I’m incredibly late to the party by posting about The Uniform Project, but it deserves to have a lot of attention drawn to it.

Uniform Project Picture Book from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.

On May 1st 2009, Sheena Matheiken pledged to wear one dress for 365 days in aid of the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots charity which raises money to fund the education of children who cannot afford it. This ended on April 31st, 2010 and you can see a compilation of Sheena’s outfits in the video above. Sheena raised a whopping $104,263, which amounts to 289 kids in school! Go Sheena!

Ali over at Wardrobe Reimagined wrote a post the other day about how the Internet has aided her sewing (check it out!) and reminded me of this wonderful campaign. Not only does it have an amazing aim, but it’s also an interesting exercise in sustainability. The outfits that Sheena came up with over the course of 365 are creative and unique, and all include that one little black dress.

The dress itself was designed by Eliza Starbuck as a versatile piece that can be worn backwards or forwards, thus lending itself to endless interpretations. On June 29th, the dress itself was made available to buy – but they didn’t stop there. Not only can you buy a ready-made Uniform Project dress, you can also buy the pattern and the fabric to make your very own LBD! Better still, 10% of the sales go directly to Akansha.

With Self-Stitched September just over a month away, I thought that this could be an interesting project to undertake in preparation, particularly as I just got a job where the uniform is anything that is black or white! Not to mention that such a versatile item would be so very useful when September rolls around!

I’m sure I’m not the only one interested in making my own Uniform Project LBD…

So readers, I ask you : who would be game for a Uniform Project Sewalong? I’m thinking sometime towards the end of August, so that those of us participating in the Summer Essentials sewalong (incidentally, I just completed project number 4… I’m really behind on photographing my items!) can wrap that up and have a dress ready for Self-Stitched September! EDIT: After a bit of a rethink, September is probably more likely for this one!

My plan as it stands is to purchase the pattern and then source my own fabric – while $50 is (in my opinion) pretty reasonable for pattern and fabric, I can’t quite afford the shipping for the fabric as well. I just checked, and it seems the pattern and fabric option is currently sold out, so I’ll have to source my own fabric anyway! My plan at any rate is to donate 10% of the amount my fabric comes to directly to Akansha.

So who’s with me?

I’m currently translating the instructions of this top from Burda Mag’s 02/10 issue, listening to trashy German music as I go, dealing with both my German and sewing needs in one fell swoop!

Multi-tasking at its best, or a sad way to spend a Monday evening? Who cares? What’s your best multi-tasking moment?

Is that my dress on the front page of BurdaStyle? IT IS??

AWESOME.

Needless to say, I’m super excited – this is the first time I’ve ever been featured on BurdaStyle’s front page!

Despite the lack of posting of late, I’m still alive! My computer died (AGAIN) so it’s been a little difficult to get things written when you’re using the family computer.

I have completed my second Essentials item and embarking on my third, so keep your eyes peeled for photos of those babies. In the meantime, why not check out these beauties from the Summer Essentials Flickr group?

I love Angie from Sew I Thought’s take on these Summer shorts created from a vintage trouser pattern – the scalloped hem is what makes this piece really unique!

Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons has whipped up what may be my favourite rendition of Collette Patterns’ Beignet skirt to date. She’s clearly got quite the eye for colour, I would never have thought to pair up the bright blue of the denim with the amber-yellow buttons and belt.

I love this skirt from Ali over at Wardrobe Reimagined. Block colour skirts are so handy to have (I should take note, I get swept away by pretty patterns far too often) and this one is a knockout!

Last but certainly not least is Sølvi at Delfinelise with this stunning rendition of another Colette Patterns favourite, Ceylon. The combination of the peachy coloured fabric and the black piping make for one dress that just oozes chic, charm and style!

Be sure to head on over to the Summer Essentials’ Sewalong Flickr Group and check out what the participants have to offer!

Let me tell you : toddling around Ogmore Castle in those heels is no laughing matter… well, it is if you’re watching me do it but that’s beside the point…

This was the last ever project to come from good old Viktoria the German sewing machine! This year at the Summer Ball I wanted to make sure I made my dress myself. I knew that I wanted it to be based from a vintage pattern, but I was pretty fussy on  what I wanted. Every day I kept changing my mind! In the end, I settled on the Butterick reissue 4792:

But alas! Monetary difficulties struck! My last month in Germany was pretty tight on the cash front, so I turned to my stash for help… and most certainly didn’t have enough for the full skirt on the original. So I opted to add a different skirt from this vintage pattern (which I bought from the wonderful ZipZapKap)

There were a few hairy moments along the way where I thought that there was no way I was going to get this to work. Like, argh the bodice looks awful! And eek should I have gone for View no. 2? But in the end it came together.

