The Late Night Sewist

Hi!

I “owe” you a handful of news again and every time it happens I think about how much work a proper influencer job is, keeping the followers attached and entertained on a daily basis!

My trip to Rome was a few weeks ago already and it was a fun one, starting with the celebration of our 5 year wedding anniversary with my husband and then when he left, I spent a few days more in Rome with my friend. Neither of them had been to Rome, but you might remember that I have been there once before, in 2013.

Therefore we had to plan carefully, not to repeat everything for me, but I still ended visiting the Roman Forum twice during this trip! But it is such a special place that I enjoy it every time and it was great to see that since 2013 there have been some new discoveries, mainly on the site of the House of the Vestal Virgins.

I made a dress for the trip, a sudden idea that occurred to me, after having contemplated what to do with this pretty, slightly retro vibe fabric that I got a couple years ago from Kangalavka, a little fabric shop in Tallinn that brings their selection from Italy. Very fitting for the trip!

The pattern is McCall’ s 6279, view A, without the belt, probably also considered vintage soon as I discovered it in 2019 and it was out of print already then.

I only had 2 m of the main fabric and therefore had to use some leftover fabric from another project for the back yoke lining. Miraculously the weight and characteristics of these two fabrics are very similar, both are cotton with some elastane to provide a little bit of stretch. I lengthened the dress by a few cm (I can’t recall, how many), because it is quite short, but due to the shortage of fabric, decided to create a little facing for the hem, in order to preserve some length. I also made my own bias tape for the armhole finishing.

The dress was very straightforward to make and I cannot recall any issues. I love the details like epaulets and little stand-up collar that were fun to make. In hindsight the only thing I maybe should have done differently is the width of the topstitching – I don’t know why I made it so narrow.

A few more photos.. I used golden metal buttons in two different sizes and I think they are very suitable for the style and the fabric.

Mentioning the buttons.. I realize that almost all of my latest projects involve many buttons and buttonholes. I guess I am not stressed out about them anymore after I got my Juki HZL-f600 two years ago. And that in turn reminds me of my birthday that was just two days before the trip and the anniversary… My husband really spoils me and he got me the Brother CV3550 coverstitch machine for my 39th birthday, had the kids decorate the box, made a cake with them and got me a bunch of roses on top of it all!

We enjoyed our anniversary dinner on top of the Singer Palace hotel in Rome and spent the rest of the days stuffing ourselves with pizza and gelato, doing lots of walking and tried electric bikes for the first time.

Also, because he is who he is, we went to Fratelli Bassetti Tessutti and I almost bought 4 meters of wool and silk blend, but got over myself and ended up with a dressful of black Chanel woolen boucle from Azienda Tessile Romana. A few days later I returned with my equally great friend to score a perfect lilac embroidered cotton.

With my dear friend T. we went to see a ballet show, not expecting anything, but it turned out to be a terrific experience, a real jackpot of the trip. Impossible to describe, but in addition to the performance of the dancers, the costumes really caught our attention and we later found out that they had been specially designed by Dior! You can actually watch the whole thing here on Youtube, but although it is filmed in a very beautiful location, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is a place to visit itself too!

I guess I don’t have to say the obvious, that Rome is high in my books and I know I will return at some point again.

There are a few other things from summer that I would like to show, but I will save these for another post. Happy sewing!