Two dresses

I’ve been in dress-mode in the past month: I made 3 dresses, of which I’m showing two here. The first one I made is a black one which is exactly the same as the taupe version. Black garments are awefully difficult to photograph, so I’m only showing the two others. I was inspired seeing a black dress/colored jacket combination at a work meeting and realized I was short on plain dresses. Read: none in the closet, except for one silk dress. I knew I was missing something….

I wore my black dress/jacket combination to a work appointment this week and when I entered the conference room the other two ladies present wore the same sort of combination: black basics with a colored jacket. Very different colors and styles so definitely not the same look, but it was such a coincidence. Or it’s the current work-dress trend which I obviously was not aware of.

The dresses were made based on the same sloper as my color-blocked dress from January. I started out making a pattern for a dress with princess seams. Very easy to make, even with the lining it does not take more than two evenings.

The blue version below was inspired by this Marfy pattern. I did not want the flared skirt and also omitted the center front seam. I don’t know whether the Marfy pattern has a full side seam. It’s not important, I just used the inspiration and decided to continue the diagonal lines that come from the front seam to the back.

For the square neckline I followed the instructions of Suzy Furrer in her class on necklines. It was a new to me method to draft the back neckline to match the front and make sure it does not gape. It worked well for me.

     

This was the quick muslin I did on the top of the dress with some remnant pieces of ponte knit. In the color blocking I see opportunities for a sports top (with a different neckline). Initially I had the back seam open and asked my daughter to pin it . Then I wondered whether I could go without a zipper. The neckline is wide enough and the fabric has stretch, as well as the lining. So I closed the center back seam and could easily put it on and get out of it again. So even easier to make: no zipper.

Perhaps I can show you some photos of me wearing the dresses tomorrow. Would be nice to make photos outside but the weather forecast says it will rain