A dress out of this world!

I know this isn't really children related but I love my doctor Who dress and feel compelled to share.  :)

Ta Da

 I really love the rockabilly swing dress kind of style and when I found this Doctor Who material I was determined to make it into my very first homemade dress.

There is a really good pattern for beginners on BurdaStyle but I decided to make my own pattern. My favourite dress is my cherry print dress which has a perfect comftable fit so I used this as a guide.

To make a pattern I traced the shapes of each section on the bodice of my dress and added an extra cm for seams. I left out the zip at the front and the back of the dress. Instead I made a elasticated back.
I am a complete novice and have only just taught myself how to use the sewing machine so I made a mock version first using a old duvet cover. Once this was right I drew my pattern on the lining and the Doctor Who material, cut each panel and stitched them together.

front and side panels

panels stitched together

I forgot to take pictures during this project so I dont have any pictures of the back panel. The back panel was simply a rectangular panel with 4 pieces of elastic the length of the material when  fully stretched threaded into pockets sewn along the material. To finish the bodice I used black material to trim the top.

I then attached the skirt. I made this a full circle skirt and attached a frill I made with black material and lace

Cardboard Dalek

I try to teach my children about helping the environment and recycling on a daily basis. My children help sort out what things we can reuse or throw into the recycle bin.

On this particular occasion we had just bought bedroom furniture which was packed in lots of cardboard. After pondering for a few moments on what we could possibly do with it I decided it would be pretty awesome to make a cardboard Dalek.

Recycle! Recycle!