The neckline on this dress is so awesome, I may have to co-opt it into some sort of blouse version for everyday wear. I also made a belt with a fun belt buckle found on Etsy!

The leopard print heels I wore were so epic that I just had to get a matching umbrella, which naturally was used due to the menacing Swansea rain clouds!

The first two photos are by the wonderful Martha!

Hurrah! After much technical difficulties the photos are here! As I mentioned way back, my first Summer Essentials project was Simplicity 2591 in a velvet flocked fabric.

Shortly after finishing this dress, myself and my lovely friends Martha and Cora went to Ogmore Castle to do a mini-photoshoot! It was such fun. Countless ANTM jokes were made on my part (“SMIZE CORA SMIZE!”) as well as jokes about changing in the open air (“NOBODY LOOK AT LENNAAAARD!!”), so needless to say my tummy was aching somewhat from all the giggles!

It was an interesting experience actually having my clothes photographed properly. Before now, I’ve gone the whole self timer route before using my dearly departed Sally as a model, so I’ve always envied those who either have one of those fun remote things on their cameras or a willing volunteer to take their photos for them! Furthermore, clothes come alive when they’re on people. They’re meant to be worn, they’re meant to be loved, they’re meant to be used! I particularly enjoyed seeing Cora wear the dress as she climbed all over Ogmore Castle! She also looked pretty damn awesome in the dress.

As for the pattern itself; it was a dream to put together. I initially cut it out in a Size 14 but found  upon initially basting it together that a 12 was a far better fit! The way in which the dress is pieced together – with the outside pocket parts forming a part of the bust – really pleases me, I love the way that it hangs. And the pockets! Oh the pockets! I used some scrap cotton as the pocket lining – a tip I picked up from Zoe. It’s also the feature which has been commented on the most; people think that it adds a certain charm to the dress because it kind of peeks out sometimes when you’re sat down in it.

I’m really really proud of how I did with the zipper this time!

So enough about the dress, and more about the fabulous photos by Martha and the fabulous model that is Cora! Here are some others from the shoot :

Fun fact : I can fly!

Sadly I didn’t make the red dress Cora is wearing or the one I’m wearing in the flying (FLYING I TELL YOU) picture, but I’m planning on taking a fair few of my handmade clothes next time so we can catch them in action! I also hope Martha creates a website soon; so go on readers, tell her how lovely the photos are and how we want to see more!

Here’s a photo of the dress on its first ever outing, as I marvel at some gorgeous fabric. Clearly made a mistake not snapping that beauty up!

So with all that, obviously there hasn’t been much room for sewing, but never fear! I’m still going ahead with the planned Summer Essentials Sew Along!

So, project number 1 on my incredibly vague list was described as ‘a cute cap sleeved dress’. In fact, this is a project that has been on my list for a while, so I’ve had the pattern and the fabric ready for some time now.

Truthfully, if I hadn’t had this fabric picked out for a few months now, I probably would have chosen something floral (there’s a surprise) and lighter in weight to make it more of a Summer item. However, I do think that this will be a dress that’ll suit a British Summer well – for every sweltering day we enjoy, there will always be those windy/rainy/not so sunny days that we spend ages complaining about! So why not brighten up such days with a pretty dress? Not to mention that this will be a good dress for those late September days.

Speaking of September, I forgot to post something last time round :

‘I, Len of Can’t Say Strawberry sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavour to wear only handmade and refashioned items of clothing every day for the duration of September 2010′.

Eep! I may have to change my pledge if I don’t get enough sewing done this Summer, but for now I’ll remain optimistic. The only concern I have at this moment in time is how exercising will ruin my pledge… I think I could whip up some simple vest tops and the like for running and that, but I certainly don’t have enough time to whip up a gi (what I wear to Karate and Jiu Jitsu). Any other pledgers having trouble on that front?

