Procrastination

Soooo... I got sidetracked...

Apparently I was working on a ballgown or something. Yeah, nothing inspires me to work on homework/clean/draw/art/ANYTHING like having a project I'm supposed to be working on. (Take a drink for procrastination!)

Or I could, y'know MAKE A NEW DRESS

So a while back a friend sent me a picture of this dress:

In The Navy Dress

In real life, this dress is about knee length which means on me, it's about 3 inches shy of the top of my knee because I have stupid long legs (awesome) and frustrating big boobs (not-some) which sort of drags the hemline of anything up a few inches. It's also made of this shiny poly material... it doesn't look very nice. the material is a little too light for my taste.

I have a soft spot in my heart for vintage-inspired clothing and a softer one for nautical everything. 40's inspired clothing is, in particular one of those things that just look great on almost all body types. (Unlike 20's clothing.... but that's another post) Up in SF we have a store on Haight called Bettie Page which has a great variety of styles and sizes that go from XS to XXXL. Unfortunately they can get kind of pricey.

the Bettie Page version.

In fact, a lot of great clothing in this style can get pricey. Thankfully I learned how to sew and have been able to trick myself into thinking that the time and effort and material costs that go into making my own version of a navy-inspired dress.

The dress

I started with a pattern that was close enough to the design that I could easily adapt it. Mostly I was looking for those little... chest flaps? The detail on the bodice. (I don't know what it was called so if someone could let me know, that would be great.)

Simplicity 2176 

You can't really see it from here but the detailing in the plaid dress is exactly what I was looking for. I planned on altering the skirt to make a wider hem around the bottom. I found a great navy blue cotton linen at Joanne that has a kind of coarse woven texture that's sort of thick (and was on sale.) I will always pick the natural fiber or the heavier fabric if available.

For the skirt I used as circle skirt generator and then when I didn't have enough fabric... I fudged the math. I must have done something wrong because with 3 panels rather than the 4 I planned, it still fit.

From there it was pretty simple:

Cut

Hem and stitch

Flaunt. (that is my favorite red hoodie at the moment)

Add detail to the straps

Flaunt again

Add more detail

I'm not done yet adding the white grosgrain ribbon but it's a start. I'm planning two white stripes at the bottom and maybe three decorative buttons on the bodice. Jury's still out on the second thin ribbon on the boob-flaps (that's what I'm calling them until someone tells me otherwise.)

As it's gotten colder, I'm kind of wishing I'd found a sleeved version or something since I won't be able to wear this until it gets warmer or I get a cardigan for it. It spins real nice though.

Next time: A belle update.