Originally I bought this lovely magnolia print fabric to make something else… but ended up making this random frock instead. Spring was coming…and I really wanted something romantic and floral. I sorta couldn’t picture anything properly, there were false starts… then Mum, Cassie and I had planned another trip to Melbourne this year, to go to the Dior exhibition at the NGV and I became enamoured of something old-fashioned, feminine, of an easy-wearing, pfouffy skirt. So this is me, realising that. I feel a bit like an old-fashioned housemaid, like Cinders before the pumpkin, or an Arthur Rackham-illustrated Alice.
This is all good 
I thought I would get a nice picture of my dress at the Dior exhibition… but do you think I did?! nope! I wore it, but well, Mum, Cassie and I were so busy looking at all the delightful Dior, listening to our audio and ooh-ing and aah-ing so I didn’t even think about it!! however I did notice a few days later that my dress was serendipitously a lovely colour/design complement to the floor in the NGV.
You just have to picture it on there!
Fabric; a stretch cotton sateen from Spotlight. I went to considerable trouble to make sure the magnolias are scattered randomly and unevenly across the dress with no discernible pattern repeats … even laying the pattern pieces down upside down sometimes so as to avoid too much same-ness.
Pattern; Vogue 1317, a Chado Ralph Rucci design. I have made this pattern exactly once before, here. I loved that dress and wore it a lot; but the tight underarm issue due to the unusual seaming with gusset and the cut-on, close-fitting sleeve arrangement, that I discussed in that post, turned out to be quite annoying after all. You might love the style of a thing, but if it’s uncomfortable then there comes a time where you’re like; why am I wearing this?? … and at one point I had one of those kon-mari urges to do a whirlwind clean out. I read a good tip somewhere… can’t remember where… that a good way to do a quick clean out of a closet or wardrobe that was stressing you out due to vague feelings of having Too Much Stuff was to walk up to it and just immediately and spontaneously pick out ten things to throw away,right then and there. You’re not supposed to spend more than, say five or ten seconds thinking about each thing… but just a gut reaction; do I love this? or not really? Because honestly, you know in your heart the answer to that question already and not allowing yourself time to talk yourself out of it does make the process of jettisoning rubbish a lot easier. Trust me, it does.
So, out it went. In my opinion the importance of using a stretchy fabric for this pattern should be printed in large bold letters across the front of the envelope. It’s absolutely fine in a stretch fabric. Well, of course it is! Everything’s fine in a stretch fabric!!
the ability to lift your arms up comfortably is always a plus
Mods:
1) I left off all the double topstitching for a clean stitch-less look, finishing off the hemline with bias-cut white voile… I also left off the giant birthday-present bow that ties in the middle of your tummy. I thought about cutting it longer and wrapping and tying it at the back like I did with my first version, but really the print makes this dress pretty busy enough already, without a belt-y thing as another visual distraction.
2) I shifted the pockets out towards the side seams by about 4cm, just like I did with my first version… you can just tell the pockets are situated way too close to the centre front, just by looking at that cover shot.
3) and most obviously; I wasn’t happy with the dress how it is here in its intended short version; in fact at this point I took a violent dislike to it and almost abandoned it completely. A few weeks of despondency passed by, and I was thinking about the Dior exhibition coming up, which let me to think of the Dior shape, which in turn inspired me to add the long ruffle/frill around the bottom…. I used leftover fabric from which I cut random “doughnut segments” and “pieces of pie” shapes, joined them together to make a giant, sorta fluted doughnut… and attached this to a white cotton voile skirt lining
I felt a lot better about the dress after this.
So I’ve worn it several times now… hmmm there I go, wearing things before blogging them, again!! Oh, I also decided to permanently stitch the collar flaps down inside to make it a V-neck. I just like this look better than the high slit front, in this particular fabric. Not quite so prim and proper.
The good thing about wearing something before blogging it is that I can, at least report on how it feels out in the wild, so to speak. I’ve worn it on the beach, to walk my dog, to do housework and the shopping… as well as in amongst the divine Dior. And I’m happy to say that the delightfully feminine swishiness afforded to me by this dress indeed sparked much joy in my heart, rendering it safe from kon-mari-ing, at least for a while!
Details:
Dress; modified Vogue 1371, in stretch sateen
Shoes (above); made by me and my own design, details here
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