Friday, January 11, 2013

Valentino Inspired ~ Butterick 5821

Every time I visit the Mood NYC store, I stroll by the ponte aisle and lately I haven't been disappointed.  I always find something new and unusual there. When I found this fabric, which I'm calling a laminated ponte, I knew immediately that I wanted to make a dress with it using Butterick 5821.



Now the pattern envelope isn't that inviting but the line drawings highlight a dress with so much potential.   I knew the laminated ponte and a stud trim that I picked up from Mood's trim department would yield an amazing dress.  All of my musings on how I was inspired to make this dress can be found in this post.



Some stats:
Fabric ~
Laminated Ponte from Mood Fabrics NYC Store

Notions ~
22" brown invisible zipper
black bemberg lining
Stud & Pleather trim also from Mood Fabrics NYC Store
1" black lace 

Construction Details ~
As usual there were quite a few pattern alterations done to the pattern to make it fit me. I started with my TNT dress pattern, making a pattern sandwich with it, the pattern pieces from Butterick 5821 and some tracing paper.

New pattern pieces were made insuring that the most important things from my TNT dress pattern, like making sure the bust dart was in the right place and that the pattern was wide enough for my body were copied to the new pieces.

After pattern alterations were done, I moved onto cutting out the fabric.  I knew I wanted to highlight both the "right" and "wrong" sides of the fabric on the front of the dress, sort of like a checkerboard.  So I used a single layout to cut the dress front pattern pieces to achieve that look.

Applying the Trim ~
My first step was to add some Steam-A-Seam2 to the back of the trim, then hand press it down to the dress front to hold the trim in place while I applied it to the dress front.  Then I added a few pins in strategic places to further insure that the trim didn't move on the dress front while it was being applied.  I did try to apply the pleather/stud trim to the front of the dress by using my zipper foot to stitch it down...but the zipper foot kept hitting the larger studs so that was a no go.



Handstitching ended up being the only way to get the trim added to the front of the garment in an unobtrusive way...but how? Slipstitch the edges or use small stitches down the front? I went with handstitching it down using very, very small stitches on the front and longer ones on the back.  This was perfect.  The pics above are close ups of the application.  The good thing is that it works and isn't very obvious unless you're very close to me.  I can live with it!

Working with the fabric ~
I'm calling this a laminated ponte...I don't know if that's it's real name but that's what it seems like to me...because the fabric has a shiny front and a dull back. It's just like working with regular ponte. I didn't do anything differently except for lowering the temp on my iron, otherwise it sewed just like any other ponte I've worked with. I used a straight stitch length of 2.9 on my Janome 6600P, a size 80 Universal needle and serge finished all of the pieces prior to construction.

Additional Construction Details ~
Besides the checkerboard application on the front of the dress, the rest of the dress' construction was pretty straightforward. I did end up omitting the sleeves. I made them and even started to put them into the dress but they weren't working. So since I'm always hot anyway I will wear a cardigan with this dress, sleeveless works.



I did have to use the zipper foot to stitch the lining to the dress and to edgestitch the lining into the dress to avoid the first stud on the trim ~ it's a bigun.  


I also added lace to the hem of the lining.  It just seemed like the perfect complement to the rocker chic front of the dress.  Y'know hard and soft! 


The Finished Dress ~
I was really pleased with how the fabric and trim made this dress shine.  It's a little edgy but not too edgy for my very corporate work atmosphere...though I won't be wearing this dress on the days that we have important clients and meetings going on in the office!

A few more views...





This was actually my first finished garment of 2012 but since it was my Mood garment for January, I'm just now sharing it here.  With this dress' reveal that brings my sewcation total to four pieces...not as much as in sewcations past but except for the last dress...they were all very involved projects.  I had a great wallow in my creativeness and am thrilled with my final pieces.  I'll have a wrap up post next and I promise I will answer all of the questions you left!

...as always more later!





40 comments:

  1. Another triumph Carolyn! Fantastic use of that fabric. There are some terrific laminated fabrics around now!

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  2. The handsewing of the trim looks great - it emphasizes the studs, kind of medieval!

