The theme for last week was Accessorize, which encouraged participants to draw garment inspiration from a favorite accessory. There was little deliberation on my part about what to choose. I have a small, but much beloved, collection of Victorian and Edwardian cameos. (I know. Who would've thought I would love something so girly and classic? Shocking.) Sarcasm aside, they really are dear to me. Most of them have been given to me by my mother and father, for various birthdays and holidays in the past. My two favorites, a large pendant/brooch and a simply set ring, were found during an idyllic Christmas spent in Bath and left for me under our improvised hat-stand-turned-Christmas-tree.
They are all wonderful. So delicate, so feminine, they're little wearable links to eras gone by. Since these are things I value in my personal style and sewing projects, inspiration was easy. I decided to try my hand at lace, underlining a light ivory floral lace with coral poplin to echo the carvings of my cameos. For a pattern, I chose Simplicity 2444, a delightful dress from the Project Runway line with the vintage fit-and-flare silhouette I love so much.
Ta-da! My antique cameo dress.
(Excuse the pictures. Our weather in Austin has been a bit blustery, so I had to finagle poorly lit inside shots.)
(Excuse the pictures. Our weather in Austin has been a bit blustery, so I had to finagle poorly lit inside shots.)
The hardest part about sewing this dress was, hands down, underlining the lace. Oh my heavens. Y'all, I thought I was going to go mad doing this. You know how everyone talks about how soothing hand sewing is? Not this girl. The only redeeming value in hand sewing, as far as I'm concerned, is that I can watch North & South while doing it. Even so, I got through all four episodes while hand-basting the poplin to the lace. That's four hours of hand sewing! Combine that with a rather tricky FBA (diagonal waist darts are, quite frankly, bitches) and this dress took way longer than it was meant to.
It was worth it, however. Which is good, because had it not been, I may have torched the whole thing as revenge for all that tedium. The dress looks fabulous. Despite my using polyester lace from JoAnn's (no way was I wasting good stuff for my first time!), it's a divine little dress. The diagonal bodice waist darts are so flattering, yet still keep the design interesting, and the full, pleated skirt just begs to be twirled. Even better? It looks great with a cameo...
A match made in heaven!
Now, onto the nit-picky little details. I did a 2.5" FBA, which was trouble. I followed the slash & spread directions for a traditional FBA, then moved the two darts over to my new bust point and added width to them. When I do it again, I may actually add a third dart on each side to the design, just to make the other two more manageable and take out another inch in the waist. For the inside, I overlocked all my seams, then finished the neckline and armholes with ivory bias tape, instead of the prescribed facings. When I make this pattern again (which I will - I'm dying for a pink plaid version like Jessica's from What I Wore), there will be a few more fitting adjustments. Despite using my high bust measurement for the bodice, there is still a bit of gaping at the neckline and in back, which seems to be common for this pattern. Next time, I will go down one more bodice size and take out that extra little bit at the waist. This should be a true fit-and-flare style, which would require less ease than in this iteration.
Additionally, the prescribed hem was a bit longer than I wanted, so I put the dress on Hedy and used her pin-marker. It made taking up the circular hem infinitely easier. Hooray dress forms! In the end, I did a baby hem and took out about five inches in length. Not terribly vintage-inspired, but I was worried that all that lace plus a long hem would leave me looking like a high school prom attendee. As it is, with the coral-covered belt I made and the shorter hem, I feel decidedly Valentine's-ready. Now all I need is a fabulous date to wear my dress on!
Additionally, the prescribed hem was a bit longer than I wanted, so I put the dress on Hedy and used her pin-marker. It made taking up the circular hem infinitely easier. Hooray dress forms! In the end, I did a baby hem and took out about five inches in length. Not terribly vintage-inspired, but I was worried that all that lace plus a long hem would leave me looking like a high school prom attendee. As it is, with the coral-covered belt I made and the shorter hem, I feel decidedly Valentine's-ready. Now all I need is a fabulous date to wear my dress on!
Full front view, as modeled by the lovely Hedy.
And, yes, I do need to organize my bookshelves. Never fear, fellow bibliophiles, it's on the agenda.
And, yes, I do need to organize my bookshelves. Never fear, fellow bibliophiles, it's on the agenda.
The back, similarly modeled by Hedy, and sans zipper. I'm on a Mena-inspired zipper boycott at the moment. Also, I'm lazy and this dress is completely easy-on with just a tiny bit of wriggling.
Things I Love:
- The silhouette! Who doesn't love a full-pleated skirt? It's divine! One just wants to walk around skipping and swishing, so it can be properly admired.
- The design! Oh, diagonal pleats, you fickle, but lovely beasts. Despite how complicated they made the FBA, those pleats really do make this dress. They're so darned visually interesting.
- The fabric! Okay, not the cheap lace, but I do love the combination of coral and ivory. I was inspired for this, not only by the cameos, but also by this vintage lace & silk dress that I pinned a few weeks ago. My homage is cheaper, but in the same spirit.
- Chopped five inches of the hem, rebelliously.
- Omitted facings for a bias-tape finish, righteously.
- Left out the zipper, recklessly.
- Adjust the fit. If I made more muslins, perhaps I would never need to finagle with fit in later project iterations, but I like to sew by the seat of my pants. Call me impetuous, if you must. This one is almost perfect, but just needs a few tweaks in the upper bodice and waist areas.
- If you're going to underline lace by hand, which does prevent unsightly bubbling while sewing, rent two good movies. You're going to need them. (Note: if watching the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice, one movie will do. Six hours of Mr. Darcy should see you through.)
- The FBA. Don't let it scare you! Like I mentioned above, I did the typical slash & spread method, then just moved the darts over to the new bust point. It's bit laborious, but the end result is perfect.
- Coral cotton poplin from Gorgeous Fabrics - $8.99/yard
- Polyester floral lace from Joann Fabrics - $5.99/yard
- Ivory bias tape - self-made
