A new dress!

So, I did decide to rip off that Burberry Prorsum shirtwaister after all...

You know, this one (image comes from Style.com's pictures of the show). I just kept thinking about how cool it would be on me...

I made some changes though. I'm pretty sure that Burberry dress has a pleated skirt, on at least one that's pleated all over the front. I made my skirt in a way which I've seen a lot in the Marions of the early 1950's: The back is cut in three gores, the front as one piece, with pleats in the center. I also came up with a sort of matching back for the dress. And initially, I drafted a bigger collar but seeing that it already was a lot of look, I decided with a small stander similar to Burberry's after all. (my apologies for the bad tech drawing. You can tell I haven't used Illustrator for a while)

The bodice has a waist seam at 5 cm above the natural waist, slim, set-in sleeves, gathering at the bust, a blind button band and a back yoke with gathers. The waist/hip piece is only at the front and is gathered only in the middle. I don't think that part work exactly the way I wanted it to. It should be more tightly gathered and I'm not entirely sure about the placement: I didn't draw it tight over the hips because I didn't want to mess up the fall of the skirt. That worked, but now I'm wondering.

I'm only showing these pictures for the details. I planned for this dress to be worn with a belt, and that's how I like the look of it best.

I used a simple technique for the hem which I hadn't used before: I made a 10 cm wide hem facing to which I applied a lightweight fusible interfacing. This gives the bottom of the skirt extra weight and a more dramatic swing. It's like a 'light' version of the horsehair braid effect, perfect for a casual dress in a simple and lightweight fabric.

All in all, I am quite pleased with this dress. It's a different look for me, although it fits in nicely with my usual 'self in clothes'. And it has given me loads of ideas for other dresses: How about making it in light wool, for autumn? Or how about a more 1930's version with the horizontal gathers coming up to just below the bust, and a sleek skirt? Or a pattern magic-style twist instead of those waist/hip gathers? Or, or....

So many ideas, so little time.