A Little Bit of Nude ~ SWAP Dress No. 3

Swap Dress #3 is all about my new obsession with the color nude.   So tonight I came home and finished hemming it during "Dancing with the Stars!" so that it would be wearable before the weather warms up any more.

Some stats:

Fabric:
2 yards of beige wool crepe
2 yards of beige bemberg lining

Notions:
22" invisible zipper
3 yards 1/2" polyester lace
3 yards striped bias binding

Pattern:
TNT Dress Pattern ~ princess seam version

This nude sleeveless version was based upon the original navy blue dress.  I loved how the original one wore...close fitting without being too tight.  The fabric had a little stretch in it so it was perfect for work and the fabric kept its shape during a long day of work...no sagging...no bagging.  

Since I used the wool crepe for this version, I cut it a little bigger thinking that I needed to make an allowance for the stretch in the navy fabric.  Wrong!  I ended up removing almost all of the extra that I added.  Somewhere in my mind, I forgot that wool crepe grows when you add body warmth to it and that the dress didn't need any extra...duh!

Otherwise this is the same construction except this version is sleeveless and lined.  I used some more of the striped bias binding that I made last fall to finish off the armholes.

I also added lace to the hem of the lining.  I just like this look and part of the reason the dress hung so long waiting to be hemmed was because I didn't have any lace on hand.  A trip to Pacific Trimmings last week after work solved that problem.  Then an evening in a tea bath gave me the hue I wanted for the lace.

Now I'm sure you are wondering why I would use the same pattern again...well it works! And it is a good dress to wear under the jackets/tops that are a part of my SWAP plan.  I used a fashion color on a traditional piece to make it trendy yet classic at the same time, thereby insuring that this dress will work in my wardrobe for years to come.

One final pic of me wearing the dress with the sweater that I purchased to add another color to the SWAP plan.

Hopefully I will get an opportunity to work on finishing up the shirt jacket before the weekend because I really want to get started on my next dress which will be made from a tropical wool blue & beige pinstripe fabric!

...as always, more later!