This dress I made for the Las Vegas challenge over at Sew Weekly;  this post was also written for the Sew Weekly community. Feel free to read on, you may get a better understanding as to why my dress looks nothing like a Vegas number…

Ladies you are not going to believe what has happened! My car broke down on route to Vegas. Yup! and for my Vegas road trip only, I made this lovely floaty number -The Anouk by Victory Patterns to travel in, stylish and comfortable; I had plans to meet you all in my corseted showgirl ensemble laced with ostrich feathers, hand beading, the whole kit and caboodle on the night but by the time I arrived I was told you had all left to get back to the Sew Weekly HQ to concentrate on the next challenge. I was deflated. The road trip just to get to Vegas went something like this…

I managed to hitch a ride to the nearest diner but as you can see, there was not a soul in site, for 2 hours I sat about in 40 degree heat, the fabric choice— I so wisely made the dress from, kept me cool during the hottest part of the day. I admired the dress in the reflection of the cracked window as I walked about to find the coolest spot to rest. I wondered if the dress would look nice at a shorter length, I guess this can certainly be an option if I ever got bored with it. I started humming the chorus to Viva Las Vegas to take my mind off my current situation when I heard a buzzing from the distance…

I had to look twice, it was Raoul Duke & Dr. Gonzo from THAT movie ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ I knew I was in for the ride of my life. Raoul was all wild-eyed, he spoke very quickly and moved fast, he spun his head around almost jumping me, [yum] and commented on the placket of my Anouk dress zoning in on the detail, he blurted “nice work on the Anouk placket those colours are a trip man”. I told him how I was unsure about my colour choices and that the placket reminded me of my brothers scout uniform from when he was a wee lad. He just nodded and drifted off in his confused state. I asked them if they were thinking of stopping by the Joshua Tree National Park. Raoul said “with a dress like that, hell yeah!”

Raoul snapped this photo of me with the Joshua Tree, one to show the kids don’t you think?  at this stage I remember being really pleased with the construction of the dress the Victory Pattern and the instructions were a dream to work with; next time I’ll work with different fabrics and colours these I know, are a required taste. I blend in nicely with the scenery though.

Time whisked by and before I knew it I was standing on a cliff face with Gram Parsons and Keith Richards. Everything turned sepia for some reason and I found myself admiring the drape on my kimono sleeve rather fondly.

I stumbled into Vegas a day late looking all dazed and confused totally clashing with the scenery, I should be in some sort of fifties vintage number pulled from the retro section of Vogue Patterns with my hair in pincurls hiding behind cateye glasses, my lips smeared in red. What a mess I got myself into. My holiday to Vegas was a trip, it’s a damn shame I didn’t get to show you the Showgirl dress ;0)

Ooh Las Vegas by Gram Parsons