The Dress

I told you before about Cal Patch's online garment design course I'm taking...and how fabulous it is. Well, I have a finished product! A dress that I just adore. It is a simple tunic shape with long sleeves and a wide neckline.

Me mugging for the camera!
I could have chosen to make short sleeves, no sleeves, a collar...etc. That is the beauty of creating patterns from scratch. This freedom has rekindled my interest in garment sewing. Being able to make a pattern that is pretty darn close to my actual shape and then refining it even further on a muslin gives me a finished product that fits better than any commercial pattern ever has. It's more work on the front-end, but way less tailoring on the back-end.

My muslin taking shape.
What I love most about this class is that Cal starts with the basics of garment design. I feel as if I've learned the "best practice" way of drafting a pattern and fitting it properly. All without being snooty or too full of details that go over a beginner's head. I feel like I have a basis for doing more complicated designs.

The edging makes this dress.
The quilter in me wanted to use a bias tape edging around the collar as an accent. I made my own bias tape out of a coordinating (in my mind) fabric using this great tutorial. I did finish the edging by hand because I didn't want to see a stitching line on the front. But that was no big thing considering I recently hand stitched a queen-size quilt binding!

All done during the RuPaul Drag Race finale!
The fabric is Amy Butler Soul Blossoms Passion Lily Mulberry. It is gorgeous. A little loud...but gorgeous! There's no hiding your light under a bushel in this frock. :)

–Cassandra

PS - My friend Troy says this fabric reminds him of this..



3 comments:

  1. You look fabulous in your fabulous new dress. Back when I used to make most of my clothes, I would always start with a commercial pattern...usually Vogue or Butterick, and sometimes mess about with those patterns a little bit.

    I never, never would have thought of making my own pattern. That you actually even made a muslin test run of your design is so impressive. Wow!

    xo

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your support Frances! The online course made making your own pattern completely logical. It was actually more foolproof than using a commercial pattern. Go figure?

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  2. oh MY! your dress is simply stunning! i am just now seeing this and it brings joy to my heart. thanks so much for your lovely post and please let me know what else you make! this is why i do it ;n)

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