Monday, August 6, 2012

The Boho-Chic Ann Arbor Sun Dress - Completed!



The little taste of a photo I gave you back in April was a tiny piece of this gorgeous dress. I was happy with this dress every step of the way. It's a total Frankenstein of a dress. I used the bodice from Version C of New Look 6557, the midriff band from Simplicity 2886, and a skirt I cobbled together on my own.

So, in the style of Sew Weekly, the facts:
Fabric:   upcycled polyester from a maxi dress, underlined with white cotton batiste
Pattern:   New Look 6557, Simplicity 2886, self-drafted
Year:   Modern
Notions:   32" petersham ribbon from A Fashionable Stitch (it says charcoal, but to my eye, it looks more dark lavender... maybe I'm a bit colorblind?), 12" purple zipper
Time to complete: 15 1/2 hours
First worn:   June
Wear again?   Yes, at least once a week since I finished it!
Total cost:   ~$21

The fabric came from a dress I bought at a little store downtown Ann Arbor called Orchid Lane (the warehouse, where everything is $15 or less), on one of the two or three days last summer when the heat was so oppressive I wanted to dive into a pool of ice. The fabric was so light and airy, and even though the dress itself was hideous, I bought it anyway with the intention of tearing it apart and upcycling the fabric. I wish I had a before photo for you. It was a maxi tube dress, with a widely-shirred cheap shiny black polyester bodice and this lovely fabric attached. I cut away that cheap black poly as soon as I got the dress home, and then the rest of the fabric sat in my stash until last week.


A couple of months ago, my sister gave me a bunch of her old clothes. She's purging her rather immense closet, and I'm the lucky beneficiary of said purge. Except that many (read "almost all") of those clothes weren't made to fit my body. My favorite dress in the pile I brought home was an adorable black and white dress. Minor problem: the dress was made for a girl with a B-cup, not my rather ample bosom (I don't know why, but I love finding opportunities to say "ample bosom." Maybe it has something to do with those romance novels my friends and I used to giggle over back in 10th-grade chemistry class).


Refusing to accept the inevitability of not owning said dress, I turned to my pattern stash and discovered that one of the bodice options for New Look 6557 (my blue daisy sheet dress) is almost an exact duplicate of my sister's dress's bodice. I thought it would be perfect for the summer and pulled out the pretty purple fabric I ripped off that ugly Orchid Lane dress last year.

As soon as I pulled it out, I remembered that that fabric is super flimsy and tears/pulls really easily. This was the first opportunity I've had to use Sullivan's fabric stabilizer, and I have to say, I'm totally addicted. I'm going to use it liberally every time I stitch up anything even remotely slippery. :) I also underlined all the dress pieces with white cotton batiste for extra strength.

I purchased Susan Kalje's The Couture Dress course from Craftsy last month, and I was watching it while I worked on this dress. It had more than a small influence on me. I hand-basted all of the underlining and stitched the seam allowances down by hand. "Control" became my watchword for this dress.


I loved the border print, and I wanted to use it in more places than just the hem, so I cut pieces from the top border for the midriff and the straps. The pattern calls for narrow ribbon for the straps, but I wanted more coverage, and I also didn't want it to look cheap, which I think ribbon would have done. After I cut, stitched, and pressed the straps, I found the stitches pulling on that stupid, flimsy fabric, the fabric wouldn't press properly, and I realized that I hadn't even considered underlining the straps. Silly.


My solution: dig through my stash in search of the 3/4" petersham ribbon I bought from A Fashionable Stitch. It matched perfectly, and I hand-stitched it to the backs of the straps. It makes the straps themselves a little more substantial, too. I didn't machine stitch them because I wanted the stitching to be invisible on the front (can you see it? I can, but only from about 12" away!), and I didn't want to put any more stress on the fabric than I already had. Now the straps are super strong, and will definitely last. And they're pretty on both sides as well. :) See the difference in how it lays? So much more body and less puckering!


I love this dress. It only has one problem, and it's one that I kind of knew about from the beginning. That flimsy fabric isn't going to last very long, even with meticulous hand-stitching and cotton batiste underlining and petersham ribbon stabilizing the straps. It's already starting to fray at the waist gathers, but I intend to wear this dress until I completely wear it out, I love it so much.


Rather than wait for my new sun dress to wear out, I am actually working on my next project. We're pretty much fully moved into the house, and I have another new dress on my sewing table. All it needs is neckline and armhole finishing and a hem, and it'll be set to wear (and post)! Knowing me, that'll take more than just one day, but I apologize for my long internet absence, and promise some more frequent posting in the months to come.

11 comments:

  1. This looks great! I hope it lasts long enough for you to enjoy it!

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    1. Thank you! I think it'll last the rest of the season. I learned a lot making it, though, and the rest of my sewing will benefit from it. :)

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  2. That looks wonderful! I was in Ann Arbor recently and I almost bought one of Orchid Lane's silk blend saris to cut down, but the fabric did look pretty cheap and I wasn't sure how well it would wear. This turned out beautifully, though--I wish I had!

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    1. Thanks! After this dress, I don't think I would put in the effort to sew up something else from Orchid Lane, so don't regret it too much. :) I'm going to try to stick to higher quality fabrics after this.

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  3. You are so funny! Maybe I will start saying ample bosom insread of busty.. I am working on a new look dress with a similar neckline and I look to be about the same size. Did you have to adjust the pattern in the bust? Your dress is very pretty and the fits great!

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    1. I definitely had to adjust the bust on my pattern. I essentially treated all that gathering as if it were a single dart and following the Fit for Real People FBA method. It was a little cumbersome to do that way, but it worked pretty well, and I still can't think of a better way to adjust a bodice with gathering like that. Good luck with yours!

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  4. It's so pretty! I've never even though about stabilizing fabrics, but that is such a great idea - the dress looks fantastic! And "ample bosom" is a FABULOUS phrase - I definitely just giggled in my workspace.

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    1. Ha! Thank you! I've definitely done my share of workplace giggling over your blog. :)

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  5. Your dress looks great! I would wear that to death too!

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  6. So pretty. Love that ribbon. Hope it's still in one piece.

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