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.

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?! 

Parading around in polka dots

My latest Fall dress is all about the polka dots.  Since the fabric itself had a lot going on, I wanted a simple design to display the fabric.  I've had Vogue 8473 in my collection for a while and it looked like the dress was simple enough, with just a few darts in the front.

Imagine my surprise when I found that the dress itself only had five pattern pieces.  I think I actually let our a cheer.  The only problem was that the lining was basically repeating the pattern twice. Eh. But I'd rather do that then deal with facings, hand-basting, etc.

Fabric: Brown and white polka dot cotton. Internal lining is a plain brown cotton.
Pattern: Vogue 8473, just the dress for now
Notions: Just a zipper

I love that this pattern only had a few darts on the front bust pieces, and no gathering. So easy!  Assembly was really fast and the directions were very easy to follow.

I'll definitely make this pattern again and I can tell the dress will be one of my Fall staples.

She wore an itsy bitsy, teenie weenie...

Well, it’s not a bikini, but it is a polka dot dress!  I was inspired by a dress on display at my local craft shop.  I loved the fabric and had actually intended it for another project, when I remembered that I had an Amy Butler dress that I’d been wanting to complete.  

The pattern was incredibly easy! It was so fast to put together, with the only problem I encountered being that I didn’t realize it was supposed to have lining.  Somehow I missed that part when purchasing the fabric, cutting the patterns, and reading the directions.  Luckily the fabric I used was a nice cotton that wasn’t too thin.  I had my heart set on completing the dress so I decided to omit the lining.  I think the seams would have been nicer with it, but the brown thread complemented the design.  

I’m also not a huge fan of fitted short sleeves so I tried it on without the bias edge... and really liked the look.  So I left them out.  

Overall I’m extremely pleased with this dress and pattern.  I can definitely see myself using the pattern again with some other fun combinations, or even in a solid.  I love the vintage, classic look of the dress.  

Lovely image of the trash can behind me.  Apparently it was too early to notice such details.  Oh, and it definitely needs to be pressed.

The finishing touch? A green flower pin that I've had sitting in my jewelry box for years.  I bring it out occasionally but I think it's found a new home on this dress.