Lemon Tree Dress

I suppose you think I've just been dutifully working on my background dress. Well, I had to sneak in another little project just for fun. A lemony, summery treat of a dress!

This is made from a silk and cotton blend that I bought at Mood. I love fruit prints, don't you? And this one was so unusual I couldn't pass it up, especially in this luscious, slightly sheer blend.

The pattern is Advance 9441, one of the first vintage patterns I ever bought!

The only fitting change I made was to add a little width to the waist (no girdles in the summer, please!) and shorten the sleeves just a tad. And of course take some major length off the skirt, but that's a given for me with vintage patterns. I'm wearing it here without a crinoline, but it would be fun to add one for a super fluffy skirt.

Hey look, here's a shot with my new beige shoes! These are the Clarks I posted about here. I love them!
Henry doesn't care about the shoes, he just wanted to know when he was getting dinner.

This pattern is pretty simple and I went with a minimal, vintage-style construction. I used a metal zipper (one of the Riri zips that I lusted about in this post) and hand-picked it.

I just love this technique; it makes a garment feel so special I think. (Here's an excellent article on hand-picked zippers, by the way.)

I opted not to line and am wearing a slip with the dress instead. I pinked the seam allowances and facings.

Because this fabric is ever-so-slightly sheer, facings were a bit of a challenge. With a bold print like this, you run the risk of the facings showing through to the outside. First, I used a flesh-toned silk organza as interfacing. Then, to avoid show-through on the right side of the dress, I lined the back of the facings in a rayon lining fabric that matches my skin tone. This works like a nude bra - you can't detect it from the outside. Here are the layers of my facings:

(You'll notice that I got a cutting mat and rotary cutter - a birthday gift from my parents! I don't know how I lived without these tools.)

This pattern has underarm gussets - my first! They went in just fine.

I covered a belt buckle using a Dritz kit, purchased from Pacific Trim here in New York. I used 1" belting from Steinlauf and Stoller for the actual belt itself.

That's all for now! I've got a kitty that needs feeding . . .