I know I should be hard at work, making my Burdastyle coat. However, today may just be the hottest day this year, here in the Netherlands and I had already started on this little number.
Stash fabric, bought two years ago on sale at the end of summer. It's black cotton with eyelet-like embroidery (without the eyelets, obviously) in lengthwise 'stripes' and scallop-embroidered selvedges. The kind of thing you buy because it looks so nice on the bolt, but remains unused because it's just not very practical. A bit stiff, the pattern's too rigid, you want to use those scalloped edges but don't know how, etc. This week, inspiration struck: a strapless dress with a dropped waistline and a big gathered skirt! I managed to use the scallops along the entire top edge as well as along the 'hem' (haha, no hemming needed!). That meant having to cut everything on the cross grain and the back pieces even quite far that. However, this fabric is, as said, a bit stiff and therefore doesn't stretch as a result of that.
I thought about added thin straps, but I think I will leave it like this. Oh, it's self-drafted, based on my personal sloper, as usual.
Gorgeous as always! Did you use boning in the bodice to keep it up? (I have NO luck with strapless anything so am always curious)
ReplyDeleteOh, I should have added that: because it was meant to be a lightweight summer dress, it has no inner structure or boning, just precise fitting. I guess the trick is not to make the top too low, especially if you're small-busted, like me. With this dress, I had to take in the very top of the sideseams by 0.5 - 1 cm at the end, to make sure it would stay up. That's only possible if the top reaches well over the fullest point of your chest.
ReplyDeleteLovely use of the fabric...I hope that you can feel guilt free about diverting from the coat construction in favor of this very well done dress!
ReplyDeletePerhaps now you can enjoy wearing it and skip the "glum"?!
Very swish! Get that boy to take you somewhere nice for dinner so you can wear it!
ReplyDeleteI love how you used the fabric to it's best and fullest potential. Just gorgeous!
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