Friday, August 2, 2013

Kitty Cat Dress

The much-hyped kitty print dress is done!



To recap, this dress is sort of an experiment to challenge my notions of (not) using quilting cottons for garments. I chose a Michael Miller quilting cotton and paired it with the Marilyn Dress pattern.

I'm very happy with the results, which I think is a direct result of using a high quality quilting cotton with an appropriate pattern.

This type of garment does well with a fabric with some body, so it was a good match. This dress would look wimpy and sad in something soft and flowy like voile. 

Pattern notes: this pattern is definitely sized for petite women! I had to reduce my seam allowances to 1/4" at the shoulder seams, underbust seam, and waistline seam to get enough length in the bodice. (No, I didn't make a muslin. I have no patience for muslins in my life since that's all I'm making for my new book right now.) 


I used silk organza details at the waistline and at the hem. The organza hem band turned out to be lovely, plus it gives the bottom of the skirt some structure. 


What shoes does one wear with a kitty-print dress? I went with pink clogs, but I think I might have gone too casual. This dress would look great with a pump. 


Overall, I'm totally pleased with the results!


78 comments:

  1. super cute! I love the blue trim at the bottom.

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  2. It's adorable! I think it turned out wonderfully. I love the contrasting band at the bottom.

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    1. this suits you superbly... This product really met my all needs. This price is very reasonable and the quality shirt....
      http://www.apparelnbags.com/van-heusen/index.htm

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  3. Love it! Anything with kitties on it gets my vote, and this dress is lovely.

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  4. It really turned out well! And your hair looks great. Did you just get it cut? You almost make me want to chop mine off again ;)

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  5. I love it! The contrasting trim really pops!

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  6. Looks lovely! I'm 5'9 and busty.....this dress took a lot of adjustments to get it to fit. And I agree about the quilting cottons, a high quality one can turn out great!

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  7. You need to wear it with kitten heels of course!!

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  8. Only you can get away with a kitty dress! You look phenomenal - and I love your hair too!

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  9. Holy moley, that is seriously cute. I almost bought a Thomas the Tank Engine dress last week - might keep an eye out for an old bedspread and make it myself now!

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  10. Love the fabric (so much), and the hem band looks fantastic! It really brings it together! Well done, pretty lady!

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  11. Gorgeous! Love it! Hope mine works out as well:)

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  12. Can we pause for a second to talk about how totally adorable your hair is? AWESOME.

    Also, I am buying that pattern as a result of this post. Thanks for the tip about the petite sizing.

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  13. I wasn't sure about how the dress would look when you showed the material, but I think it looks fab. I really love your hair shorter too!

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  14. This is such a cute dress! How I would love to wear kittens the way you get away with it. Last december I made a skirt for my niece in this same fabric and also added a trim hem :-): http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelesnaaisels/8408721096/

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  15. When you say appropriate pattern, you mean the kitty print right? ;)

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  16. Gorgeous dress and I love the new hair do!

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  17. Even though I am more of a dog person I have to admit that it is a cute dress. I like the organza trim at the waist and hem, nice job!

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  18. Very pretty dress! I wish I could sew that good . . . you are an inspiration

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  19. Love, love, love the Kitty dress!!!

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  20. Your hair is insanely cute. How did you style it? Is it your natural wave tamed by a bit of product?

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  21. Great dress and love the hair!!

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  22. fantastic union of fabric, patter and pink hair for an awesome outfit!

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  23. Such a fab dress!
    recordsetc.blogspot.com
    amy xx

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  24. the dress turned out adorably! But of course it would :) I LOVE the cobalt trim in the hem-- so very pretty!

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  25. I'm so impressed, you know how to add those special touches to make any fabric look amazing. What a great dress :)

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  26. Love the dress, love your bob. Now I need a new sundress too...in CA I can wear them through most of November. My husband will be so pleased!

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  27. How entirely adorable! I have a very similar print, but it's just a scrap, so I can't make something as awesome as a dress with it, but maybe I will figure something out.

    Abbi

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  28. that's the secret to using quilter's cottons in apparel. For the most part, if you stick to the "designer" ones, they're just as good as so-called "apparel" fabric. That's not to say there aren't others that work, too, it's just a rule of thumb...

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    1. I couldn't agree more. There's always wild cards even from mills like Free Spirit or Moda, but for the most part, a silky hand will tell you everything you need to know about garment compatibility..

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  29. Very pretty dress! (Do you use Fudge on your hair? How often do you need to refresh the colour?)
    I'm curious too about the placement of the waistline on this dress - I think if I were to make this for myself, I'd be wanting to pull the waistline down constantly when I was wearing it, so I'd be inclined to lower the waistline about an inch or so. Thoughts?

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  30. It's truly adorable and worth waiting for. I just bought some of Heather Ross's new quilting cotton, Briar Rose, which is so beautiful. I think the orange strawberry print would be great in this dress, but I love the cricket in lilac. The thing I like about it is that she has magic mojo pull with her manufacturer, Free Spirit, because her fabric has the weight of quilting cotton but it's so incredibly soft. Always. Thanks for sharing this and now I can feel good about using quilting cotton again for clothing :)

    http://www.hawthornethreads.com/search/do_search

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  31. oops, sorry. My search results didn't come out but do go to Hawthorne Threads and search for Briar Rose. I really think you need that orange or pink strawberry print!

