The inspiration for this dress came when I eyeballed the fabric on Dress Fabrics. Maeve has some gorgeous fabrics, her customer service is tip top, and I may have already bought some denim from her to make jeans. (I bought my fabric with my own hard-earned beans, and just think this is a great shop, and also I like to support local businesses.)
Anyway, back to the dress. As soon as I laid eyes on the fabric this dress jumped, fully formed, into my head - I love it when that happens! The tartan shouted pleated skirt, and I liked the idea of a By Hand London Anna bodice with it.
I didn't make the Anna bodice, but instead drafted this from my block; I rotated the bust dart into the waist dart, extended the shoulders to make kimono style sleeves, and that was that. The skirt is pretty similar to the By Hand London Zeena dress skirt; but, oh my goodness, did I make heavy weather of those pleats!!
Won't bore you with the details, but there was a lot of crawling around the floor and pinning to decide how deep the pleats should be versus how much fabric I had. It took way more time than it should have...
In consequence, the skirt is about 1 1/2 inches shorter than my preferred length as it was the only way that I could get the checks to match at the waist. It has the world's narrowest hem, and I was a bit concerned about the shortness. But I have worn it, and nobody said that my skirt was half way up my bum, so it's obviously all in my head!
The fabric is cotton, and is a bit like a double gauze as it is tartan on one side, and purple on the other. I bought 2 metres, and ended up with scraps after making the skirt. It has a slightly lose weave, so it was a bit tricky to match up the stripes completely, but I love how it turned out. Also I am very happy that my love of tartan can now extend to summer clothes, although I did get some grey and purple tartan during the week for a winter dress.
Have a great week,
Lynne
I think the length is very flattering and it is a lovely dress - beautifully matched.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm happy with the length now - I don't know what I was fussing about!!
DeleteWhat a fabulous dress! You look great in purple and I don't think it's too short at all, in fact i think the length is perfect!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I absolutely love purple, and firmly believe that it makes everything better. Also, when I'm wearing this, it feels the same length as my other dresses!
DeleteGreat dress! The colors are beautiful on you and it's a fun change from florals for summer.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yep, there definately needs to be more tartan summer fabric!
DeleteWhatever it took to lay out your plaid! it was well worth it! Congrats on a perfect fabric pairing. This dress suits you to a tee
ReplyDeleteThank you! Aerosmith sang that falling is love is hard on the knees - they should try matching fabric prints!! In fact, that song was going around my head at the time!
Deletelovely fabric, reminds me of one of my favourite shirts I made to wear to work (short sleeved, so it's summery too) and I also have a seersucker similar that I can't decide what to do with (I want to make everything into a shirt dress at the moment!). I really like what you did with bodice and skirt, the length looks good, it seems very balanced with the bodice - nothing wrong with showing a bit of knee! ;o)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Oh my goodness, I'm in "everything to be a shirtdress" mode too! I was looking through my button boxes to match buttons to fabric, and I'm going to have to suck it up on Saturday and go into town for button supplies.
DeleteBeautiful dress! All that work was worth it for those pleats! That fabric is amazing...
ReplyDeleteThank you! The fabric is really lovely, and the purple is really purpley (if that makes sense!).
DeleteGreat dress! Your drafting is spot-on, including the final length. Perfect for a spring or summer dress!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm hoping to get lots of wear out of it before autumn.
DeleteLove it! Looks completely knock out - perfect length as far as I can see ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I tried every permutation to get the length I wanted, but I didn't need to worry about in the end. You live and learn!
Deletelove it! i love the way the checks go on the bodice! i have had a similar skirt in mind for summer and you have promoted me to get on and actually make it!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yeah, there was a bit of fussing about where the white line should go on the bodice before I cut it out. There nothing like a good bit of over-thinking! Good luck with your skirt.
DeleteLove your dress! I think the length of the skirt is fine! Nothing to worry about!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, I'm very wise about the length now. Every day is a school day - as my old boss used to say!
DeleteOh what a lovely dress! It suits you so well. Agree with other commenters above - the length looks perfect if you ask me! x
ReplyDeleteThank you! The length seems no different to my other dresses when I'm wearing it. I have to wonder about myself sometimes!!
DeleteYou did a great job matching the pattern! I like the length too!
ReplyDeleteThank you! The pattern matching was worth it in the end!
DeleteLove love love love love love LOVE your dress! The cut is just gorgeous, I get a wee Vivenne Westwood vibe from the structure - you should be really thrilled with yourself, the colour of the tartan is just fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hadn't thought of it being a bit VW, but I'll definitely take it!!
DeleteIt's a fab dress, and definitely doesn't look too short. The fabric looks great too!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteLove the pattern and the fabric, went looking at maeves fabrics and have ordered some lovely jersey!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, Maeve has too many lovely fabrics!!
DeleteOh I love this! It looks fab! Definitely agree tartan isn't just for winter; I have a Kim-bodice dress in a dark tartan and have been wearing that. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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