Pages

Friday 16 April 2010

Another version of Simplicity 2497 by Cynthia Rowley

Originally I made the sleeveless version with the ruffle neck in green silk dupioni (see here). (Slapdash Sewist, Trena made a stunning version of this recently, go here if you haven't seen it).

I also like the look of the drawings for the other views so thought I would test it in a remnant of embroidered cotton I had in my stash. I was a little short on fabric so I had to skip the puffy sleeves and just used the sleeve lining piece. I also added a band of plain black cotton around the hem (the pattern is the right length, I just didn't have enough fabric). If I had planned this ahead I probably would have done the neckband in black also but this was whizzed up just before my easter holidays and I was in no mood to do any unpicking.



Since I had made this before I only tried it on in the final stages and found that it was too big on the waist which made it look really frumpy and sad - the cotton has a lot more "give" than the dupioni I used in my first version. If I didn't want to unpick the neckline you can bet there was no way I was unpicking the zipper and waistband so I just added a couple of tucks in the front of the waistband.


Then in an attempt to make it look intentional I sewed some black sequins in the middle of the waistband and inbetween some of the embroidery lines on the neckline - basically until I ran out of sequins. Of course it would have been much quicker to do the unpicking I was avoiding than to handsew all those sequins, but I quite enjoyed doing it.




Despite the sequins this cotton dress will be great for hot summer days, not that it feels like we are ever going to have any. These pictures were taken on my easter vacation which seems a long long time ago!

20 comments:

  1. What a lovely dress and it is so flattering on you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very pretty dress, it looks wonderful on you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, you have been sewing up a storm! This has turned out really nicely. Nice work with the sequins. And not hot in Honkers? I find that hard to believe...lol.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's a terrific dress. I like the solid band at the bottom.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks great! Lovely dress.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Necessity IS the mother of invention and you used necessity so well in this dress! I have been on the fence about this pattern and all of the ruffles at the neckline (even though I've seen some nice versions, your original included) but I REALLY like this version! Great summer dress, indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really like the look of the other versions of this dress, too. I'm so happy to see it made up! Congrats on working out the fit issues, ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great dress! This is pattern is awesome. You got a cocktail dress the first time and a day dress this time!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the sequin detailing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This dress looks great! And great on you. All your detours made the dress even better.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So cute! I think this is a great pattern for a casual dress, as it is so comfortable.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beautiful dress! After seeing your two versions as well as others, I really need to get this pattern. And your mini wardrobe from your prior post is fantastic! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, very nice! I haven't seen too many of the without ruffles version, but I like it and how you've embellished it.

    Your mini-wardrobe is great - I love how the skirt turned out. My daughter marked that skirt one summer in Burda to be made.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful dress. I love the way you worked round your fabric shortage problems!

    ReplyDelete
  15. The dress looks wonderful on you! The detailing is divine!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great fix! I think the sequins give it some class and interest.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Adding sequins is *the* best idea I've ever heard of to avoiding unpicking. Fabulous. But does this mean it's not machine-washable anymore?

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love all of the changes you made to work with the fabric issues. It's a really lovely dress.

    ReplyDelete
  19. That is very pretty!!! This dress is so on my list to make.

    ReplyDelete