Pistachio Parfait

I first made the adorable Parfait dress from Colette Patterns in a pink check. After I figured out how to do a small bust adjustment for this pattern, I knew I'd have to make another version of it.

This time I used a mint green washed silk. It feels amazing, like silky suede. It's from Paron Fabrics, one of my favorite stops in the Garment District. They have a gorgeous selection, and they always give you a generous cut. (They also give a student discount! I took a course at FIT last semester, so I definitely took advantage of that.)

Besides the sba (which you can see in this tutorial), I also made one other alteration: I omitted the tab closure on the straps, and sewed three little decorative buttons on each. This is an easy change, and I think it makes the dress just a little fancier.


I'm really happy with this version! The fit is so much better for me. I think the silk also makes it very glam, and a solid color really emphasizes the lovely lines of this pattern, especially the curved midriff. I love how this design can be either casual in cotton or dressy in a more fluid fabric. I think if you removed the pockets and made skinnier straps, this could be an awesome cocktail dress in charmeuse.

Oh, and I also used silk organza in place of regular fusible interfacing. The midriff section of this pattern is meant to be interfaced, and I noticed in my pink check version that on hot days, this feels a little clammy. I read in a Threads article that for summer clothing it's a good idea to use a natural fiber in place of interfacing since it breathes, unlike the fusible stuff. The organza was easy to use--I just cut it out like interfacing and then basted it to each corresponding piece of the fashion fabric. I think this will be a good summertime substitution!

Please note that I've made a couple updates to the sba tutorial. I forgot to add instructions for altering the adjoining pattern pieces. Not hard to do, but important. So make sure you check it out if you'd like to try this alteration! Even if you don't usually do an sba (and I don't, actually), I'd really recommend it for this pattern line if you're smaller than a C cup.

Also, I'm very excited that Sarai of Colette Patterns has agreed to do an interview with me. So check back for that soon!