Nouveau Bouquet
I'm being SO brave, y'all! In an effort to make a dress like this, I'm altering the Geranium dress bodice and combining it with a Marissa dress skirt. Is it going to work?
I have no idea!
Wait, back up. My fabric arrived yesterday from Sew Love Fabric (where everything is 20% off!). I was looking for a large scale girly print, and Ruth pointed me towards this Nouveau in petal by Anna Maria Horner (of course).
Oh my! In person, I LOVE it. For some reason I never gave this print more than a passing glance, but now... honestly, last night I drifted off to sleep imagining it as curtains... The scale is large, the design elegant and the colors dreamy. I'm a big fan of cream. For my contrast print I settled on creamy Comma periods. It blends beautifully and it has a vintage-modern feel that seems to suit this dress style.
First I decided how thick to make the contrast bands. I'm going for about 3" of contrast fabric measuring down from the center neck band and 7" of contrast fabric at the hem. I cut both contrast and main fabrics with 1/2" extra for seam allowances and then joined them with French seams.
In case I do this again, I cut:
Next I cut bodice pieces using a size 8 Geranium dress bodice. But, since my inspiration dress has a longer bodice (not an empire waist like the Geranium), I added 2.75" to the bodice length. You can see I just extended the bodice on the bottom. I hope this will work!
For the skirt, I want lots of fullness, so I consulted cutting directions for my Marissa dress pattern. Basically, I cut (2) 38" wide skirt rectangles. Now I'm trying to decide weather to narrow the skirt rectangles up towards the waist, as with the Geranium skirt pattern, or just leave them rectangle, a la Marissa dress. Either way, I'm going to do a gathered skirt, to be sewn into a lined bodice, following Geranium instructions.
Totally confused? Sorry about that. Altering dress patterns is on the edge of my abilities, so I'm probably speaking nonsense.
Well for better or worse, I'm at this point now, pattern pieces pieced, cut and ready to sew! Wish me luck!
I have no idea!
Wait, back up. My fabric arrived yesterday from Sew Love Fabric (where everything is 20% off!). I was looking for a large scale girly print, and Ruth pointed me towards this Nouveau in petal by Anna Maria Horner (of course).
Oh my! In person, I LOVE it. For some reason I never gave this print more than a passing glance, but now... honestly, last night I drifted off to sleep imagining it as curtains... The scale is large, the design elegant and the colors dreamy. I'm a big fan of cream. For my contrast print I settled on creamy Comma periods. It blends beautifully and it has a vintage-modern feel that seems to suit this dress style.
First I decided how thick to make the contrast bands. I'm going for about 3" of contrast fabric measuring down from the center neck band and 7" of contrast fabric at the hem. I cut both contrast and main fabrics with 1/2" extra for seam allowances and then joined them with French seams.
In case I do this again, I cut:
- (2) 7" x 15 for bodice contrasts
- 7.5" x 16" and 7.5" x 18" for bodice main
- (2) 7" x 38" for skirt contrasts
- (2) 18" x 38" for skirt main
Next I cut bodice pieces using a size 8 Geranium dress bodice. But, since my inspiration dress has a longer bodice (not an empire waist like the Geranium), I added 2.75" to the bodice length. You can see I just extended the bodice on the bottom. I hope this will work!
For the skirt, I want lots of fullness, so I consulted cutting directions for my Marissa dress pattern. Basically, I cut (2) 38" wide skirt rectangles. Now I'm trying to decide weather to narrow the skirt rectangles up towards the waist, as with the Geranium skirt pattern, or just leave them rectangle, a la Marissa dress. Either way, I'm going to do a gathered skirt, to be sewn into a lined bodice, following Geranium instructions.
Totally confused? Sorry about that. Altering dress patterns is on the edge of my abilities, so I'm probably speaking nonsense.
Well for better or worse, I'm at this point now, pattern pieces pieced, cut and ready to sew! Wish me luck!