Its almost Melbourne Cup time!

Sorry for my absence just recently - I haven't been well.  And while I'm not fully better, I have a dress to sew for Melbourne Cup Day and I need to get on with it!

First up, a bit of information about Melbourne Cup day for those of you who aren't Aussies.

Melbourne Cup is a horse race that takes place in Melbourne, Australia on the first Tuesday of November, and has done since 1861.  Its known as the 'race that stops a nation' because that is quite literally what happens.  Everyone is glued to the TV (if they can get to one) or the radio if thats the best they can do, for a few minutes at 3pm to see if the horse they backed, or the horse they drew in the office sweep, comes in first place.

Its also a huge day in fashions on the field.  Beautiful dresses, amazing hats, shoes, bags... sigh!

Pretty much every restaurant and club worth its salt has a Melbourne Cup function where you can get dressed up and enjoy a long boozy lunch, a fashion parade or two, and watch the race.  But I always try and go somewhere where horses are running, so always end up at a race track somewhere with a whole bunch of friends, and we party on into the night.  One day I'd like to actually go to Melbourne for the Cup...

But there is a downside - and it involves a warm day, sunshine, too little food, and too much alcohol

Being a lady, I have rules about this sort of thing...

Its almost the start of the party season in Australia, and its often said that white collar businesses start winding down after Melbourne Cup day, and don't fully get their acts together again until after Australia Day (26th of January).

Right!  That brings me to my outfit.  This year I decided to make something instead of buying it, and of course its going to be over-the-top.  But given that I haven't been well and I'm running out of time, I've had to put the shirtwaister dress to one side to make sure I get this project done.

If you follow my facebook page you may well have seen me post a picture of a piece of fabric.  I was trying to work out if everybody thought my idea was a good one, or if it was just too over-the-top.  The fabric was this fabulous border print with ponies on it!!!

Isn't it fabulous!

Please excuse its wrinkles - I prewashed it and haven't ironed it yet...

The response was overwhelmingly positive, so I bought it!  Now, I would love to have made a beautiful full skirt from this fabric, there just isn't enough of it - boo!  So I'm making a wiggle dress instead.  Today I went out to get fabric for the bodice of the dress, and while I was there I found a great pattern to use.

I couldn't get an exact match for the bodice, so I went with one a few shades darker

I'm going for the sleeveless version (bottom right)

I know its not a vintage pattern, but its a classic waisted wiggle dress shape.  And I was able to buy my size, and this pattern comes with different pattern pieces for different cup sizes, so I eliminated a lot of work straight up.

So now I'm excited to get started - but I need a lie down first...

Beccie
xxx