Graduation dress

It has been a while since I posted, that is because I was busy working on my final design project. I didn’t do anything else than work on that one assignment for over a month so I didn’t sew anything for a while. But now I’m officially a master in the architecture. I was so happy to have the time to sew again and deiced to make my graduation dress. But then life happened (read sleep deprived) and I was left with only 3 days to make the dress. I bought the fabric on Wednesday and the graduation ceremony was on Saturday at 10 am.

I had my mind set on a silk dress, in 3 days I know. They had a few options in the store and of course I chose the very thin flowy option. They had a few thicker options but I didn’t like the prints that much and a few cotton and silk blends. I love the fabric it is so beautiful, soft flowy and I love the print. But the best thing is 20 euro the meter, for 100% silk, a bargain compared to the lining, antistatic and nice to wear but 10 euro the meter.

Okay enough praise for the fabric now the pattern, I wasn’t going to cut into my beautiful fabric without knowing if my dress was going to fit. So I made the June dress form la maison victor again, you can see the first version here. Because the silk is transparent I was worried about the seam finishes. I tried overlocking the silk but that was not as neat as I wanted it to be. So I finished it with French seams, I think it is so weird that they are called French seams in English because they are called English seams in Dutch. 

The pattern is not actually made for transparent fabrics because it doesn’t have a lining. I made the front and the back of the dress in silk and lining. Once these were finished I pined the silk to the lining and used them as if they were one fabric. I didn’t want to underline the entire dress because then it would not show the flow of the silk anymore. The reason why I pined them together is because I thought it would be nearly impossible to insert a zipper in the silk. The neckline and straps were finished with facings.

Needless to say I was hemming my dress at 11pm the day before the ceremony, but it was worth it!

PS. Some of you might have realized that I never posted the second half of me made May. I just wore the same items as in the first half and I thought it would be a bit boring to take the same crappy selfies and was too busy to come up with something more interesting.

My perfect summer dress

Okay I know it’s a big statement ‘my perfect summer dress’ but it really is the perfect dress for me. So I can hear you wondering why perfect? Let me tell you…

First there is the fabric. I bought it at the ‘stoffenspectakel’ like most of my fabrics. It was a coupon that I found at the bottom of the pile and it was 10€, a bargain. And who doesn’t love a bargain? I know I do! It’s a very nice cotton with the perfect weight and drape for a dress. The fabric actually feels rather heavy but perfect for this dress. And then the pattern, navy and white dots. What I like that much about it is that the dots are scattered on instead of being aligned in a grid. And the dots themselves are not perfectly round but irregular in shape.

So to me it’s the perfect fabric that fits my style so well and that goes with all my other clothes.

Than the pattern it is the June dress from the la maison victor pattern magazine. It came in the magazine form the summer in 2014 but you can buy it separately on their site as well. I can’t believe that I have waited so long to make this dress. The June dress was the reason that I bought this magazine.

So the pattern, on the website it is described as flattering for every figure and with a bit of ’50 glamour. They didn’t exaggerate, it is super flattering and I feel wonderful and glamorous wearing it.

I love the high neckline at the front in combination with a lower v-line in the back. The skirt is pleated but because of the lovely drape of the fabric it is really flowy and not bulky at all, something I’m always a bit worried about.  

Than what I like the best about the pattern is that I feel that it is drafted specially for my body. I made a size 38 and made no alterations. It just fits perfectly right out of the magazine. I was a bit worried that I would mess up my beautiful fabric when I would realise that the dress didn’t fit. (But not worried enough to make a muslin, haha)

But the best thing about the dress is the finish! For once I took my time to achieve the best possible finish. And it worked, part of that is probably that I didn't need to make any alterations. Normally I sew something try it on notice that it didn't fit properly and that is where it goes wrong. I get frustrated and impatient and mess up even more. But not with this dress, I tried it on what surprised about how well it fitted and took my time to finish everything. The neckline is understitched to the facing and the facing is sown by hand on to the zipper. The hem is finished with and invisible stitch on the sewing machine.

That’s why it is perfect, the fabric, the fit of the pattern and the finish.

I’m already working on my next project a blouse form another la maison victor magazine and that one is far from perfect. But more on that when it is finished.