    Lovely dress!

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  3. That is one great dress! Love the trim, the fabric and the use of them.

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  4. That is just so pretty,Carolyn.

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  5. Love this dress! You are on a roll with the rocker vibe!

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  6. What a great dress. And the shoes are perfect! Another Win. g

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  7. Love the dress, once again. I would say a very successful sewcation indeed.

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  8. Kudos for hand-sewing all that trim! Great dress.

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  9. Love the stud finish! This dress is just brilliant...J

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  10. Love it! Very sassy and sexy!

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  11. This is an amazing dress. So you you and so flattering. LOVE!

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  12. Again, you out did yourself, this is beautiful.

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  13. I absolutely love it!! You look fabulous. Is that fabric available online at Mood? I did some searching for laminated Ponte but nothing came up. Have a happy New year.

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  14. I love the trim and the fabric.... perfect companions! Using both sides of the fabric really adds a great affect. Love it!

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  15. I love this dress and don't think you shouldn't wear it when you have important clients or meetings!! It looks very polished!

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  16. I love this dress. You look awesome wearing it. I guess you want those important clients focused on business rather than your dress. Your sewcation produced 4 winners!

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  17. What a great dress, Carolyn. Brilliant use of the fabric and trim.

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  18. Wow! Edgy indeed, but I likey! Another winner!

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  19. Edgy yet professional! I love how this dress exudes confidence!

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  20. When you first showed the pattern (before) I was thinking the pattern is hmmmmm... o.k. But when you showed it again, b/4 I saw your reveal, I thought hmmm that would make for a great use of different fabric's! You hit it right on the (pardon my pun) nail! Great job! It looks nice with the brown sweater also... good finishing touch! What would a small hem stitch have done? Starting on the edge of the dress and jogging over to catch the trim? Just a thought, I've had to use similar on some wedding dress trims b/4. Again, great job! Your starting the year out with a bang!

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  21. Great use of the fabric and trim. Another winner.

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  22. She scores again! These colors are very nice on your too.

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  23. Yet another great dress - fabulous - different - gorgeous.

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  24. Love love LOVE it!! That stud trim is perfect. Now I'm conflicted. I was going to make a jacket out of mine, but maybe I need a dress?

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  25. So beautiful like all your creations. Please I would like to know did you do sway-back on this dress?

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  26. That's a pretty dress with a great trim. Nice work!

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  27. You have already been so productive this year! I love everything you have made so far. The fabric on this dress looks so cool! I am also feeling a bit inspired to use some of the studs I have sitting about... I am feeling the mojo now - I really need to get sewing!

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  28. Caroline, I love this dress! I have been so impressed over the past year or so as I've watched you experiment with making clothes that are a little edgier and creative, but still age and office appropriate. As somebody who is on the same journey, you have been so inspirational to me. Thanks!

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  29. You have outdone yourself, this one is a wow. Great design work.

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  30. I always enjoy seeing what you do on your sewcation. To me, this dress is a winner. I like the colour blocking and texture. I'm thinking of doing something similar if I can find the right 'notions'.
    Thanks again for sharing your creativity because I always learn from your work.
    Maria :)

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  31. I'm swooning over this dress!! Very flattering on you, I must say! Love he contrast and the trim in the middle sets it off nicely

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  32. I love this dress, the trim and fabric are a great combination and the finished dress is sooo much better than the pattern photo.

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  33. Love this! You are one creative sewista! It's just gorgeous!

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  34. This has got to be one of my all time favorite dresses of yours. Just amazing!

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  35. So nice. This is a great dress, so creative!

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  36. What a striking dress. It gives me some ideas. I will "Pin" this page.

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  37. Your both collection is looking awesome and fabolus and i think you will add more stuff in these blog because i want to see more collection and styles after watching these two awesome styles. Best of luck for your next collection.
    click here

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  38. Gosh! Another stunning dress. By looking at the pattern envelope I wouldn't have envisioned such a winner. You have great imagination.

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