Thursday, April 28, 2011

Mommy & Daughter Dress Challenge

My friend challenged me on a new business concept, I needed a dress for Easter, and store bought maxi dresses are STILL too short. The culmination of events led to Mommy & Daughter Dresses. I had a great time making these, HOWEVER, I'm convinced the fabric and/or concept is cursed. Read below:

Mommy Daughter Dresses


Georgia's Dress
Pillow Case Concept Dress
No Pattern


My Dress
I added the ruffle to the pattern for a little flirty fun.



Up close of fabrics. Black fabric is cotton with white polka dots.
Floral fabric is silk. Yum.


Rotary Cutters (pizza slicing fabric blades) are known for taking off finger tips. Luckily I barely nicked myself, bled like a fish, cursed the sky and was left with this resulting injury.

What I Loved & Learned:
The Simplicity Pattern was on sale for .99$, which is a REALLY SMOKIN' good deal. The floral silk fabric was a 60" bolt (most bolts are 45"), and on sale for $4.99/yd (50% off). The black fabric was 30% off, totalling $3.45 for the entire yard. It was a lot of fabric!

For about $25 (after tax and a package of bias tape), I was able to make 2 dresses. I have enough fabric left over to make a shirred shirt for myself or another skirt/dress for Georgia. PLUS, I have a lot of scraps left over that went into my "Scrap Quilt" pile. AND, the Simplicity pattern includes directions for a bolero jacket, capris, pants, and shirt. Well worth $25!

The CURSE!
These dresses took me an entire week to make. I challenged myself with the silk, knowing it would be hard to work with. It was. But it's a brushed silk, and feels so yummy against skin. The delicate fabric made it nearly impossible to put the yoke on the top of my dress. Then the dress came out too big up top so I had to do some alterations - which always takes time. I think I had to tear out stitches and resew parts of Georgia's dress 4 or 5 times. I am not a stitch-ripper-outer - I HATE the process. However, I felt I was fighting the dress, and I would come out the winner, guaranteed. Then I nicked my finger with the rotary cutter adding the final ruffle to G's dress. Not fun, but still, entirely rewarding!

Happy Sewing!
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