Fields of Poppies

Last week's weather was perfect for cotton summer dresses.  And I had just the thing to wear - my new poppy print dress!

The bodice came out a bit roomier than I was expecting (the pattern envelope should have been my first clue).  But it is quite comfortable to wear, so I am going to leave it as-is.

The elastic pieces in the sleeves and the waist-stay make the dress stay in place which is the most important thing!  There is always a fine line for off-the-shoulder dresses . . . too tight at the neckline and you can't move your arms, too loose and the thing falls down to your waist.

I left the pleats soft, instead of ironing them down the entire length of the skirt as the pattern suggests, which I felt would be too severe for this print.

And yes, the design includes pockets, which is probably a huge selling point for many people.  

They are wonderful for taking photos, but other than that, I rarely find a use for them in lightweight frocks.  Anything of significant weight placed in the pocket is going to pull the skirt out of shape, which is not a good look.

If I make this dress again, I would eliminate them to save on fabric.  I have been wearing dresses for many, many years now, and should know that I will never end up using dress pockets.  Or maybe I should stop carrying so much stuff around so they would actually be useful!  

With or without pockets, I am going to call this dress a success!


Dress:  Made by me, Butterick 6129

Shoes:  Jennifer Moore

Print Obsessed

As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew I wanted to add it to my collection.  

Of course, the weather was still a bit cold for a summer dress.  So I planned to make a modified version using the bodice pieces and some wool yardage.  Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately!) the weather turned, and all I had accomplished was a mock up of the bodice.  So there was a change of plans.

This pattern is drafted with multiple views - one is an off-the-shoulder design and the second includes sleeves and a yoke, but the bodice pieces remain the same.  The thing is, a strapless or off-the-shoulder dress bodice should be treated differently than one with sleeves that hang from the shoulders.

I ended up using the sleeves from the yoked version, and eliminated the yoke pieces.  A covered length of elastic keeps the sleeves in place.  The strapless version includes instruction for  ¼” elastic, but I substituted ¾” elastic and ended up shortening the elastic guide provided by approximately 1.5”.

I also added a few pieces of boning.  I suppose I could have fused some interfacing to all of the bodice pieces (this is mentioned in the directions), but that would make the dress rather stiff.  Instead, the boning keeps the back bodice from collapsing.  The neckline was also stayed with a length of seam binding.

A waist stay was added to the waistline.  And I just realized I am going to have to add a couple of ribbon hangers before I can call this dress finished!  But I am so, so close!