I had not considered Parfait as an after 5 dress, but when daughter the second changed the time of her special occasion meal from lunch to dinner, she requested the same pattern as the
trial dress, but in a fancier fabric than we had originally planned. Fortunately, the stash could cope with this request and we selected a beautiful thick silk satin from the often - admired - but - seldom - used section of the fabric collection. (Fabric from
The Remnant Warehouse 2012, last used for a
formal gown). I thought this fabric might have too much body for the gathers, but it has turned out very well.
I piped the straps and upper bodice, and understitched the facing, to manage the bouncy fabric, and am pleased with the neat edge. It required leaving a gap in the piping of the bodice and facing for later strap insertion, and then basting these in place and attaching these sections of piping through 3 layers of fabric - very fiddly, but worth it for the effect.
Inside, I lined the bodice with cotton batiste, and the waist with the silk satin (no interfacing), and applied interfacing to the facings using this
clean finish method demonstrated by SunnyGal. The facings were then hand stitched to the lining.
The main part of the dress is matt side out, but I used the shiny side out for the waist piece and the piping for a subtle contrast.
I did suggest a little beading for decoration, but this was firmly rejected. Evening, but no bling was the stern reply. Remembering the white blouse saga, I obediently put away my beading needle and resigned myself to perfectly plain sewing. This was made much easier by the pleasure of sewing with silk. It feels so luxurious and behaves so nicely, I enjoyed every minute of the construction (except maybe the rolled hem that I finished about 15 minutes after I had planned to leave the house for a trip to Brisbane). The construction of this dress may or may not have had something to do with my choice not to make myself a new dress for the Brisbane meet up. I may be reconsidering my priority list... however,
My daughter admired the dress suitably, allowed pre dinner photos and even sent me a photo of the dress in action on SouthBank.
I think it was a success.
Stashbusting statistics 2.5m silk satin 2012 and a bit of cotton batiste
16 comments:
Gorgeous dress. Gorgeous work.
The dress is lovely. Your daughter really suits the colour. The no bling request made me smile. There really is no telling with teenagers. My daughter who is more of a jeans and sneakers girl than dresses surprised me by asking for more bling on last years ball dress. Who knows what I will be requested to come up with for this years version!
Beautiful work, your piping is so tiny and perfect.
beautiful (I didn't get my new dress done for the meet up either!).
beautiful (I didn't get my new dress done for the meet up either!).
Your daughter looks wonderful in that beautiful dress.
So pretty and your baby piping is amazing! Great work!!
Beautiful dress! You do such nice work. It looks lovely on her.
Pure luxury! Beautiful dress and a wonderful look on DD. I agree with her choice on no bling, it's much more elegant this way and brings the attention to her gorgeous face and hair. Smart cookie :)
"...applied interfacing to the facings using this clean finish method demonstrated by SunnyGal. The facings were then hand stitched to the lining." Lovely finish! i've used this same technique on a chambray Hawthorne, it's fiddly and a lot of hand sewing but makes a divine inner garment, which moves beautifully. Worth the work!
Happy Day and thanks for sharing kbenco and DD!!! steph
It's beautiful! It turns out the pattern is perfect for a formal piece.
It's a beautiful dress. That's the sort of colour I probably would pass by but when you see it on, is stunning.
Your daughter looks really lovely in this dress...great that the pattern is so versatile. I often suspect that my pattern stash would be way more versatile if I had a little more imagination.
What a fabulous dress...your sewing is just incredible! When I was your daughter's age, I wouldn't have dreamed of having my mom sew a dress for me (sorry, Mom!) but I can certainly see why your daughters call upon you to make special garments for them. The deep green colour really suits DD well. Your versions of the Parfait look so much more elegant than the pattern envelope drawings would lead one to beleive the dress might be. very inspiring!
Absolutely beautiful - your daughter and the dress! I will go and check out that link thanks! I think you can be excused from sewing yourself a new dress seeing as you are so busy sewing for others!
Gorgeous! Parfait cleans up nicely as an evening dress.
Most definitely a success! Lovely dress for a lovely DD
Post a Comment