The 'Primrose Polka Dot' Dress

I wasn't sure if I was going to be participating in the Sew Weekly challenge this week until about Wednesday.  I'd been trying to get caught up on some random sewing projects that I've had calling to me for a while now and felt like I'd lost my sewing mojo.  I hadn't gone into my sewing room and have had the same blouse laying on the cutting table for two weeks.  I don't know what it is... the idea of spending 4-6 hours on finished a garment? Maybe. Work has also been really crazy which has made me want to just veg when the day is done.  I do have some plans to improve my sewing time (more on that soon), but what ended up inspiring me was just a good old-fashioned sale.



My local yarn and fabric store had recently converted to online only, and now the owner is moving elsewhere in California.  This meant a massive sale.  Well, it first started out at 30%, but while I was tempted, the missing sewing mojo wouldn't let me be phased. Until she announced 50%. Let the web shopping begin!  I picked up a couple of prints, and some Kona solids, but it was just enough to inspire me to get me back into the sewing room.  I had a different garment planned, but then Mena posted some 40's inspiration pictures for this week's theme.  I loved all of the fun prints, and while I'm not crazy about some of the 40's dress features, I started thinking about how Colette's Ceylon dress definitely has a 40's vibe about it.  And I just happened to order some grey and pink polka dot fabric that could totally fit into the theme.  And there you have it! I practically ran to the sewing room to get started.

Even more exciting, my good friend Jess from Tartan Hearts Jewelry sent me a necklace that would go perfectly with this dress (and a few of my other upcoming projects).  The piece is one of my favorites that she carries - the Primrose necklace on a silver chain.  I love the color of the pink and the Hunger Games inspiration.  And the best part? She's going to be doing a giveaway for my lovely readers! So stay tuned for that announcement, coming this Friday!

The Facts

Fabric: 3.5 yards Michael Miller Dumb Dot cotton in dark grey with pink polka dots $20
Pattern: Colette Ceylon, previously made $0
Year: Contemporary
Notions: 16 buttons $4, bias tape $2
Time to complete: Approx. 6 hours
First worn: To my nephew's baptism
Wear again? Yes! Love it!
Total cost: $26

I've already made this dress before, but it was one of my earlier creations.  It's pretty easy to put together but even having made it before, I had to read over some steps a few times.  I even went back to my original dress to see how I did it and realized I had made a few mistakes back then.  It still fits great, but it's interesting to see how your skills (and hairstyles) change over the course of a year.



There was one slight mishap in making the dress, but it had a happy ending:

So, once the fabric came in the mail, I had the majority of the supplies for the dress.  On Saturday morning, I ran out to my local JoAnn's to pick up some buttons, knowing I needed 16. For some reason the 16 transformed itself into 14 in my head and I only picked up 3 packs of 5 buttons.  While completing my dress on Saturday evening, I broke one of the buttons on my machine. Oops. Good thing I only needed 14. But wait! I needed 16! And I'm wearing this dress tomorrow!  I looked at the clock and saw that it was 8:40.  Could I get to JoAnn's before they closed at 9?  Let's find out!  The hubby and I raced over there making it in record time.  At 8:50 I ran into the store and picked up on $1 pack of buttons.  Mission accomplished!  I was able to finish my dress in time for the baptism, without showing too much skin in Church from lack of buttons.



And there you have it!  My 40's inspired dress.  I seem to have a thing with polka dots, but I love the dark grey fabric and the fact that the dots themselves are such a light pink that it's a nice surprise when you realize the hint of color.  And I love that I have the perfect necklace to go with it!  Check in later this week for the Tartan Hearts Jewelry giveaway!

What I Watched: Finished off the last of the Scrubs that we own (I think Season 7?) and started rewatching Flight of the Concords, Season 1.

Spring Palette Challenge: Ceylon Dress

The Colette Ceylon dress is complete!  This dress taught me a lot.  Not because it was necessarily hard, but it required some techniques I had never used. In the end, it's the little details that I enjoy the most about this dress.  

I love the gathers on the skirt front and the back of the dress, and it has so many elements that make it such a flattering fit.  It's the perfect dress for a date with the hubby or to wear to work when I want to mix up the business casual requirement.

 

The only aspect that I changed from my original plan were the buttons.  I had originally planned on fabric buttons and had all the materials, but they were seriously going to drive me to drink!  I couldn't deal with fumbling of the fabric into the tiny little button and sealing the snap down.  I eventually (after two buttons) made a run to JoAnn's to pick up another alternative.  I'm happy with the end result and will just have to save those buttons for another project... one where someone with tiny fingers can assemble them for me.

To read more about the journey making this dress, check out the original post here.

This post will be participating in the following Linky parties:

Making the World Cuter * Just Something I Whipped Up * Made by You Mondays *Sew Cute Tuesday * Talent Tuesday * I Made This * We Did It Wednesday * Hoo’s Got Talent * The Trendy Treehouse * Tatertots & Jello * Thrilling Thursday * It’s a Hodgepodge Friday

Progress on my Spring palette project

All week I've been waiting by the mailbox for the rest of my Colette Spring Palette project items to arrive. And they did!  I received the pattern and fabric for my stripe dress, and the fabrics for my Colette blouse and the last dress.  I'm really happy with all of the fabrics, as I've never ordered any fabrics online before.  In the future I will hopefully have more time so I can order swatches first, but luckily, it worked out perfectly.

Now onto the last blouse (Pendrall): I can't decide on the large or small polka dot fabric.  What do you think?  I think I'm leaning towards the smaller dots and saving the large one for a dress or something larger.  

On to actual sewing.  I've been working steadily on the first dress, Ceylon by Colette.  I've had this pattern in my file for a while, but the glaring 'Intermediate' tag was worrying me.  Oh, and the whole line of buttons along the front.

Now that I'm the 'master of buttons,' I wasn't feeling so intimidated.  The buttons should have been the least of my worries.  The dress itself has been coming along nicely, but I hate ruching fabric.  I love the final look, but uuuugggghhh.  It's ok, I only have the sleeves left to gather and then I'll be done!  

I love how it's turning out! I'm actually debating between putting an invisible zipper in the front but I may just go ahead with the buttons.  I think I'll love it either way.  More coming soon.  In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on the polka dots.  And do you have any favorite online fabric websites?