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Thursday, May 03, 2012

The 'Rose Garden' Dress


Oh, a feature on Sew Weekly for this dress!  Some of the information is a repeat (if you read it over on the site) but I'm including a few more photos of the gorgeous rose garden and other tidbits for my faithful readers.  As always, thank you for your support in my sewing endeavors!


I was so excited to see an upcoming pink challenge in the queue over at the Sew Weekly, as I knew exactly which fabric I was going to use.  I've had this fabric in my stash for as long as I can remember.  I can't recall if I picked it up over 5 years ago when I thought I would take up sewing, or if I grabbed it from my mom's stash.  It wasn't a print I was necessarily drawn to, but knew that I could cut it up without being worried about the outcome of the final garment.  But now that I actually know what I'm doing, I wanted to see if I could make it into something that I would wear.  Not only that, but I wanted to be excited about it.

The Facts
Fabric: cotton from my stash $0
Year: Contemporary
Notions: Buttons and bias tape! $6
Time to complete: 5 hours
First worn: This past weekend on a trip to the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden
Wear again? Yes!
Total cost: $24


So, time to mix things up! I had to get out of my Colette/Simplicity comfort zone and try something new.  I switched on over to Megan Nielsen mode.  Please, bear with me as I become obsessed.  This dress was so fun to make. There were just a few pattern pieces and they didn't have a lot of markings that I had to deal with.  As I can be pretty lazy when it comes time to cut out my patterns and fabric, I loved this.  The instructions were really clear and I loved the methods for installing bias tape into the neckline and the front packet for the buttons.


The only challenge that I had is the bust is a bit tight.  This could have been avoided if I made a muslin, especially as I hadn't worked with her patterns before, but when I immediately made up her Banksia pattern, I had zero issues with the fit.  So, note to self...  I may need to bind the girls up, or just lose a few pounds, but I do know that when I make this dress again, I'll have to double check the bust fit.

I omitted the back ties when I made the dress as I didn't need to pull the waist in for shaping, and because I intend to mainly pair this with a belt.  Of course, I forgot this when I put it on for the photo-shoot, but I still love the way the dress looks.


I ventured out of the backyard again for this photo shoot, and headed on over to the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden.  I drive by this beautiful garden whenever I go into the office, but had never stopped to check it out.  It's over four acres of land that contained about 3,200 varieties of roses.


All are planted and maintained by volunteers. It was pretty amazing and a beautiful treasure trove in the middle of San Jose.  It also made for the perfect backdrop for this pink challenge.  Roses everywhere in every color imaginable! And I braved the bees for you all!



This garment also falls nicely into my Spring/Summer palette and is proving perfect for California spring weather.  I could wear it into the fall (and quite honestly, winter here) by just pairing it with some tights and boots.



What I Watched: Mooore Scrubs! I know, I've forgotten this section for the last couple of posts, but I haven't watching anything new.  Just working through seasons 5 & 6 now.  Almost done and then I have to pick out a new series or movies to re-watch.

7 comments:

  1. I love this dress on you. It's seriously cute and flattering.

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  2. Beautiful pictures! They show off your pretty dress really well. I really like the shape of that pattern. :)

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  3. loverly! and perfect backdrop. ruggy just told me the other day: bees can sense if you're nervous, in fact they're attracted to it. since then i stay very calm when i see one and they never hover around me anymore. jedi mind trick.

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  4. I just love it! This color is so flattering on you, and I absolutely adore the style. I don't think you even need the belt - its so pretty without it :) Very well done!!

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  5. Congrats on the Sew Weekly feature. This dress looks lovely on you. And, I must make time to head over to that Rose Garden.

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  6. Beautiful. I love all the buttons! The colour is perfect for you. And the sunny day and the garden is beautiful too. It's warming up here in Toronto, but our roses won't look like that for a good long time.

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  7. Anonymous1:32 PM

    You did a really, really good job on this dress. Nice work!!

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