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    1. I love that fabric! The lilac strawberries are my favorite.

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  32. Love this style of dress. The fabric is so cute and the addition of the organza finishes it off perfectly. :-)

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  33. I actually love working with "quilting" cottons for clothing. But as with any other type of fabric, its best used for certain types of clothing. All fabric has certain things it would be good or not so good to be used for... I think I just confused myself...lol... Anyways... I bought the cutest cherry fabric to use for the Marilyn Dress, but my pattern was on back order :( I have been making some things for other people anyhow, and haven't had the time to make it, even if I did have the pattern. And, yes, your hair is very pretty. My hair is black but have been considering putting some blue in it. I love yours pink! And the hair cut is perfect for you.

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  34. MEOW!!! It is purrrrfect! Sorry, I couldn't resist. I love all things cats and that goes for your dress. Beautifully done.

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  35. Well it's nice that you have finally gotten on the planet with the rest of us who know that good quality craft cotton makes for an excellent result in an appropriate pattern.

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    1. Haha, I salute your people!

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    2. We roll out the red (craft cotton) carpet for you! Teehee! :)

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  36. I love those two fabrics together the dress silhouette looks great on you!

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  37. I always used to be skeptical about using bonkers prints for clothing, but I'm yet to see one that doesn't work. This dress is FABULOUS.
    As is your hair. The cut goes really well with the colour. (That makes no sense. But hey, I know what I mean...)

    Love it, love it!

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  38. So cute! And yes, precisely, the success of quilting cottons as garments is all about fabric quality and application. I like it for quirky full skirts, lolita style with contrasting ruffles and bows, because you can mash as many outlandish prints together as you like and it just looks more amazing, hahaha.

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  39. The dress is so adorable. I love the teal ribbon on the hem.

    I also love your new hair style, it suits your features so well! :)

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  40. The dress is really cute. I like the hem band.

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  41. It looks fabulous. I just made a pink Hello Kitty maternity dress for my DD's friend - she also has wonderful pink hair which obviously is a must if you're going to wear a cat dress! :)

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  42. totally fun and cute! you're rockin' it! your new cut is super cute too

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  43. I love this dress! And micheal miller quilting fabrics. Love the kitty print. xx

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  44. So cute it's almost unbearable!!!

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  45. What a gorgeous dress love the kitty print, you look great in it.

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  46. Book? What new book? I am sure I want it sight unseen!

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  47. This is amazing. You look great in it. You will turn heads everywhere you go.

    If they ever make The Magic School Bus into a Broadway show, I think you should be in charge of designing Ms. Frizzle's dresses. I loved them when I was a child. I totally looked up to that Ms. Frizzle and her bold wardrobe of hers.

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  48. The kitty fabric is awesome. I'm also wary of using quilting cottons for clothes but they come in such great patterns I might give it a go.

    You look great in the dress.

    Sarabeth
    Life of an Agnostic Sunday School Teacher

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  49. I love the new site! It reads so much easier and is super cute!
    This dress by the way is awesome! I love the blue accents to match the white kitties bow. lovely!

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  51. The organza details at the waistline and hem give the dress such a lift. Such great attention to detail.

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  52. Ooooh, love this look for the site!

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  53. That's quite pretty. I like the pattern on the fabric as well as the pretty blue line created at the lower hem and under the bust.

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  54. Love the new look - its so much more in keeping with the style of your blog- retro but fresh at the same time:)

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  55. Wow! Love it and you look amazing in it. Fab!

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  56. very cute!

    -Amy (www.thatssewamy.com)

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  57. Love the dress. I was inspired to search out the Marilyn Dress pattern as I have a few quilting cottons in the stash that are in want of a pattern. Of course 2 other dresses patterns made it into my cart as well!

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  58. I love it! I never would have thought that I would like a dress with cute little kitties on it, but the classic silhouette really helps. And it looks fabulous on you!

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  59. Very cute. I've been looking at the Marilyn dress and may add it to my cart, eventually.

    I sew a lot of clothes out of quilting cotton. I think it's kind of a catch-all term for any plain weave cotton fabrics. I've gotten some that were on the thin, drapey side, almost like lawn or voile and it made a perfect sundress. I've gotten some that were stiffer and really helped give a skirt a nice bell shape. So, like anything else, quality varies and there's something for everyone.

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  60. cool! I am going to look for a cute 'kids' fabric and make a dress too, some day... :)

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  61. I <3, <3, <3 how this dress turned out and I REALLY like your hair cut short like this and I think the pink looks better bobbed then when you had it long. Just beautiful ;-)

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  62. I love the kitten print. So Cute and different.


    http://www.etsy.com/shop/CurvyTiffy?ref=listing-shop-header-item-count

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  63. Gertie, I love your blog! You inspired me to make a kitty cat dress of my own (and made me wonder why I didn't have one already!)

    Here's my take:
    http://as-i-sew.blogspot.com/2013/08/can-i-be-crazy-cat-lady-without-owning.html

    Thanks for the idea!

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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