I've these pictures ready since a few days, but I got hung up on Gossip Girl and did not write this post until now. I am as frivolous as that. And also I am quite addicted to TV series. Speaking of which, tonight the season 6 premiere of Dowton Abbey airs in UK. I'll watch it tomorrow, of course, looking for more vintage sewing inspiration.
Anyway, I want to present you a dress which I made last summer, then abandoned this summer and rediscovered a few days ago for the autumn chills.
It is a frankenpattern between Plantain tshirt by Deer and Doe (the archi-famous free tshirt pattern), and Lekala #5135 skirt pattern (also free). I downloaded and assembled both pdf's without any specific idea in mind.
The main inspiration for this dress came from the fabric itself. It is a jersey I bought by the kilos in Toto Tissus in Toulouse, just because I loved it, maybe two (or three?) years ago. At that time I had no sewing skills whatsoever, I didn't even know what a pattern was, neither did I own a sewing machine. I just liked the fabric and bought it knowing that the good idea would come.
The good idea came last summer, after the release of Plantain, and I decided to make one tshirt. When placing the pattern pieces over the fabric, I recalled I had this skirt pattern assembled and enough fabric for it, and decided to go for a dress. I had to play a bit with pattern positioning, but I think I nailed it. What I like most of this dress is the loud border print (what would you expect?) which contrasts with the tiny polka dots (again:what would you expect?). I am especially proud that I managed to cut the sleeves in the loud print, so that it all comes together and it looks sober and loud at the same time.
After taking this picture I cringed for the wonky neckline. I decided to publish it anyway as an inspiration for any reader who is just starting his/her sewing journey. I want to encourage him/her to go for it and dare a new challenge in each new garment. You will progress fast, and one year later you will notice how much your skills have improved, but still be proud of what you did before. I am very proud of this neckline indeed. I am pretty sure this dress was my first experience sewing knits, so I totally excuse one-year-ago-Sara for the neckline, and I beg for mercy one-year-from-now-Sara, she will know what for.
The skirt features four panels and it is designed for wovens. It worked just fine with this knit fabric, even though it is quite heavy. It is so heavy it drags all the dress downwards, resulting in being very ugly without any belt, but I have this simple elastic belt which seams to be a good match for this dress (and for many others).
One thing I don't like about this dress is Chéri's comment: he says that it makes me flat, which means my ladies are hidden somewhere, which means beowb-less. I don't agree, but then he made the same comment about another Plantain tshirt I made, so I guess he has something against that specific pattern. We'll talk about that later on this week, since I have already took the pictures of the other Plantain. (If, and only if, I manage to get out the Gossip Girl bandwagon).
Of course I needed to take a picture of that! Every time I wear this dress I feel happy because of its colours, and I feel pretty because of its feminine shape: I love how the skirt swooshes with my steps! Last year this dress even got me the compliments of my department head (the coldest guy on earth), who said I was fleurissante!
To conclude, I am not ready to give this dress to charity, despite its defects, and I am planning to wear it a little bit more with the sun of autumn in Toulouse.
