Fashion Plate: Soiree Stunner Dress

I'm a huge Colette patterns fan if you haven't noticed and when I saw ModCloth's Soiree Stunner Dress, I knew I had to feature it as one of my Fashion Plates.  The pattern I chose is Colette's Macaron dress.  With a few simple changes (unlined bodice, delete sleeves, add bias tape arm and neck holes, add 1.5" strip of lace on the bottom), you can make a gorgeous dress that will be even better than the inspiration one.  A lot of people said in the reviews that the fabric ModCloth used for this dress was rough and slubby.  To "fix" that small problem with the inspiration, I chose to feature a blue pima cotton sateen.  Cotton sateen is a great fabric to work with.  It sews, presses, and wears incredibly well.  With the more fiddly details like sewing on bias tape (which is probably my least favorite sewing activity right now), you don't want to have to deal with difficult fabric at the same time.  I liked this plain black polyester lace for the bodice detail because it has no stretch and will submit to your every will.  Muah-ha-ha!  If machine washability is a factor for you, you may choose to use this gentle cycle lace fabric or this currently out of stock (sorry!) machine wash and dry-friendly lace fabric.  Fabric.com restocks regularly, so check back if that's what you want.


Macaron is one of the Colette patterns that didn't "speak" to me before I saw this inspiration dress.  It's funny how that happens, isn't it?

FO: Lady in Red

"Lady in Red"

Just the Facts:
Fabric:  1 yard of red 95% rayon/5% spandex knit from JoAnn's  $7

Notions:  Thread from stash, clear elastic

Pattern:  Lady Skater
Year:  modern ~2013
Time to Complete:  probably 4 hours because I mistakenly bought the wrong length of fabric and I had to get really creative when cutting the pieces.  That took probably 2 hours by itself.  I was NOT buying more fabric for this dress.

First Worn:  March 9, 2014
Wear Again:  yes again and again and again
Total Cost:  $7 not including the pattern

Lady Skaters are, in fact, taking over my closet.

 

I decided to try a different place in my yard for photos this time.  The sun is right there first thing in the morning.  Directly on my right shoulder is my crab apple tree and a bit further to my right is an apple tree.  Those were here before I got here and the branches are all kinds of unruly.  I do what I can to get them back in shape each year.  I have a few more baby fruit trees behind me too.

 

Enough about the trees.  This dress was quite a challenge for me to make because I didn't buy the right amount of fabric.  In order for me to fit everything, I had to get incredibly creative with pattern placement.  Nary a scrap of fabric was wasted.

 

This is my Victoria's Secret shot.  I love the sunspots on some of these photos!

 

I don't have much to say about the construction of this dress that I haven't already said before.  It gets easier ever time.  I don't think I referenced the instructions at all.  I'm still using the size 3 for the bodice and sleeves and size 2 for the skirt, grading down to the 2 at the waist.

 

I got so many compliments wearing this dress.  Well, I still get compliments every time I wear this dress.  Someone told me I looked stunning in my red dress.  

 

I think it's the perfect shade of red for me.  The higher hem is growing on me.  I love the shape and silhouette of this dress.

 

This is quite literally all the fabric left of my yard after cutting the pattern pieces.  I cut the long sleeve cuff pattern piece because I thought it would simply leave me with a narrower cuff on my 3/4 length sleeve.  I was mistaken.  The cuffs are the same height with a narrower horizontal width on the long sleeve.  I had to S-T-R-E-T-C-H the cuff when I was sewing it on the sleeve.  That was my only true construction problem once I had all the pattern pieces cut out.  I could have cut the cap sleeves, but I don't like that style as much on this dress.  I'm glad it worked in the end!

MMM 14: Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of Me Made May!  Nothing fancy this week. 

 

On Tuesday, I wore my "Third Time's the Charm" Colette Parfait with an orange Express cardigan (circa 2004) and Delman Marli shoes.

 Wednesday saw another appearance of my Little Black Lady Skater with my gold Charles & David shoes.

Me Made May is fun!  I seem to be planning out my outfits in advance now, so I feel I wear more of a variety of my wardrobe.  It's great!  :)

I keep waiting for the rain to start at home today.  I'm planning a 10 mile run and I don't want to get stuck in a downpour at mile 6.  Hurry up and rain so the rain can hurry up and GO AWAY!