Dress Parade {Holiday Part 2}
06 December 2010 | by Jen in Sewing
I meant to post this sooner but last week just flew by and then this weekend – eek! Worked late Friday night, cleaned all day Saturday and Sunday was spent doing shop stuff which is fun but a lot of work all the same. Which reminds me – I’ve sold out of Silhouette Holiday cards for this year! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. Now I wish I had ordered more, I hate to turn away lovely customers. I’ll plan to issue more holiday cards for next season.
Anyway, on to the fun stuff: this dress! Don’t you LOVE the color? The picture doesn’t do it justice, the color is so vibrant and rich. Overall I’m really happy with it. After years of sewing for myself I now seem to be getting the hang of choosing the right fabric and pattern combinations to make something I’d actually wear in public.
Before I forget, some outfit notes in case you’re wondering:
- Merino ribbed cardi: Banana Republic (probably from 10 years ago!)
- Butterfly brooch: Mama’s Little Babies
- Handbag: vintage (my favorite cozy weather bag)
- Tights: Hansel from Basel (Finally, I was able to afford these because they were on sale. I spied them on the lovely Lost in the Forest blog [April's outfits are hugely inspiring and full of personality and fable]).
- Shoes: Operetta by Fluevog (They’ve had this style for years and years. These were my “I’ll eat rice for a month so I can buy them” basic black heels.)
I actually wore this outfit the other night when husband and I went out for dinner. The cardigan is a little snug for this loose 1920s style but I think it works for the most part. I like the black with the green regardless.
This photo (above) probably best represents the color. The silk georgette was pretty easy to sew, surprisingly, but not very fun to cut. So very slippery. I’m sure if you were to lay the pattern pieces on what I cut out, they’d be way off. Oh well. Here is the pattern, Butterick #1223:
It’s a junior’s or girls’ dress. These styles don’t have much shaping anyway so the fit was mostly good. I followed the pattern except for the capelet. I like the idea of a capelet but I wanted something less dramatic and created the ruffle from the same pattern piece. At first I thought it might look clownish but it really works with the cardigan. I also didn’t follow the directions exactly where it came to putting the front and back together; I couldn’t understand the instructions and winged it.
Oh and I did tweak the keyhole a bit too. Initially it was just a slit that was to be covered up by the capelet but I rounded it out and extended it, to make it more like a regular keyhole. I don’t know if it was this change or the pattern itself but there was a lot of weird blouseyness in the bust. So I had to pick out the keyhole and gather the fabric, hoping that would solve ugly blouseyness and that I didn’t totally destroy the dress.
Lastly, here are the dozens of tucks along the front with the scalloped edge. This was the best I could do with pressing, perhaps I need to use a cloth and try again. I was afraid to get those shine marks but ironing too much.
The fabric is dark but very sheer as you can see and while I don’t have a green slip to make (and am too lazy to line my dresses properly) a little black slip did the trick! And I didn’t freeze while wearing this wisp of a thing with the woolly layers. Basically I’m stocked up on thick black tights and cardigans so I plan to wear more little dresses this winter.
I hope you enjoyed this dress parade – Happy Monday!
What are your thoughts, dears? | ♥ 15 Comments
This is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! Everything about it. Such stunning details. (Love the tights too!)
Gorgeous dress! The color is beautiful!
Oh my goodness. This dress is beyond gorgeous–I just love it! Those 20s styles are so darling and I envy that you can wear them and look so adorable.
I really love the fabric that you choose too–a perfect match!
Btw: in regards to cutting tricky, slippery fabrics, did you see Sarai’s tip about using a spray stabilizer? http://www.colettepatterns.com/blog/tutorials-tips-tricks/sullivans-spray-stabilizer I’m planning on using this tip whenever I need to cut something slippery!
♥ Casey | blog
Lovely! I also need to find more jewel tones like that one. Regarding that pattern, don’t you wonder what zephyrs and radium fabrics felt like?
By the way, I sent you some more zigzag quilt ideas via Flickr. If in the Spring you want to do a quilt-a-long I might be up for it.
The dress is really lovely. I really like the color and this style looks nice on you.
By the way what type of fabric did you use for this?
Thanks for the tip, Casey! I’ll definitely try that next time.
Nancy, it’s silk georgette. I don’t remember where I got it from but it’s fairly easy to find.
Love it! I always wished I could wear those drop-waist dresses, but as time goes by it becomes a worse and worse idea
It’s just such a pretty and classic look.
Hello, I found your lovely dress on BurdaStyle and came here. Happy to find out your blog;) I love vintage style!
I adore the beautiful dress you made – exactly something I would wear! Thanks so very much for mentioning Mountain Lake Brooch from the shop – I think it looks lovely with the dress and cardi. xoxo
This is so perfectly dreamy!!
And it looks super sweet with that cardigan and those adorable stockings!! Sigh….swoon, indeedy!! I really admire your amazing skills in sewing silk georgette…I’ve attempted this only once (without the lovely results you had) and it nearly drove me mad!! tee hee 
Jen that dress is so adorable!! The little illustrations are quite charming aren’t they. I think you did a great job, and I also love the color.
How pretty! You did a great job with the silk georgette – it can be difficult to work with.
It’s wonderful to see vintage and antique patterns still being loved decades later – it brings fashion history to life.
xo!
Everything about this outfit is perfect. And I love those tights!
Your whole outfit is just adorable. I was looking for some sewing tips on getting creative with silk georgette. It looks to me as though you have down a brilliant job with you silk georgette – all those little tucks and a frill/ruffle too. Well done! Like others, I too love your socks/tights. As a a matter of fact, to me, your outfit is picture perfect. Keep up the creativity and your sharing your creative projects.
Hi Valda,
How sweet of you to say–thank you! Good luck with your georgette and thanks for stopping by!