Sunday 15 October 2017

Giga Gingham


Hello, Lovelies!

I'm back with another new dress and more gorgeous pictures from my recent holiday in beautiful, sunny Málaga, Spain.
These pictures were taken in the Jardines de Pedro Loui Alonso, a beautiful rose garden located next to the Town Hall and also in the Parque de la Alameda, just across the street.

This dress is my 2nd version of B6453, the best-seller dress pattern by Gertie for Butterick. While the original design is based mostly on the Pinup Girl "Jenny" dresses, I based this dress on the The Pretty Dress Company "Priscilla" dress in pink gingham, as shown below:


I didn't originally intend to copy the dress quite as literally as I did, but when I saw the perfect large-scale pink gingham fabric at the Stoffmarkt Holland in Flensburg earlier this summer, I simply couldn't resist.

The fabric cost me a whopping 2 euros (2,5 USD/1,75 GBP/15 DKK) per meter, and I got 4 meters to play around with. In the end, I used about 3,5 meters in order to match the gingham and to cut around a small flaw in the fabric.



I swapped the dirndl skirt of the pattern out with the box pleated circle skirt from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book, as it looks exactly like the skirt on the Priscilla dress. I have used this skirt pattern before, and since both bodice and skirt patterns fit me well, I didn't make alterations before cutting out.

I did fiddle around with the side seam pleats of the skirt to make the 2 parts fit in the end, but it was very easy to do so and it is not too noticeable.



I think I might prefer this skirt shape over the included dirndl, as it has less bulk around the waist and less weight to it. The weight of the tightly gathered dirndl has a tendency to flatten my petticoat out over the course of the day, while this skirt and other circle skirts seems to just float above it, making the skirt more bouncy and flirty.



I also changed the straps from fixed to tied. I had seen a few people in the facebook sew-along group to this with great result and wanted to try it out. I love the dainty look and the ease of adjusting the straps as well as the ease of sewing them.
On my other versions, I've had to sew the neckline in 3-4 sections because the straps were too short to allow for smooth sewing around the armholes.

I finished the ends of the straps with little knots.


The dress is unlined, with a simple facing around the neckline in white cotton batiste, as the gingham would have shown through. I used some leftover interfacing from my grandmothers' stash, but it turned out a little bit stiffer than my normal interfacing.

As with most of my tight-fitting dresses, I interlined the bodice with more white cotton batiste to add a bit of structure and opacity, while enhancing the white color of the print. I did this by hand in my usual way, as illustrated below:

1. cut pattern pieces in both fashion fabric and interlining fabric. 2. lay wrong sides together 3. pin together, making sure to pin from the middle out to create a bit of tension. 4. baste by hand 1-2 mm inside the seam allowance

The finished dress feels very "me", and I love wearing it paired with this white parasol I got for my birthday from a few friends.

Unfortunately, it is not a very practical dress for the Danish autumn/winter. As my holiday is now over, and autumn has come to Denmark for good, I am a bit sad to pack this dress away. Let's hope for a mild winter and an early spring, so we can all wear summer dresses again :)

Yours,
Angelica


4 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, your dress is gorgeous! It's nicer than the inspiration dresses, and the tie straps are a great idea. And what a bargain on the fabric! I love gingham,and it's so difficult to find it with a big check.

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    1. Thank you so much! I do think the fabric was originally a curtain fabric, but who cares? It is actually a joke in my family that I am known to sew gala dresses from curtain material and curtains from gala dress material ;P

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  2. I love how you lines each piece I think that I might start doing that it seems easier than make another bodice and connecting them. I also what the dress from the pretty dress company but I can't imagine paying that much for their dresses.

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    1. The method I use is called "interlining" or "flatlining", and is a historical lining technique. It is very common in vintage dresses ;)

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