Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Navy & Black Square Necked Dress

Or the second dress in the Five in Five series...

This dress was driven by the fabric.  Seriously.  I found this fabric at Emmaonesock...


...and I added it to some black wool crepe from the collection.


To end up with this dress...



Making the dress ~
I don't think I had a specific inspiration dress in mind for this one.  It's a mash up of quite a few dresses I've looked at and been inspired by in the fall fashion magazines, catalogs and on Style.com.  However, to get this dress, I started with my TNT dress but used the square neck facing pieces from out-of-print Vogue 8442 to make changes to the dress front and back neckline.



I also altered the pattern so that it would have an empire waistline.

Pattern Sandwich:  Original TNT Dress Pattern,
Square Neck Facing Pattern & Tracing Paper 
to make new pattern pieces

New pattern pieces ~ dress bodice and dress skirt

The dress top and sleeves were made from the EOS fabric...



...and the dress skirt from the black wool crepe.  A lining was added to the dress by using the pattern pieces.

A few construction details~
Since I'm trying to incorporate the things I learned from the Cynthia Guffey 7 Skills video, I added tailor tacks to the darts instead of marking them with paper and tracing wheel.


Tailor tacks

Then ironed the center leg flat and stitched between the tacks.

Making the darts this way, helps to eliminate the pucker that you get when you sew the darts incorrectly.  And even though I know not to backstitch at the dart tip, I've been guilty of doing it.  So now, I do the turn around thing at the end of the dart that Cynthia describes, as well as, no longer starting to sew the dart at the tip.  It's amazing how those simple changes have changed the appearance of my darts.

I used the back facing pieces for the dress back from the Vogue pattern.  This way it had the same high square neckline as the Vogue inspiration dress.


That back zipper is almost perfect but I can live with it!

Resisting the urge to add piping to the neckline and the waistline, I let the fabrics do the talking.  Other than that, the dress is constructed like I normally would.


A few more pictures of the dress~







I really like this dress.  So much so I almost posted it before the Lacy Pleather Dress.  I can't wait for chillier days to wear this one out and about. The EOS quilted lightweight silky fabric that I used for the top was an absolute joy to sew with and it went so well with the wool crepe without any additional fiddling. Love that!

However, I have to tell you that this will be the last black dress I sew for awhile.  It seems like that's the only color or black 'n white variation that I've sewn for the last month.  I definitely need to add some color to my sewing! *LOL*

The third of the Five in Five garments is laying on my cutting table.  Since this is a top and skirt pattern combo that I haven't used before, I will most likely split up the pattern alteration and construction posts.

...as always more later!


52 comments:

  1. This dress is beautiful and looks so good on you. I love the fabric combination.

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  2. Love that fabric you used for the top-- quite striking! And the dress looks fabulous on you!

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  3. Carolyn, that is simply out of this world gorgeous! It's a really
    fabulous combo of fabrics.. such an elegant dress.

    I can see it with a jacket in either fabric stopping just a
    couple of inches below the waist
    for an out-to-dinner night or
    attending a wedding .. really SO
    many occasions.

    GREAT job!

    ~Joy~

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  4. Yeah! Since I upgraded my phone to ios7 I can now leave comments on sites other than wordpress on my phone! Hooray. So this is yet another cute dress...much more than a boring black dress. Love the use of the two fabrics!

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  5. The empire line and square neckline are so flattering on you. Looking lovely :-)

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  6. Beautiful design, but maybe needs to be more fitted across the back waist?

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  7. This is such a gorgeous dress Carolyn, lovely combination of fabrics and it looks fabulous on you!

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  8. That is a stunning dress - absolutely gorgeous. I love it. The fabric is divine. Great job.

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  9. Another gorgeous dress. You are on a roll.

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  10. Carolyn, you are an inspiration. You look marvelous in everything you've made. The dress is lovely. Thank you so much for sharing and for inspiring.

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  11. Carolyn, your dress is beautiful and you look gorgeous.

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  12. I love this dress, I think it is the square neckline, a different look for you. Amazing use of fabric. As always, you look fabulous.

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  13. Oh my Goodness Gracious!!
    I love, love, love this dress!!
    One beautiful job!!

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  14. Wow, I really love this one. And your talking about what you learned from the Cynthia Guffey video sent me on a search for my notebook from the class I took from her a few years ago. (I found it -- now I just have to take the time to "re-digest" it.)

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  15. Pretty darn awesome! I cannot tell that it is navy and black. They both look black...at least on my screen.

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  16. An elegant dress. Love the fabric in the bodice and can see you wearing this out and about a lot.

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  17. You look fabulous in that dress. Wonderful. Enjoy.

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  18. I like #2 even better than #1. I think that both dresses are stunning and look chic on you. The dart looks perfect. I don't see any problem with the zipper on my screen. Look forward to #3!

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  19. Really love the dress! Very inspiring how you make the pattern sandwich to get some more work from the tnts. Very very nice.

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  20. This is just gorgeous! And extremely flattering on you. Beautiful use of that lovely EOS fabric (I almost bought some of that myself, but restrained at the last second). I think this is my favorite of your recent pieces.

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  21. I look forward to seeing the other dresses you have planned. These are beautiful!

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  22. Oooh, I love the black pattern/texture with plain black that you are playing with in your latest dresses. It's a great use for fabrics that might be too much on their own, but are perfect when balanced out.

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  23. Beautiful work! I love the way you styled it too :D

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  24. Gorgeous! I love the way you used this fabric!

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  25. Gorgeous and perfect for you. Long live Emma OneSock!

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  26. I love this! The fabric combination is perfect.

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  27. Another stunning dress (I feel like I need another adjective!). Adore the square neckline and the use of the fabrics. The sleeve length is perfect. As always - inspired. g

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  28. Carolyn, it's fantastic! It's en elegant dress with some New York edginess. I love it!

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  29. Love this Carolyn! Edgy and elegant at the same time!

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  30. love your mash ups. Beautiful fabric and dress.

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  31. I love your sense of style. I saw that fabric at EOS and thought what could I make? I passed on it but here you go girl and create an elegant dress with it. Love your blog.

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  32. One of your best efforts and looks. The simplicity of the style is flattering and lets the fabric speak for itself. It would not have been so wonderful with piping IMHO.

    Well done.

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  33. Love it, I'm really coming to NYC now. :)

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  34. Great dress,Caroline. I really love the empire waist on you. It's very flattering. More!

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  35. Oh, Carolyn, Gorgeous, Gorgeous, Gorgeous!!! It is simple, elegant, chic. One of my favorite things you've made!

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  36. I've been a lurker, enjoying your blog in silence. But must comment now-- this dress is truly outstanding!

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  37. Hi Carolyn,

    I love the dress from the EOS fabric. Do you by chance still have the link to the material or did you purchase this sometime ago?

    Great job!

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  38. Great fabric, great dress. I can't wait to see the other two I missed. -Nizzy

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  39. Seriously fabulous! As always, you are an inspiration!

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  40. Looks fantastic! I'm going to try this with some gorgeous fabric I got at www.organiccottonplus.com

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  41. I think this might be my favourite of all the dresses I've seen on your blog. It really suits you.

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  42. Your fabric choices are phenomenal! I love this dress, especially the fabric you used for the bodice.

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  43. I love the fabric for this dress. The bodice is just gorgeous, and it just shines beside the plainer skirt. Love this.

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  44. I really like the look of this dress!! Great combination of fabric.

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