BrushStrokes: October 2012

Final version

My girls chose evening wear for the family Christmas pictures again this year. I decided to make dresses for them using my fabric stash (mostly old curtains!) and chose cream and navy as theme colors because I have a ton of fabric in these colors.

We went window shopping to check out current styles and what looked best on our very different figures. Plus, I wanted to find something for myself that didn't look too young or too matronly.

I was shocked at how SHORT the current dresses are!! The most prevalent style seemed to be a full-skirted princess type dress... chopped off at cheerleader lengths! It was crazy!

Skirt length - I tried some of the short dresses on and I felt practically naked! They were also way too young a style for me. I prefer a bit of an A-line skirt as anything that fits and cups in under my hips unflatteringly emphasizes my curves.

I have an hourglass figure, but I am very top heavy (34HH) and I've had 2 kids so I've got a pooch too. Like my youngest daughter, I have small ribs and substantial hips. I couldn't find a ready-to-wear dress that fit my figure!

After trying on many different styles, I finally decided that a wrap dress was the most flattering to my hourglass figure (see below). The soft drape hides the pooch.

Adapting a Pattern

At the fabric store, I couldn't find any patterns exactly like what I wanted. Not a problem, I just bought a pattern that was similar (this beautiful Vogue 2880 pattern), which I planned to alter by removing all the little ruffles and the lacing on the side.

The first challenge. This dress requires 6+ yards of fabric! I don't have that much in my stash (the maximum length was about 4 yards). I did have multiple bolts of off-white chiffon (bought for curtains I never finished) but off-white is NOT flattering to my coloring!

I finally realized I had an 8-yard long navy drape in my front room that would be perfect! It would even leave me a couple yards with which to make the sash and bow for my oldest daughter's dress!

Yes, using curtains makes me think of Carol Burnett's "Scarlett O'Hara Curtain Rod" dress too. lol!

I decide I need to make a mock-up/ "muslin" dress because the pattern has to be significantly altered (most patterns are designed for a B cup, and I'm a double G). At the same time, if the first attempt turns out well, I'd hate to have wasted the time doing this complicated dress in muslin, so I decided to make a short version that requires less fabric in a pretty metallic grey dressy fabric from my stash that I can wear to church or on a date.

This pattern has 4 layers (lining, boned foundation, draped layer, and underlayer to which the drapes attach), and because it is an asymmetrical wrap dress, each side and layer needs to be fit separately!!

Fitting on yourself is always challenging too, and I foolishly left my mannequin set up for my oldest daughter, since I'd worked so hard to match it to her figure. I ended up pinning myself into this dress a million times.

Flash forward through 2 weeks of anguish. The "muslin" dress is finally finished. It fits perfectly. I got Hubby to take pictures to show everybody and discovered...

I HATE IT!

I think I look dumpy and sausage-like. Apparently the mirror I was using to fit it LIED!

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So to fix it, I planned to double the width of the shoulder strap, and change their angle so they are more at the point of the shoulder, at the same time raising the neckline for more coverage. The seam at the hip line would be removed and blended into one long column drape instead of the original mermaidish-style. Adding a decorative detail at the waist where the wrap intersects to distract the eye from the width of the waist and hips. Also, adding a slit in the skirt from the bottom of the decorative detail to the floor.

PhotoShopped possible changes

The final version!

It moves beautifully, fits well, and I love it!

Later I read some reviews of the pattern and discovered that all the layers are unnecessary.
I reviewed this pattern at PatternReview.com.

I liked this so much that I did a variant on it for my 20th wedding anniversary!

This version is strapless, has a decorative rhinestone trim as an accent, and a chiffon gusset/insert where the slit was on the other one. I forgot to press it before the photo shoot (I was focused on the girl's dresses) so I photoshopped out some of the wrinkles. I didn't take the time to do a good job on the photoshopping so please be kind. lol

Life is like a canvas. It begins blank & every day is another brush stroke. Make your life a masterpiece.

Mary Brush's family and friends often refer to her as a "Renaissance Woman" and it's not too difficult to figure out why. She is passionate about a variety of things, including working with small businesses, sales and marketing campaigns, manuscript editing, copy writing, graphic and CAD design, web design, custom sewing, interior design, and therapeutic parenting. Her enthusiasm, talent and hard work ensure that she excels in all of them. Her struggle has often been deciding where to focus her attention.

Today, Mary Brush lends her years of experience to the corporate world. BrushStrokes offerings focus on corporate consulting (including restructuring operations, HR, profit and loss, and sales and marketing - including marketing campaigns and web site design) and manuscript editing (business writing, ebooks, and fiction).

BrushStrokes began in 1988 as a clothing design studio, specializing in custom clothing and design, and quickly expanding to include interior decorating, architectural CAD design and graphic design.