Simplicity/New Look Mash-Up: The Dream Vacation Dress

I've been absent from the blog for a bit--but I have a pretty good excuse.  My daughter, *Mehetabel, and her fiancé, *Aloysius, got married earlier this summer!  It was a fabulous evening (if I do say so myself).  The bride wore her favorite color:  pink!  I had the pleasure of making the dresses for the attendants and the officiant.   And, in addition to loads of family and friends, there was a porcupine in attendance! 

 

After the happy couple returned from several weeks in Kauai, Mehetabel and I took a shopping trip to Portland, Oregon.  One of our stops was at my new favorite store:  Mill End.  While we were there, Mehetabel spied this darling fabric and asked if I'd make her a dress.  The answer?  Yes!

 

 

The fabric is from Robert Kaufman, and it is called "Dream Vacation."  From a quick look online, it appears to be sold at many fabric stores.  It is cotton and is 44 inches wide. 

M likes Simplicity 2444 (who doesn't?)--particularly the bodice which I used for this dress.  But, since 2444's skirt is a fabric hog, I used the skirt from New Look 6910 (now OOP) because I knew I wouldn't have enough fabric for the skirt otherwise.  New Look 6910's skirt has pleats, but I simply gathered the skirt. 

 

To make this quilting cotton a bit heftier, I underlined the dress in batiste; it is still a light dress, but it is now thoroughly opaque and has a bit more body.

Simplicity 2444 calls for binding at the armscyes and a narrow facing at the neckline.  I am not crazy about binding and prefer fairly substantial facings instead (unless the dress is lined).  For my many iterations of this bodice, I've made one-piece neck/armscye facings for the front and back, interfaced them with lightweight fusible interfacing, and finished the edges on the serger.  Since the dress is underlined, it is easy to hand stitch the facings to the underlining.  

A bit cock-eyed on the dress form

There's another thing I do when sewing facings--and I am by no means the only one who does this, I know!  My facing pattern pieces are trimmed 3/16" at the armscye and neckline to help to keep the facings from rolling to the outside.

I used a black invisible zipper for the closure, and I finished all seams with bright yellow thread in the serger. 

Mehetabel (and I) have been to many of the locales shown on this dress, but I wanted to highlight two and place them center front on the bodice:  San Francisco (her birthplace) and Paris (a favorite city).

I used bright yellow bias tape and stitched the hem by hand.  On a side note, I told M that this was a double feature dress in that I watched Under the Tuscan Sun and The Fugitive while making it.  I like to listen to music or have streaming video playing in the background when I sew--and, I only play shows I've seen before because otherwise I get too distracted!

 

So tell me, what's new with you?  Do you like to watch TV/movies while sewing?

 

 

*Not their real names!