The Chicago Dress

Friends, through comments here and on Facebook, you chose Chicago over Gosford Park for my Oscar-inspired dress for The Sew Weekly. Mentally, it was a challenging project but it came together fairly easily once I got my mind around how to get it all put together. In fact, I named it the "Dr. Frankenstein's Flapper" dress for my post on The Sew Weekly because at times I felt like a mad scientist piecing together a diabolical creation born from my demented mind.

It is made from three different fabrics, all of which are slippery and difficult to marry harmoniously together: a sheer, a knit, and a lining. The sheer and the knit stretch, but not in the same way, and the lining doesn't stretch even a millimeter. The instructions don't include a lining, but the thin fabrics definitely needed to be lined. The instructions also failed to say just how the collar should be properly attached (plus the pattern piece for the collar was missing) and what sort of closure the belt should have. Let's just say that if I had tried to sew this dress with these fabrics a couple years, I probably would have pursued a different hobby.

All of the deep thought and time that went into putting it together makes me like this dress even more than I might have if it had been a breeze. I love how comfortable this it is. The fabrics are flowy and soft and don't wrinkle. It has a good weight to it and is a great color for me. It also perfectly matches my blue corduroy coat I made last week and is even the exact same length. Talk about a happy coincidence.

I don't feel like I'm wearing a costume, but I do feel unique. Late 1920s and early 1930s clothing has such interesting details. Flutters, geometric skirt yokes, big collars, sleeves of all shapes...

I'm starting to seek out patterns with more of these details. More gathers. More pleats. More ruffles. More prettiness.

I'm starting to think about pairing contrasting fabrics for interesting effects. I've realized that small details show up far better when you use solid color fabrics and they tend to get lost when your fabric is patterned.

Altogether I feel like I'll be taking my sewing skills up a notch this year. I'm making more thoughtful choices in patterns and the restriction I've put on myself to only use stash has made me think a lot harder about which fabric to use for which project.

This was my first dress of the year. I'm making more separates, which my wardrobe needs, and I'm thinking a lot more about matching my already existing clothing so I can get more looks from fewer pieces. But I still have plans for several dresses this year. Some are patterns and fabrics I've had for some time now, just waiting for my vision for them to be fully realized.

And I find that the various Sew Weekly challenges are a good way to get me thinking outside the box about just how to put together a pattern with a fabric and come up with something I will actually wear a lot.

I must say as well that I am happy about the prospect of spring coming along sometime soon. I'm getting a bit weary of winter garb and am looking forward to getting into my more summery dresses.

Anyway, for full length pictures of this dress, click on through to my post on The Sew Weekly. And then take a look at some of the other awesome sewists and their creations. It's truly a fun way to share a passion and exchange ideas.

Coming soon to The Sew Weekly are some refashioning projects (I turn a shirt into a dress and make a sweater more wearable), an artist-inspired shirt, and, the project I'm currently working on, a dress inspired by Mad Men in which I combine two late 1950s/early 1960s patterns and try to channel Joan Holloway. That ought to be fun.