Valentino Panel Tried 'n True Dress

While I was working on this dress, using such fine fabrics, I truly felt like I was sitting at the grown-ups sewing table.  Honestly!  See I use nice materials and I make pretty garments.  But the fabrics used in this dress, from the Valentino panel to the china silk lining are all top notch pieces.  Using them just makes me feel like I've arrived! *LOL* 

You want to see pictures of the finished dress right?  So here you go:

Stats ~
Fabric:
Valentino Silk Panel
Black Silk Satin

Photo Courtesy of Mood Sewciety Blog

Notions:
22" invisible zipper
China silk lining
Rayon seam binding
1" black lace
Farmhouse Fabrics Fusible Knit Interfacing

Sewing Machine Set-Up ~
**I used the straight stitch foot for my sewing machine.  
**The stitch length was set at 2.7
**Gutterman black thread

Construction ~
In my last post I described how I handled turning the panel into the dress front. The back of the dress and the sleeves were cut from the black silk satin which is a little heavier than the lightweight & airy Valentino panel used for the front. So I added some stay tape at the shoulder seams to assist with stabilizing the dress front and the back of the dress. After all of the work in this dress, I didn't want the shoulder seams to pull apart from strain.

The invisible zipper went in the back perfectly and then the lining was added.  For the sleeves, I cut off a 2.5" band of the black fabric at the hemline.  Then I added the 2.5" wide rose print band.  I left the band unhemmed until I could decide how wide I wanted the rose band to be.

Making Your Own Version ~
My dress is made from my TNT pattern.  If you'd like to make a similar type dress, I would recommend Vogue 8786...

I actually thought of using this pattern with the panel but didn't think I had enough of the rose portion of the panel for the front yoke.  Mood has a couple of interesting border prints, as well as an assortment of panel prints on their site that could be used to make your own version of my dress.

Conclusion ~
This dress is very light and airy.  It is amazing because the fabrics feel so wonderful against my body.  I'm thrilled that I was able to turn the Valentino panel into the vision I saw...the entire sewing journey was a joy especially since I ended up with a great new dress.

...and a few more pictures of me in the dress...

Dress back showing solid back and floral band on sleeves

Front neckline and side sleeve showing floral bands

Side view

Another view of the front

My daughter really loved how I used the print and I really hope that I did it justice.  I can't wait to wear it to work!  Finally, a parting shot...my daughter makes me laugh so hard when she's taking these pictures and then she continues to snap pictures while I'm cracking up...

...as always more later!