Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A Denim & Faux Leather Dress

I've been on the hunt for a great denim dress. I've spent quality time snoop shopping at Macy's Herald Square. I've searched the internet and especially Pinterest and I've come up with a list of denim dresses that I'd like to incorporate into my spring/summer wardrobe.

There are several reasons why denim dresses hold so much appeal for me now.
  1. It allows me to wear a dress in my very casual work environment.
  2. Denim dresses are something I've never really sewn before. I know that jeans are in and everyone is making them but I'm a dress girl so denim dresses really speak to me.
  3. The dresses I've found and been inspired by are stored in an album on Pinterest. They've really sparked me creatively.
  4. By limiting myself to the fabric I have on hand, I'm challenging myself to think outside the box and that's also exciting me.
So I'm making a couple of these as part of my Chicos Chic wardrobe. That said I did go my own way with this one.  I originally meant to sew a denim shift dress sort of like the examples I showed in my May Day post.  However, after pulling denim pieces down (yardage left over from making granddaughter dresses) nothing worked together like I imagined it.  Then I started to pull pieces from the pleather collection to see what would work with the denim remnants and that's when inspiration finally reared her head!

Here is what I came up with ~



This dress is made from a yard and a half of denim plus about a 1/2 yard of the faux leather. Since I started with my TNT dress pattern there are no instructions to give for this because I totally riffed it. I measured as I went so that everything matched and worked.

When I took my first pic and posted it on Instagram, I was awed by how cool it looked. I'm even more awed by the finish product. A TNT dress pattern that I reworked for my new life, yes!!!

A few things ~
  • I used every piece of the yard and a half of denim in this dress. Even piecing some together to get the sleeves...there are only small scraps left.
  • Surprisingly, the faux leather and the denim are similar weights so they work together and not against each other.
  • Because the dress is unlined (who lines a denim dress?) I had to make facings for the dress...and those came from the scraps too.
Some more pictures ~


The first set of pictures were taken in the office...


...and these were taken at home...




Conclusion ~
There are several dresses in the pattern catalogs now that you can use to achieve this look, if you're interested. I would suggest Vogue 9017 or McCalls 6988

I'm thrilled with my new dress especially since it wore so well at work and I got quite a few compliments on it. However, even though it was denim, I still looked dressy for work. Good thing I had a dinner date with friends after work so I used that as my excuse! Look for more denim dresses to come since I've finished one more and started another!

...as always more later!



23 comments:

  1. I love this dress! It's fabulous - it's a closer silhouette than you usually wear - but it totally works and you look happy and comfortable. I can't wait to see what you do with denim next. Even if I might have a sneaky idea ;) g

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic dress and the combination of the 2 fabrics make is a very smart denim dress.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love this denim and pleather dress! Very flattering and it looks like a Carolyn Dress!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love your new dress. It's so cute on you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello! I don't usually comment, just follow a few blogs- but that dress is gorgeous! I love the combination and pattern placement. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great dress! I have remnants of that faux leather from my dd's skirt. I'll have to think of what I can make with it. I don't have such long pieces left though so maybe a top. Did you see the denim jacket/coat as a mini dress on Marion Cotilard at Cannes? Very cool look.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love your dress!! You've inspired me, as is usual!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Color blocking at its best! Hello Spring!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great dress! Hard to believe that luscious print is a faux leather! This is very flattering too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wonderful combination! Great dress!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is really gorgeous. I can't believe the floral print is faux leather! Now I want a denim dress, too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi! I just want to say that your 'sews' are an inspiration to me. I am newly returned to apparel sewing after 30 years of quilting...and your clothes and style are always a pleasure to see!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Adding in my "yup yup" yes vote. That is a great combination of prints and fabrics and looks great on you. Office ready!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a fun dress! I'm loving your new work wardrobe!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love this! At first glance I assumed the pleather was piping - would never have guessed it was the floral print. It's ace!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Awesome combination of fabrics. I love this dress on you.

    ReplyDelete
  17. VERY cute and perfectly casual!

    Was this fabric from EOS?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The denim was from Fabric Mart and the faux leather from EOS.

      Delete
  18. I love it. Love it! There is nothing better than a denim dress and the faux leather makes this something very spectacular. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I too have been collecting inspiration pictures of denim dresses, thinking it might be a way to wear a dress in a casual work environment without looking too dressed up. This is such a "win" dress for so many reasons. It looks great, used fabric from your stash, was a quick sew from your TNT pattern. Can't wait to see the next one!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love this dress, it looks great on you.

    ReplyDelete

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

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails