I bought this fabric at the weirdest store in my parents' town. They have the most random stuff. Gift bows, dishes, tinsel, tools. I don't even know what to call it. But my grandma told me I should go there for fabric.
I didn't have a ton of luck. They did have a lot of old fabric, but I felt like for the most part their prices weren't great. Once I went to get the two things I did find cut, I figured out that the prices are merely a suggestion. Also they're terrible at measuring. I told her I wanted 5 yards of this but I would take whatever they had. She said they had under 3 yards and charged me like $1.50/yd for it. Grand total $4.50 plus tax. But after making this dress I still have over 1 1/2 yards. I think it probably was closer to 5 when I started!
Anyway, as soon as I saw this dress I knew what I wanted to do with it. Well, I knew I wanted to do one of two things. Either a vertical striped bodice with a horizontal circle skirt, or a bodice cut on the bias. I decided to try the bias since this fabric was so cheap, and if I couldn't figure it out, so be it.
Well, it took me quite a bit of time, mostly because these stripes are not totally consistent and don't match exactly. But after an hour or so I had the bodice pieces cut. The funny thing is, I was looking and looking for a pattern that would work, and I thought I would have to really alter one I already had. Then I noticed my halloween costume balled up in the floor of my closet and realized this pattern was PERFECT. It was made to be cut on the bias, and I love it. This made the cutting a lot easier for me, although there was still a bit of work to do to match up the stripes.
So here it is! I was happy when I looked at the weather and realized it would be perfect for today. I didn't line this as I wanted a cool, breathable summer dress.
I am having some unfortunate issues with dart bubbles, which is usually not a problem for me. I'm going to try to fix it tonight.
Check out those perfectly lined up stripes though!
The back is also a vee, which is really cute. I love how this pattern sort of slopes off of the shoulders. It's perfect for this fabric.
I only used the pattern for the bodice, and just did a dirndl skirt. The pattern also calls for a dirndl. But it's LONG and FULL which I wasn't looking for. This silhouette is much nicer for me.
I'm trying to decide what to do with the rest of this fabric. It's pretty distinctive so I'm not sure I want another real piece of clothing. It's SO soft though. Maybe pajamas? Or I might say fuck it and just do a shirt. Everyone knows I sew a lot of my clothes anyway, so it wouldn't be a shocker.
I'm a big fan of this dress. Weirdly, none of the stripes are colors that I particularly love (or love on me) but I'm really drawn to it as a whole. Brett said it looks like a grandma's couch. "Not your grandma, but A grandma." I like how he clarified because he knows my grandma is too cool to have a couch like this. I'm not sure he's converted yet. But he'll have to get used to it, because I can see myself wearing this a LOT this summer.
Project: Bias stripe dress
Pattern: Vintage Vogue V8789
Fabric: Some old soft cotton?
Notions: thread. It calls for a 12" zipper at the side. I eliminated this because there's enough ease to pull it over my head
Skills involved: Cutting on the bias, matching patterns, gathering, putting in a zipper if you're not shaped like a triangle!
Changes made: Eliminated zipper, self drafted (too strong a word. I cut out some rectangles) the skirt to eliminate some fullness. I was originally planning to put the zipper in the back, so I split the skirt in the back and sewed it all together with the back open, which I think made the gathering of the skirt quite a bit easier!
Fuckups: I originally sewed the skirt on inside out. That was fun to unpick! Other than that, no mistakes!
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