Tuesday, January 13, 2015

What I’m up to

I can’t believe time is going so fast. I was a little under the water last week with a fierce cold but managed to sew a few easy pieces in the evening that are the first of a few mix and match garments. They are finished but not yet photographed, I’ll post pictures later in the week.

In the meantime I’m thinking of sewing a dress for an upcoming dinner that I can wear on other occasions as well. The dress code for the dinner is not very formal, a knit dress will be fine. Browsing through Pinterest boards I stumbled upon this dress which I want to make in a ponte knit. This is an Oscar the la Renta dress which apparantly was sold for the bargain price of nearly 2000 euro (yes, 3 zero’s). For that you got unfinished seams too ;).
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you can guess that’s not what I’m doing. It’s not me.

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An enlarged detail of the original hem/seam:

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The colors are a struggle: the off-white is very nice but an online supplier selling all the colors I would want could not guarantee the dark colors not bleeding in the light fabric and I don’t want to go to the dry-cleaner for it. Today I looked in a brick and mortar store that had beautiful ponte fabric in a lot of colors, but not white or off-white. In the end I did not yet buy any fabric yet (also because I’m not yet sure how much I need for each color).

The color scheme I’m contemplating now is black, dark grey and a bright blue. My computer drawing skills are basic, in my line of work I don’t need that but using what programs I have I came to these variations. Colors are not accurate, I even forgot to take a picture in the shop, but you’ll get the idea. I’ll probably go for one of the alternatives with black in the skirt for the obvious reason that doesn’t give an accent to the hip area as much. What do you think?

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15 comments:

  1. Nice dress (even with the unfinished edges!). I really like the option with a lot of blue on the far right - if you want to keep some black in the skirt maybe swap over the grey and black?

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  2. Exciting! I think the very first version (first left) will be it!

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  3. I agree that the darker skirt is going to be more flattering. I like the middle one first, the one on the left next. It's a great dress

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  4. I like the middle one best

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  5. At first I liked #3 best, then I really liked #1. Now I think #2 is good as well. I am no help at all!

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  6. From a woman who goes to great efforts to make her wide hips look slimmer, I would choose the middle version. The black and gray take up the majority of real estate and for a monochromatic pair that blends together with just enough accent of the blue to unify the dress. Middle dress for me!

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  7. I love the one on the right. The black slims the blue just right amount in my opinion. The bIue is so pretty. I just can't wait to see what you do with it! Such a darling dress.

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  8. I am leaning toward the version on the right.

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  9. I like the first option. That doesn't add width to the hips but also doesn't create a 'split bust' effect (which I think the middle one might do).

    And I assume you will figure out the exact shape and the piecing by sewing a plain muslin and drawing the pieces in? Because getting that absolutely right for your body will make this dress.

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  10. Awesome dress. I like the first version

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  11. The dress is absolutely stunning. I almost feel I need one as well ;) From the three pictures I like the first one best. Other thng: I do have a piece of beautiful offwhite ponte in my stash, but it is only 75 cm plus some extra 'flaps'. I used it for a muslin, this is a leftover. If you're interested you can have it (for free). But the black/blue/grey is really attractive as well, maybe even better :)
    aforementioned muslin, to get an impression of the fabric

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  12. I like the third option. I think the blue on on side on the skirt and the other side on the top gives it a balanced look and also think it is the most slimming. It looks like the fabric on the original (very expensive) dress is knitted not cut and sewn, but that could be my monitor.

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  13. The dress on the right gets my vote. It is by far the most eye-catching.

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  14. I vote for the rightmost. I like the strong contrast of black and bright blue there.

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  15. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the versions, as the dress design is so cool. #1 will probably be the most slimming, as my eye seems to catch the black color, which runs vertically down the dress. However, I think #3 will be very flattering as well because the blue will be prominent. Good luck!

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