Sunday, October 19, 2008

The dress I don't want to take off





Fabric
Heather brown/grey 50% wool/50% cotton jersey from my local fabric store. The fabric doesn't feel scratchy like wool at all, it's super soft and hence the reason I don't want to take this dress off.



Notes on construction/alterations
This is one of those quick-to-make dresses that we all love. There are only 4 pattern pieces, plus a binding strip to finish the back neckline. I didn't make any alterations (although looking at the pictures, I'm wondering if I need a forward shoulder adjustment...).


BWOF tells you to stabilize the shoulder seams, back neckline, and front neck fold-lines with the ever elusive (to those of us in the US) Vilene Bias Tape. I finally broke down and purchased what I think is the equivalent - this iron-on bias tape, made in Japan - from my local fabric store. They carry it in black and white, bias and straight grain. It sure beats tediously cutting bias strips of fusible interfacing.



I wore this dress at a wine tasting last Thursday, it was a fundraiser for PONCHO, a local arts organization that my neighbor is involved with. Georg Riedel of Riedel wine glass fame led the tasting. He is quite the Austrian jokester, if you ever have the chance to attend a similar event with him, I highly recommend it. The great part was that we all went home with several of the company's best wine glasses.


Me & my new favorite dress dress with my husband, Georg, and my neighbor Margery.


In the mood to reduce/reuse/recycle, apparently, I made a cat toy with the scraps of fabric I had leftover from this project. I made a little pouch, filled it with fabric scraps and dried catnip, and voila. Tabitha approves.
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And folks, I've decided that my BWOF Project of the Month series has come to an end... When I resubscribed to the magazine last year, I made it a goal to complete at least one project per issue, in a timely manner. My aim was to make sure I was making good use of the subscription (which I wasn't in the past), and now I know I certainly am. In fact BWOF has greatly overshadowed my interest in "The Big 4" and I couldn't survive without the subscription. I hope this gives me time to make more garments from back issues that continue to tempt me.

38 comments:

cidell said...

Love, love, love that dress. Hmmm, defnitely going on my short list.

I loved your monthly series! But, I've also got a backlog of magazines so hopefuly your retread of them will inspire me too!

Nancy K said...

Lovely dress. Chic and comfortable? Usually hard to achieve.

Myra said...

Love the dress, very wearable.

merel said...

Lovely dress! Very French effortlessly chic!!
Btw I live in Europe but I´ve never been able to find any Vilene Bias Tape either...so I just leave it out...Do you find it makes your dress look better now that you´ve used the iron-on bias tape?

toy said...

awesome dress ;)
you know, when I make something from BWOF, it renews my faith in my subscription because it always works, it always looks great and it never disappoints me in the compliments department. My new sub is due, I may have to indulge again
you look great and I thought you had dyed your hair back at first but its still punk pink,, fab!

Lisette M said...

Great dress, it is on my list...

Maryissewfast said...

Fabulous!!! I must make the dress version now! Mary

Anonymous said...

I LOVE that dress. You have the best sense of style. I love its funkiness. I also love your new hair color. What did you do to it? It looks great and so healthy.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Great dress! You look very cute in it!

Anonymous said...

The dress looks great. If you don't mind--I might try to do a Burda garment a month idea. It is so wise! I have been getting them since summer and still haven't attempted a pattern. I just drool! I was just thinking that I need to try one or cancel it. hmmm...if it worked for you?...

Christina said...

Rachel, thank you! About my hair, I used a single process color (at home) to cover my pink hair. My stylist is really great about giving me tips on how to color at home (I sometimes get highlights from her but I do basic stuff myself). And I just got it cut so that helps.

Unknown said...

love the dress!! Just saw a patterned version at Life Happens Be Positive. May have to splurge on the magazine someday, but I think I need some more clothes sewing practice first. Can't wait to see what you make next.

Vicki said...

Great dress! It is a shame you don't have enough time to continue the monthly series along with a new series from old issues.

Anonymous said...

It looks awesome! Now I think I'll finally make mine. :)

Lori said...

Great dress, you look fantastic.

yaiAnn said...

I've been eying this dress/top pattern. I love it! Four pieces? I have no excuse not to make it!

Leslie said...

That dress is so much more chic than the simplicity/line drawing suggests! I wish I had more pieces like that in my closet! You look fabulous in it, I see you snagged some of that bias tape. :-)

Melissa said...

Great dress & comfy to boot, sounds like a winner!

loopylulu said...

Great dress. It's funny I never even noticed this dress in that issue. Thanks for inspiring me to scan that issue again. I also concur that the hair does look great.

Erica Bunker said...

What a great dress! I love that! It looks so comfortable, yet so chic!

Katrin said...

A very beautiful dress. It looks really stylish yet comfortable!
I really loved your BWOF project of the month, I was always impressed that you managed to finish that...
Best regards,
Katrin

senaSews said...

Fantastic dress. You look fabulous in this dress.

Tany said...

It looks fabulous! I think I'll be making this one too! Well done Christina!

AllisonC said...

Fab, it's even better as a dress than a top. I gave up my BWOF monthly project in about May, but I know I still get good use from my magazines.

Colette said...

Because of all your great pattern reviews each month, you made me re-look at Burda magazines.

Also your dress looks so stylish and the 50/50 combination of wool and cotton sounds lovely.I can imagine how soft it must be.

Mary Beth said...

How come I'm not getting addicted to BWOF? Isn't a contagious disease?

Anonymous said...

You look adorable in your dress!

Gretchen the Household Deity said...

So cute! It's on my list too.

Adrienne said...

Love this dress on you!!!

Beth said...

Gorgeous!!! I love when things just come together.

Cennetta said...

Oh! Love that dress.

DanainDFW said...

Ah, we had a cat named Tabitha when I was growing up - she was black & white, too!

Wish I couuld find fabric like that around here.

Mon Café Couture said...

you're right, this dress is so cool!

angie.a said...

Love this dress! It's definitely on the DO list. I'll miss your monthly series, it's how I started reading the blog! You inspired me to attempt the same thing (altho so far it's just been attempt, LOL.) I'm with Cidell though, I've got a few years worth of back issues, so go right ahead and inspire me with those :D

NurseByrd said...

I bought my first copy of BWOF from Borders bookstore. They are a couple issues behind.How could I purchase the Oct. issue. I am a beginner, and I don't want to subscribe.

Johanna Lu said...

So cool! It looks so comfortable and like it could work in so many situations and your fabric choice is perfect. I've got this issue, and have been curios about this one. The the 80's wibe of the dress is awesome. And I love your hair too :)

Maja said...

I love this dress! Your version looks better than the magazine one.

BCN - UNIQUE designer patterns said...

This dress is great and you look divine. ahhh .. and the cat, that nice!

Paco