Aubergine dress
This is McCalls 7533 styled three ways.
I’m not quite sure why I bought this pattern as I have several others which are similar, here and here.
I am looking for the right pattern to use with some rather special batik fabric which I bought in Indonesia. The idea is that the fabric will be more important than the dress design, but I only have one shot at getting the right combination, as I cannot go back to get more fabric. So I thought I’d make a winter dress out of this pattern and see how it goes.
The fabric is crepe from the Fancy Silk Store, which I used to make my Aspen dress, and was rather pleased with the way it drapes, washes and irons. So I thought I’d have more of the same; they have a wide colour range.
The pattern has a combined neck and armhole facing, which is always slightly tricky to get to hang right, and an even bigger pain if you blindly half follow the wrong set of instructions and make up a lovely sleeveless version, and then realise that you intended to add sleeves, just after you have under stitched the armholes! Needless to say, I unpicked…
It’s fastened with a 22″ concealed zip. It’s quite difficult to find a concealed zip that long in the right colour. The colour match when purchasing online wasn’t perfect, but I do like the pop of pink at the back. I can paint with nail polish if I decide I don’t like the pop any more.
Art Deco buttons
The design is so simple, that I feel it needs styling. The buttons are genuine Art Deco, bought at a textile fair in Bath, last summer. I think that this dress was exactly the right place to use them, and they really shine since they have been through the wash! I also added little black cuffs to the sleeves. I thought about finishing the hem with a black hem band, but then thought that might limit further styling options. I have two further ideas which may or may not happen. I could add a black lace panel to one or both of the shoulders if I can find the right thing somewhere, and or some narrow fringing to the hem. Both additions would make it both vintage, and on-trend, but in the meantime, it will be very wearable with black tights.
I think that I prefer the black belt styling, and I had that in mind as I was constructing it. Whilst it’s good to show the Ladakhi braid belt on the blog again, I think that the mix of ethnic and Art Deco doesn’t really work, but on a non-purist day, it’s going to be an option. The aubergine colour match is good.
Will I use this pattern for my Indonesian fabric? Probably not. However, I am tempted by the Lutterloh pattern which I toiled at the workshop on Saturday……
One Week, One Pattern
Me Made May 2016
Me Made May 2015
Simplicity Competition
Sew Over it Patterns
all my own work by ann 