Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Ralph Lauren Dress

I originally purchased this fabric from EOS to make a skirt...a skirt where the stripes went horizontally...yeah I know but I just can't help breaking the rules! Then I found this necklace at a local store called "Billto" in a new mall that has a lot of upscale stores:


I loved this necklace and it reminded me of the EOS Ralph Lauren linen so I bought it and another version of my TNT dress was born. However, this fabric is a very crisp shirting type linen. After a trip through the washer (hot hot water) and a very hot dryer, it had lost just some of its crisp properties. Even though I love the wrinkles that occur with wearing linen, I really don't like those crisp deep ones. So I underlined this dress with silk organza, to help minimize the wrinkling.


I used an invisible zipper in the dress because I just didn't want to interrupt the stripes. I am pretty proud of the invisible zipper in this dress and I have to give a shout out to my daughter who reminded me of some helpful tips for its insertion. Then I added a lining - a plain old lining no lace at all at the hemline.



Some finishing touches and the dress was done. I love the slimming aspect of the stripes - a horizontal orientation would not have been as flattering! Okay some specs:

Fabric:
2 yards of linen from Emmaonesock

Notions:
2 yards of a ltwt poly lining from Ebads Fabrics
22" gray invisible zipper
Beige rayon hem tape

Pattern:
TNT Dress Pattern




It's really just another summer work dress. But it will work well in my corporate environment as I prepare for total color domination that the yellow pieces will bring to my wardrobe! Construction pics can be seen in my Flickr album. Sorry to send you somewhere else but its just easier to download to the Flickr album, than to try to get them to work on the netbook!

More later!


41 comments:

  1. I love the dress with the cardigan-love the necklace and shoes you put with it also.That was a really great way to use the striped fabric- much better than the other way. mssewcrazy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow what a great dress, I love the stripes. Simple but very elegant, you look great!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks so good, great fabric choice. You got it all sorted girl! lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am really loving the whole look.. You look great.!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love it! It might be simple, but it's very elegant. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had some doubts about the stripes when I saw the hanger photo of the dress, but have to say it looks fabulous on you! The necklace is great, too! Nice work.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations on finishing the dress and the invisible zipper. Another great addition to your wardrobe ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great zipper on a great looking dress!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Another fabulous dress....love the stripes, the color...everything !

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very nice I , too, love the stripes.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Really nice, Carolyn. I love that fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm feeling the stripes. Whah! Why aren't there any in my stash? You're right, this is a great addition to the corporate wardrobe, especially loving it with the cardi.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great dress as usual Carolyn!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love, love, love this dress!!! It'll be perfect for summer at the office.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh,this is the perfect "transition to summer" dress. I just love it, need to go looking for some stripes.. K

    ReplyDelete
  16. That looks *great* with the cardigan! Gotta love EOS.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Another amazing Dress!! You look great in it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. You rock! And look great!

    I saw Star Trek this weekend and it was awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  19. So you did do the invisible zipper and it worked out perfect. Congratulations. Now I have to try it too :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I don't know if my eyes are playing tricks or what...are the stripes evenly spaced apart or are they different widths?

    Love the dress with the cardigan and the necklace. It looks great and you look radiant wearing it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. SewingLibrarianMay 27, 2009 12:56 AM

    You look so pretty in this dress! Great job.
    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  22. Congratulations on a great zip! I absolutely love this dress! The colours are my favourites and my bedroom is decorated in all those shades. The necklace is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  23. You have achieved a great look with this dress, necklace and shoes. i like the color palette.
    PS the stripes are wonderful this way. I would have had doubts the other way :-)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Yea! Pictures!

    Another lovely ensemble!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I love that dress - the fabric is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Great dress, love the stripes.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Excellent dress - different, but still fits with that corporate aesthetic. Love those vertical stripes, too.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Those stripes are working for you, beautiful dress, simple and chic

    ReplyDelete
  29. Carolyn, thank you for once again, sharing your vast stores of knowledge and creativity with us! Your striped dress is really beautiful and looks so corporate chic! Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  30. By the way, almost forgot, would you like to come to Florida, go through my pattern stash and put together some pattern/fabric combinations for me? I so want to be like you when i grow up!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I remember this fabric and it is gorgeous! You look great in it.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Yay pictures again! I LOVE the colours on that fabric, and the colours of the whole ensemble together. Gorgeous.

    Dilly

    ReplyDelete
  33. Very nice! You sure know how to put your work wardrobe together....

    ReplyDelete
  34. You look mah-ve-lous (channeling Billy Crystal). Another fabulous creation!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Great dress! Love the linen stripes.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Killer! You are so good with proportion; and that is such a hard skill to master. The only other sewer who has it down as well as you is Ann Smith (and I'm still working on that skill myself!)_

    ReplyDelete
  37. I just love this look, the sweater tops it off perfectly. Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  38. One of your best looks *ever*. Fabulous outfit.

    ReplyDelete
  39. The dress look fabulous, very elegant and chic! What a great looking outfit for the office!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! It is so appreciated!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails