The Dress That Would Not Die

It is finally done! This dress was saved! I tried to make this dress waaaay back in March of 2017. I gave up on the strapless bodice and decided to make a different bodice and the strapless one was just left in my 'bin of stuff to finish' to collect dust. It was from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book and since I had made her Polka Dot Day Dress before I used that bodice pattern again, as it fit pretty well the first time around. I had enough of the fabric left over from the sheet to make a complete second bodice. I am guessing it was a king size cause I had a good amount leftover, but I'm not sure.


Oohhh...


Aahhh...



Anywho, I attached it to the skirt and inserted a lapped zipper. I also put the horsehair on the lining for the skirt to give it a bit of shape.


Ooh....

Now don't get me wrong, I did not giving up on the strapless bodice for this dress. I figured I could attach it to another skirt and I did just that. I had juuuust enough of the sheet left to make a pencil skirt. And when I made it, it was too small. Fun times. I had taken the pencil skirt pattern from Gertie Sews Vintage Casual and used that, but its meant for knits. So I had to take the leftover scraps and find a patch of fabric that I could use for an extra panel in the back. Actually 2 extra panels, one on each side of the back.


Don't look too closely if you see me wearing this. haha

But I didn't stop there! I tried to attach it to the bodice and the skirt part was a few inches bigger than the bodice, so they didn't line up. Fun times again. Normally I would stop as to not get super frustrated, but I kept on. I actually gathered the skirt slightly all around the top until it lined up. Then I sewed the bodice to the skirt and serged the ends. I added the zipper and tried it on and it fit very well, but it was a little loose at the very top, so I gathered the very top edge of the dress to get it to sit closer to the body. I read that in Gertie's book, I didn't come up with it. lol. So after that it fit very well!

I used a piece of petersham ribbon for the waist stay. That part feels the most fancy to me because it feels so secure, like I have some 'corset like' under things on. It helps the dress to stay up, although I doubt this one will slide down because my waist to hip ratio (29"-42") is so off that it can't really slide down. Thanks, hips. But adding the waist stay is a pretty integral part of a strapless dress, so I did it anyways.


... making it.


The front...


...and the back. You hook this together like a bra, with hook and eyes. And you hook it up before you zip the dress up. Voila!

Then I just hemmed the bottom and Bob's your uncle, I was done!








That's a piece of the massive pink and cream curtains that were in our dining room when we moved in. I took them all down to let in light and I washed them and took them apart. Now I have a lot of wide pink ties for any occasion. haha. I just thought it looked nicer with a break of color and thought the pink went well with the floral colors. I'm really happy with both versions of this dress, although I think I would prefer the full skirt with the strapless bodice. I'm a full skirt fan. The pencil skirt is cool, though.