Little Blue Dress

One of the projects I worked on at my recent sewing retreat was a princess line "fit and flare" dress from a heavy weight cotton/lycra knit.  I made this pattern many years ago (probably 20!) and I found that I got more attention when I wore that dress than any other garment I have ever made.  I decided to resurrect the pattern and make it again.  My goal was to make a winter dress I could wear to church and that was easy to put on and wear.  What I have come to realize about my wardrobe and my sewing is this:

• I have a lot of summer dresses but almost no winter ones.

• The few winter dresses I have are too dressy for every day wear.

I knew this dress fit 20 years ago but I was a little nervous cutting out the fabric without a few measurement checks and alterations.  I added some width across my tummy (which ain’t what it used to be) but one real advantage to sewing a princess line garment is all of the seams and their possibility for fit.  One design change I made from the original was to omit the center front seam and cut the panel on the fold.  I lost a little flare in the skirt by doing this but the skirt is full enough that it isn’t missed.  I basted the dress together before serging all of the seams and tried it on for fit.  Despite that preparatory fitting, I was nervous when I sat down to serge the seams and I sewed each seam a scant smaller than my basting.  In the end, I was sorry I did as the dress is a little large, at least above the waist. 

One other concern that I had was that the dress would be boring.  I felt it needed a little something to add some interest.  My friend Kathy suggested using tone on tone embroidery.  I auditioned a number of designs before I came up with the one I finally chose.  This large, open floral is a Pfaff design, digitized for the Grand Hoop.  The actual embroidery design was much more complex with several other colors and a small all-over floral design but I chose to only stitch one of the color stops and to leave the flower centers off.  I lean toward tone on tone, subtle, low density designs and this one perfectly fit the look I was after.  I stitched one sleeve and the opposite skirt panel before constructing the dress. 

When I left for the retreat I wasn’t sure what I was going to put in the center of the flowers.  I had a collection of unmatched purple buttons but also entertained the idea of some tiny fabric yoyos.  What I ended up with were some glass pearl beads that I bought at the bead shop in Winchester while at the retreat.  I hand sewed the beads on after I had finished the dress.

I used self binding around the neckline and stitched the hems with a double needle and the same rayon thread I used to stitch the embroidery.  I also omitted the zipper at the center back and next time will probably also cut the center back seam on the fold, losing a bit more of the flare in the skirt.

I am really pleased with the way this came out and like wearing it with my black, knee-high boots.  It pushes the limit of casual vs. dressy with the addition of the pearls but I don’t feel over dressed wearing it.  I am happy to have a new addition to my closet.