Say hello to Laurel, blog pals!
This dress was made from the Colette Laurel pattern, their newest release. The pattern is for a shift dress and a blouse version of said dress. When Colette released the pattern, they also announced a huge competition. I wasn't going to participate, but then the lovely Charlotte of Seam Ripped posted a PSA with information about Elliott Berman's annual 50 percent off sale.
Elliott Berman 50 percent off sale? Sign me up!
I got several cute things, including this sheer printed fabric that just screamed Laurel.
Yes. This is a Missoni knit print. See the tiny peach writing? It says Missoni. Very sheer. Perfect for an underlined dress like Laurel. You may swoon.
It's a pima cotton and I will admit that I was surprised by how stretchy it was. I ended up underlining it with sheer white stretch pima cotton from G Street fabrics. It was $24.99 a yard (though it was 20 percent off). Didn't I swear off buying fabric at G Street? Sheesh! I think that makes the underlining more expensive than the outer fabric.
Matching the two fabrics together, by the way, was an absolute BEAST. It took forever. Millions of pins. Lots of cursing. The sheer, super stretchy Missoni stretched if you looked at it the wrong way.
But it came out well in the end. Phew!
I used plain old bias binding on the neckline and cuffs and, per the pattern's suggestion, I left off the underlining on the sleeves, which I think adds interest. My mom and dad weren't sure how they felt about it, but I think it's kind of fun.
I also took my mom's suggestion and let the dress be loose, in the '60s shift dress style. This dress is so super comfortable. And it has enough weight and hang to it that it would be perfect for a workday where you feel like you need a looser dress. We've all been there, right, ladies?
Our dogwood tree is blooming finally. Pretty, isn't it? It's rained for the past two days, but since the contest deadline is tomorrow, I had to get pictures, rain or not. It's misting in all of these pictures, but I made Greg brave the elements to get pictures with the tree.
All in all, Laurel is a really well-drafted pattern. Everything fit together beautifully!
And it goes together very quickly. The whole thing is three pieces -- front, back and sleeves. I didn't bother setting the sleeves on my muslin, so the muslin went together in about an hour, cutting to sewing!
There is a lot of ease in this dress, I thought -- though of course part of that is the dress shape -- so I definitely suggest a muslin.
I don't know if I'd make the dress again (I'm not a huge shift dress fan -- one is probably enough!) but I do think I'll definitely make the top at some point.
Best of luck to everyone else entering the contest! And for those not entering, check out the Flickr group. The dresses people have made are incredible! In addition, you can check out my review on Pattern Review.
Thanks for stopping by!
