Dresses are the new pants
I was inspired to sew up a dress the other day after seeing the cute stuff over at Joy's wonderful blog. I especially loved her purple pullover empire dress aka Burda 7808.
So there I was, inspired and with a few days off work. Hmmm. Luckily I found some mystery gunmetal gray fabric in my garage stash that would work with Burda 7808. I think it must be some sort of wool/rayon blend. I didn't know if it was washable, but that uncertainty never stops me from shoving the fabric into the washer. I hate dry cleaning so I pretty much always prewash fabric to make washable garments. The gray fabric came out great, it had a slight wrinkle to it that I really liked. BTW, the fabric is in no way shiny as suggested by the photos, it's just that my photos suck.
I think this dress has a slight Japanese aesthetic. I love those Japanese patterns and books but am too lazy to decipher the Japanese directions and pattern. I made many of the same mods that Joy did. I skipped the sleeve plackets, made the giant collar smaller and skipped the side zipper. I should have made the next size up since it's not exactly easy getting this up and over the melon, but it works well enough. I also opted to add the slightly rounded gathered front pockets to hold my little trinkets and trifles. Added later: I also shortened the pattern about 2.5" as I wanted it to land in the knee area.
Another good thing about this dress, I took these pictures after wearing this on a cross country flight and it looks just fine. Yay! Good travel dress. I've got alot of work flying starting now since holidays mean work for me.
I don't think the fabric looks shiny. But you look very cute!
Posted by: Cheryl S. | November 21, 2008 at 09:41 PM
Love the boots! Great look. And that fabric color is magical with your hair.
The pattern looks Japanese-esque to me, too, but I can't quite figure out why.
Posted by: Sylvia | November 22, 2008 at 12:17 AM
that looks great. Everytime I see something so well done, it makes me want to see.
Posted by: sophanne | November 22, 2008 at 05:24 AM
Nice work!
Posted by: Knittripps | November 22, 2008 at 05:48 AM
Fashion is not part of my world (though I do have enough sense to leave the 80's shoulder pads in the 80's - I'm not that clueless). But damn. That dress is really cute and paired with boots it's completely fab! And the color is great too.
It takes a lot to wake up the teeny part of my brain that's interested in clothing style but you just did!
Posted by: (formerly) no-blog-rachel | November 22, 2008 at 07:47 AM
Love that dress! And I've been looking around for some dress patterns. I might have to take a look at that one, it looks cute!
Posted by: Kathy | November 22, 2008 at 09:40 AM
Very stylin'.
Posted by: claudia | November 22, 2008 at 10:52 AM
That's my fab Sil!
Well done!
Posted by: Cookie | November 22, 2008 at 11:25 AM
It's fantastic! And a travel dress -- BONUS!
Posted by: Norma | November 22, 2008 at 08:00 PM
If I only knew how to sew as well as you do!
Posted by: Jocelyne | November 23, 2008 at 01:59 AM
That turned out great! I love the style of the dress and it looks really good on you.
Posted by: Melissa | November 23, 2008 at 08:04 PM
That turned out great! I love the style of the dress and it looks really good on you.
Posted by: Melissa | November 23, 2008 at 08:05 PM
I love the dress with the layering and boots (so different from the pattern cover). Now I want pockets on my dress too. :-)
Posted by: joy | November 23, 2008 at 11:44 PM
super nice job!!!! i love it.
Posted by: bernie | November 30, 2008 at 05:22 PM