Last but not least, I did promise I’d show you what I made for the Summer Ball… well, I don’t have enough photos just yet, but here’s an ‘in-action’ shot to whet your appetite…

So, like my fellow Brit bloggers Tilly and Zoe, I’m planning on participating in the Summer Essentials Sew Along organised by the talented Ali. Here’s the challenge:

"…the Summer Essentials Sew-Along asks participants to sew five(-ish) warm-weather friendly pieces by August(-ish), ‘cause wouldn’t you rather spend August looking fabulous in your homemade threads? The goal: Stock your closet with quality summer basics. The benefit: A group of sewers who will encourage and inspire you…"

Sounds good to me! As I’m heading to Swansea this week and still need to pack (argh!) here’s a really really vague list of what I’m planning to do :

• A cute cap sleeved dress.
• Some sort of skirt.
• Shorts, probably the Ruby pattern from BurdaStyle.
• Some sort of loose jersey top – batwing or cowl neck or something… (I told you it would be a very vague list!)
• Either a loose cardigan of some sort or… a very ambitious warm weather suitable blazer!

Clearly these are all subject to change when I have time to sit down and think through my pattern and fabric stash as money is quite low here! This is a very timely challenge as I’m planning on participating in Self-Stitched-September and it would be nice to have five extra items to add to my self-sewn wardrobe!

I haven’t been completely inactive these past few weeks however – good old Viktoria’s last project was my Swansea Summer Ball dress, which I’ll do a post when I have lovely photos of it in action!

Both are sewing related of course. I may not have found a martial arts club to satisfy me this year, but I’ve certainly found enough in the sewing world to whet my appetite. It’s not only my German that has come along in leaps and bounds these past nine months; it’s also my sewing. This is something I’d have thought impossible this time last year when I was hand sewing rectangular skirts in my last few weeks at Swansea.

One of my best purchases this year was Viktoria, my German sewing machine. She’s a Lady don’t you know! We had a few issues along the way, but we got along just fine. Sadly, she’s a heavy old girl, and would have cost a ridiculous amount to ship back home, especially when I have a sewing machine already at home (a Brother, whom I have just decided is called Henri). So I sold her to a lovely girl from my sewing class who will hopefully make many many fabulous things from her.

Secondly, of course there’s Sally the mannequin. I did consider sending her home, but I think I would rather save for a proper mannequin that is actually the same size as I am than send her home. Sadly I don’t know who got Sally, she was sold on eBay, but I hope she’s put to good use!

I can’t imagine my sewing life in Dortmund without them; just as I’m sure I won’t be able to imagine my sewing life without my (currently) nameless serger once I’m back in Wales. So, tell me readers; is there anything you can’t imagine living your sewing life without? Or have you ever had to get rid of a beloved machine or mannequin for unavoidable reasons?

I cracked out not one, but two skirts last week! This one’s from the Cynthia Rowley pattern Simplicity 2512. I made it from an impulse-purchase red gabardine (see, you can tell I didn’t get it from the bargain bin because I actually know what kind of fabric it is ) which was pretty much a dream to work with. I was a bit silly and didn’t prewash it though, so I’m worried about how much the colour will stick around when I first wash it… Does anyone have any tips?

I made a few changes to the original pattern – firstly, I didn’t have enough fabric to make the bias binding, so I omitted it and just sewed the two pattern pieces together as you would a normal waistband. It would have turned out better with the bias binding I feel, but it’s still a sweet waistband! I added the black bias tape that I did have as a little bow waistbelt to add some interest that I felt the skirt needed. I could have used this bias tape around the waistband, but that wasn’t really the look I was going for.  Also omitted bias tape on the bottom, and the walking slit in favour of a slipstitched hem. The skirt didn’t really need a walking slit in my opinion.

The zipper is… OK. I’m still learning on that front, and still handpicking my zippers. For my next project I’m planning to do a lapped side zipper, so we’ll see how that goes! I’m sure that with Gertie’s tutelage it’ll work out just fine.

I <3 the pockets. It’s such a nice addition to the pattern, and they kept my hands warm when walking through Dortmund yesterday – why was it so cold??

Decided to do some cheeky French seams as well, how exciting!

The pairing with the checked shirt looks really great on Sally, but I’m not so fond of it on myself. I’m thinking of recycling the shirt, taking it in and changing the neckline and sleeves. What do you guys think?

I’m selling my sewing machine next week, so the next project will be my last on Viktoria! How sad. I shall miss the old girl.

I sewed this skirt to the beat of the Puppini Sisters – amazing band with true vintage style! Check out their cover of Crazy In Love, it’s amazing!