It’s time to show you my finished dress that I started posting about here! I missed the deadline for The Monthly Stitch, but I was able to enter my dress in Patternreview’s Pattern Stash contest. Don’t you just love sewing under pressure?
I used an old pattern from my stash – Butterick B4598. I cannot find it on the Butterick website, it must be old. I chose the view with the round neckline and the short sleeves, then I took more liberties with the pattern (surprise, surprise). I didn’t have any linen in my stash so I used a black and white Barcelona (95% polyester and 5% spandex) and a black Ponte de Roma (72% polyester and 28% rayon). The polyester/rayon didn’t have as much stretch as the polyester/spandex, but they looked well together.
I have gotten into the habit of writing down the name, fabric content and cleaning instructions when I buy fabric. After spending almost all my life roaming through fabric stores and dragging my hand over the material to decide what I wanted, I am not comfortable with buying on-line. It’s very difficult to touch the fabric on-line! So, if I have an idea what a Ponte de Roma (72% polyester and 28% rayon) feels and hangs like because I have bought it before and still have a sample and notes on it, I will be happy to buy something similar on-line in the future!
Fabric.com says: “Ponte knits are “stable” knits, in essence they have a nominal amount of stretching capability. Ponte knits are seasonless and extremely travel friendly, as they resist wrinkles and creases. Because of the stable nature of the fabric, Ponte knits make excellent business attire, separates and coordinates like jackets, pants, skirts and vests.” I think if I was making a jacket out of a Ponte knit, I would want to line it as it would be rather light on its own. I found my Ponte knit to be not too stretchy and not too stiff, but just right!
I also changed the design up a little bit. Since I was using a knit and not a linen, I decided not to put in the pleats at the bottom of each seam, but a godet instead. It was easy to do and the godets hung nicer than pleats would have with this knit. What is a godet? Wikipedia says: “A godet is an extra piece of fabric in the shape of a circular sector which is set into a garment, usually a dress or a skirt. The addition of a godet causes the article of clothing in question to flare, thus adding width and volume. Adding a godet to a piece of clothing also gives the wearer a wider range of motion.” TA DA!
Sorry I don’t have a twirly photo to show how the dress flares – my husband was in a hurry to take the photo and get back to his dinner!
I shall now continue on with my vacation. I am having a lovely time. I have a special blog coming up for you. I have found my “Happy Place”. I call it “The Biggest Sewing Room in Canada”. I think I would like to retire there!
In the meantime, Happy Sewing!
Love it and the godets are gorgeous, great combination of the black with the patterned fabric!
Thank you!
This dress turned out very well! I like the combination of two different fabrics.
Thank you! (Apparently it is quite popular right now!)
I saw this on PR and love it – color blocking and knit – very spiffy!
Thank you! Did you put something in to the PR contest, or was it the Monthly Stitch? It was the Monthly Stitch, right? I shall have to go back and look again!
Hello. That dress is so cool. I like the black side inserts, and the black and white print fabric in the front is very classy. I’ve never known about a Godet before. Well, I’ve taken a tiny break from sewing because I’m preparing for an art show, but seeing your lovely dress, my pedal foot is tapping impatiently to get back to the sewing machine. Thank you. Can’t wait to read about the biggest sewing room.
Thank you! Good luck with the art work!
Great Job! I love the fabric, I love princess seams!!!
Thank you!
Nicely done. I’ve always been a fan of dresses with the black side panels like that.
Thank you! I’m sure you could find two dresses to combine and refashion in some way. You can do it!
I should totally do that!
Like your dress and BLOG. I also agree too cold to wear in Canberra right now.
Thank you! And thank you for reading and commenting!
I love the names of these fabrics–Barcelona and Ponte de Roma. Makes me want to head out to Italy. Looks lovely on you as well, even if you didn’t twirl 🙂
Thank you! We’ll see what I can find for next time!
So cute! But you need chunky white pumps, a gigantic patent leather purse to match, a beehive hairdo, and cat glasses with rhinestones…wait, am I having another 60s flashback? Ha, ha!
Hahaha… Very cute, and clever! But you’re right! I do! Funny thing is my camera kept switching to “floral” mode and I couldn’t figure out why!