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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The 'Polka Dot Party' Dress



Going Steady Dress from Shabby Apple
The Facts
Fabric: About 2 1/2 yards of black and white polka dot cotton ~$21
Pattern: New Look 6968 ~$1
Year: 2010
Notions: Red invisible zipper from stash $1.50
Time to Complete: 5 1/2 hours
First worn: For the photos, January 2012
Wear again: I’ll definitely be wearing this for a night out!
Total Price: ~$23.50
One of the great things about knowing how to sew garments is that you can make a lot of the items you would want for your closet.  Some of which I wouldn’t typically picture in my closet, or that I probably wouldn't go out and buy, but I’d still love to own them for special occasions.  This is the dress.  I don’t know if I have ever had a ‘wiggle dress’ in my closet, but I think this classifies.  And I love it!

The dress that inspired this is the Going Steady dress from Shabby Apple, retailing at $82.  The fabric is large polka dots on cotton that I believe I picked up from JoAnn’s.  But really, polka dot fabric is pretty easy to find, I just liked the larger size as it was closer to the original dress design.
The original dress was one top/bottom piece, but I used New Look 6968 as it had the same shape that I was looking for, in a fit that I knew would work for me.  The dress was simple to assemble, but the seam finishing still took ages. Sometimes I wonder if a serger would be faster than using my regular machine to overlock the edges.  I also used a zipper from my stash.  I only had a red invisible zipper in the right length, but luckily I’ve become such a pro at putting in invisible zippers that the only hint of it is the little red zipper pull at the top of the dress back.
So yes, this is my ‘sexy dress’ for a night out on the town.  Maybe wine tasting at the local wine bar? Maybe a dress for Valentine’s Day? I have a cold so I've been confined to the house, but otherwise, I can’t wait to wear it!

What I Watched: 
The Secret Garden (1993)
Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog (2008)
Gladiator (2000) (I realized I should start thinking about the upcoming Oscar theme).
Also, you will see that there is no rhyme or reason to what I decide to watch.  Whatever strikes my fancy! Can I also tell you that there is no better way to feel old than by looking up the dates that movies came out? Was Gladiator really 12 years ago?! 

14 comments:

  1. Just gorgeous and SSSOOOO flattering! x

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  2. This fitted like a glove.. beautiful made !

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  3. Beautiful dress! It looks fabulous on you.
    I often get caught saying to my husband: you know that movie, it just came out a few years ago... and then realizing that it was in 2003 or something! I know what you mean.

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  4. You look lovely in that dress!!!

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  5. Such a fabby dress...had to comment here to that I LOVE it!!

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  6. YAY DR HORRIBLE! And the dress is pretty amazing as well. I ADORE the fabric and the style - you look smashing!

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  7. *Love* the polka-dots and that dress is such a flattering shape on you!

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  8. This dress is adorable and looks super cute on you. It would also be cute for a day dress, if you dress it down with flats.

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  9. Great, great dress! You look amazing! And I really love the little pop of red with the zipper pull.

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  10. Great shape and so cute on you! I actually like the idea of the red zipper...makes the dress even more special! :)

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  11. I love the red zipper! The dress looks fabulous on you! I'm pretty experienced with putting zippers in but I never thought to use a different colored one. How smart!

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  12. Anonymous12:50 PM

    FABULOUS!!!! Love it! Esp. the red zipper! :)

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