been supportive of the need for restrictions throughout), as a parent who really enjoys celebrating in community, not being able to attend Clare’s graduation really sucked. However, it was great that the cohort got to graduate together at all. Another bittersweet story like a million others from 2020.

So although I couldn’t see her graduate, I could sew something for her to graduate in! I actually sewed two different options; the other was an embroidered net lace dress with an underslip. I’m sure it will be worn for another occasion. The dress she chose to wear is a variation on Lekala 4140.

The fabric is from The Cloth Shop, Ivanhoe, and was the last of the bolt.  I just couldn’t resist the colours and print!  I had spotted the fabric made up into a stunning frocktails dress by @happylat, and thought that it could be also perfect for Clare.

I can’t remember what type of fabric this was! It’s quite stiff and structured, and I suspect that the fibre content is mostly artificial, which allows for that beautiful print to be so perfect. Clare and I looked at quite a few pattern options before deciding that Lekala was probably what we were after. We find that for fitted garments, it really helps to have a pattern printed to your measurements. We just used the bodice part of the dress pattern, and I faffed around for ages with the skirt to get the deep pleats even.

The dress is fully lined in mint green silk that was surplus to requirements when I sewed Clare’s formal dress last year. This of course made it feel lovely next to the skin. Lekala’s instructions are more of a vague guideline, and you definitely need to have some sewing experience to use their patterns effectively. I had to do a little bit of fiddling and tweaking to get the bodice sitting nicely, but it really wasn’t far off fitting nicely even without that.

I sewed the skirt and skirt lining separately, leaving part of one side seam open for an invisible zip, then put them wrong sides together and treated them as one for the pleating. I basically did the pleating by quarter marking the skirt and the bodice, then pleating, pinning, measuring, checking, unpinning, pleating, pinning, measuring, checking, etc etc etc. Once it was all even, I sewed it to the bodice. This means that the bodice/skirt waist seam allowance isn’t completely hidden, unlike most of the other seam allowances in this dress which are covered by the lining. However, it’s what seemed to work best.

Of course, I also sewed a matching clutch. I figured she’d need something for her phone/some cash/tissues/lipstick/hanky. And because it’s 2020, I also made a matching mask (masks were worn throughout the graduation ceremony, other than when speaking).

The clutch is the ubiquitous Ida clutch. I did a much better job of this one than the first one that I made – practice always helps!

There’s not a great deal more to say about this dress, other than I loved it on her and she seemed to love it too!

So that’s it for school for Clare – now she’s just waiting for her final results (released on 30th December) and university offers. She’d like to do either Arts at Melbourne Uni, or Humanities at La Trobe (she’s already got an offer from them) so is feeling pretty good about the thought of going to university next year. In the meantime she’s sleeping in until midday, looking for a casual/part-time job, going to parties and on outings with her friends, watching plenty of Netflix and YouTube, and doing the odd shift at Vinnies. It’s great that she finally gets the chance to do some fun things now that the Melbourne lockdown is over and that it’s safe to do so. Fingers crossed that it stays that way. I’ll finish off with more photos of Clare in her dress!