Several months back I was surfing around
Etsy and I came across this stunning dress. My jaw almost hit the floor. The dress was $150ish so I knew I would not be purchasing it. However, I began to think about how I might knock it off.
This dress is by a company called
Fables by Barrie. I did not know that at the time until I saw the dress again later on
Modcloth, but it had long sold out. I knew that it would be easy to find some navy and some white cotton interlock, but who knew how difficult it would be to find some red/white striped interlock with just the right size stripes?!?!? I looked everywhere and finally found some at
Fabric Fairy. I had never heard of the company before, but I ordered anyway. I must say I am very pleased with their service. The red/white striped interlock is excellent quality. I turned right around and ordered some
navy/white striped interlock from them. I bought my navy interlock and white interlock from fashionfabricsclub.com.
I began to look for a pattern to make the dress. I searched and searched and gave up. One day I was looking through some patterns in my stash and, lo and behold, I already had a pattern that would work, B4788, View B.
I did not realize it because you cannot really see the details of the dress very well from the cover pic. However, when I looked at the line drawings on the back, I knew I had found the perfect candidate for this knockoff.
I had already made View A of this dress a long time ago before I began blogging, but I did not remember what View B looked like. Next came the task of finding buttons. I went to Etsy and found some right away.
The dress was really easy to make. I followed the instructions exactly as they were written, except that I drafted facings for the armholes. I could not make the fabric turn under correctly as described in the instructions because the interlock was a little too thick, so I decided a facing would be much easier. I usually never make a muslin for a knit dress because, fortunately, they have always fit me when I just go by the finished bust measurement. I assumed this one would not be any different. However, when I got it made, it was gaping about an inch at the back neck. I debated how to salvage it and decided to put a pleat in back neck. There are pleats on the shoulders of the front of the dress, so I thought this might look okay and kind of go along with those front shoulder pleats.
back of dress
Here is the finished dress. I plan to wear it to church on July 3 when we do our July 4th choir musical presentation. Our choir director always wants us to look patriotic. I haven't decided if I will wear the silver sandals I have on with it in this pic or my red patent peeptoe heels.
As you can see on my dress, I omitted the bows on the shoulders and my bottom ruffle is a little more "ruffley" than the original dress. Also, my front bodice wraps over in a V neck unlike the original which is a U neck. I can't wait to wear this on July 3.
On a side note, I have tried several times to comment on many of the blogs I follow, but there is apparently something wrong with Blogger. Everytime I type in a comment (except for once or twice), it takes me to the sign in page. Well, I sign in and it takes me back to the comments where it then again takes me back to the sign in page. I don't know what is going on. Until next time, happy sewing, and stay cool!! Literally, stay COOL!! It is 99 here today with a heat index of 104. I am staying inside at the sewing machine.
