Tuesday 18 March 2014

My new favourite dress!

In my unsuccessful search for Navy Windproof Fleece fabric I found something else completely...


Funny how that can happen, isn't it? This large amount of gorgeously soft and perfectly brown on brown fabric just had to come home with me.

But what to do with it? It was begging to made into something my size and I spent a fair bit of time surfing the net for pattern inspiration before I decided to go with what I had to hand. Not that I had any dress patterns suitable for knit fabric, but that wasn't going to stop me.

I did have this pattern (as yet untouched) Simplicity 2209: Lisette Passport Jacket and Dress:


But I wanted sleeves, so how about some pattern mashing using this pattern Simplicity 1878 Lisette Diplomat Dress


Passport.... Diplomat... This was obviously going to work. (no need to point out that the whole Lisette line are thusly named and it's no guarantee of pattern mashing success that the names sound good together. I was satisfied it was a good idea)

So I pulled out my patterns, traced off the Passport dress in a size that seemed about right, then I laid that tracing over the Diplomat dress. I lined up the side edges and the shoulder edges and then redrew the armhole in order to have Diplomat armholes in a Passport bodice.



I've been doing some very involved pattern matching cutting again lately and so it was a relief to set that aside, fold this fabric over and chop the dress out in a matter of minutes. In fact, I didn't think at all about the fabric's pattern. I assumed it was sufficiently abstract to not matter at all. And so, I came terrifyingly close to a Map of Tasmania Disaster.


For the international reader, don't type that into a search engine. Let me tell you, Tasmania is an island state, shaped like this and thickly forested. Nothing more needs to be said.

I think I got away with it as the Apple Isle is more over my left thigh than dead centre...


Or maybe not... now that I see it right next to the other map I'm worried it's really obvious!
Anyway....
The bodice of the dress has a lovely cross over section under the bust and down to the waist seam that gives it shape. It's intended to be sewn in a woven fabric and I was so gung ho about this project that it was only as I was glancing at the instructions to attach the bodice to the skirt that I noticed it usually has a small side zipper.

Thankfully I can now say that should you make this dress in a knit fabric with sufficient stretch you can omit the zip! Phew!


The fabric feels lovely and somehow the shape, the fit and the fabric all conspired together to give me a dress that doesn't show bra lines, or look strangled or overly wrinkly anywhere. I love it!


I had a play with serging some clear elastic on the sleeve hems thinking that was what one did to help stop them stretching. Nope. I've left it there but my skirt hem that I did with the walking foot and double needle is much more successful.

The Passport dress has a facing to finish the neckline. I cut a strip of self binding about 1" shorter than I measured the circumference of the neckline, sewed it together with 1/2" seam then applied it as a binding. That means my neckline would actually be higher (by the 5/8" seam allowance) than the pattern intended) and I'm happy with it just like that.

In fact I just love this dress. It's by far the best thing I've ever made myself but it's also one of my favourite things in my wardrobe right now. And I suppose, if it makes anyone want to go out and hug a tree and picket near a logging coup then I'll wear my Tassie badge with pride.


I'll also probably buy myself a few metres of Liberty viscose jersey cause now I have the perfect knit dress pattern!

24 comments:

  1. It looks great on you - and I snorted out my coffee when I read the Tasmania bit.

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  2. It looks fantastic - I think some liberty is definitely in order for your second version. I really like the fabric you've used and I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have noticed the map of tassie if you hadn't pointed it out...

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    1. THanks. The fabric feels so good and at $13 it was a steal (GJ's wasn't on my recent suggestions of knit shopping for you, but obviously it should have been!)

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  3. OK you had me squinting trying to find the map of Tassie. Oh, it feels all kinds of wrong to even type that :)
    I actually think the dress looks great on you. (Although methinks you might get some strange traffic to your blog after this post!)

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    1. I hate to say how many hits I get after posting about a boys pants pattern to prevent bum crack exposure. I am eternally relieved I didn't include any pictures of the offending backside!
      One of the funniest posts I ever saw was about accidental Ikat boobs, but I can't find who's post it was to reference it.

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  4. Its stunning, absolutely stunning and unless you are Billy Connelly your map of Tassie is the wrong colour anyway.

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    1. Thanks Nicole. I'm busting to make a couple more. I could have one of these for every day of the week.
      And yes, had it been a dark brown pattern on light brown background it might have been an unwearable dress.!

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  5. It gorgeous! I never would have thought of making it knit or adding sleeves, it's now my favorite dress you have sewn! ( I totally have to try this out after I am feeling better!!

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  6. Thanks Sharon. It's my favourite too. I'll have to take some pictures of how I did the pattern mash-up when I make another

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  7. It looks fantastic! And nice job on the pattern mash up...any changes involving armholes\sleeves always intimidate the hell out of me!

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    1. Thanks Carolyn. And I'd say me too on the scary sleeve changes but this is the wholesale importation of a sleeve and it's matching armhole into a different bodice., and that is surprisingly easy.

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    1. Very happy accident huh?! Thankfully I wrote down the changes I made to length, seam allowances etc as I want more of exactly the same!

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  9. What a great dress! Umm hilarious what can happen when we think the print doesn't matter- I think you escaped anything too obvious ;)

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    1. Thank you. It was so relaxing not to think about the fabric's pattern. I might have cried if this had been the fail after all the painstaking pattern matching I'd been doing on other garments.

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  10. I love your version of the dress. I have seen a few around (gathering courage to make one), but by far this one is winning. Hopefully this will push me over the necessary hurdle of getting down to it?

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    1. Thank you. I went looking at Flickr and now I'm tempted to make a woven version (I adore the navy linen one I saw) but then I'd have to really make sure it actually fit. I like my lazy version just fine for now!

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  11. I love your great sense of humor with your sewing . . .this was one hilarious! (and not being familiar with "down under" geography, wouldn't have seen the similarity at all!). Lovely job with the piecing together of two patterns - your end result is fabulous! Looks comfy to wear and super stylish.

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    1. Ha!!! Down Under, nice!!
      I'm going to have to start a monthly prize for the best double entendre pun in a blog comment. You've definitely taken the prize this time.

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  12. What a clever pattern mash! It looks very comfy and thanks for making me chuckle. That is a near miss indeed!

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  13. What a great dress! It looks so comfortable!

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  14. Haha very funny. Such lovely fabric - I love GJ's! Cheers, Sarah

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