Black and Lace

Let's start this post out by saying that I'm a fabric piggy.  We all know this.  I've shared the pictures of my fabric collection so you know that fabric is my muse. Okay now that we've re-established that fact...*LOL*...I saw this piece on a website and just had to have it.  There was no need involved in this purchase, it was ALL want!

Lace and applique border

Close up of lace border

It arrived Friday evening.  I brought it in from the garage when I got home from my Mood Dinner Date and planted it on the cutting table.  I opened it Saturday afternoon and I knew the minute I pulled it from the box that it was never going to make it to the fabric shelves!  I also knew that it needed to be made up in a simple silhouette so that the lace was emphasized.  To make it work wearable, I decided to leave the lace embellishment at the hemline.  Now I know that they are showing more lace for work gear but I've got to be careful when, where and how I wear lace to my day job.

After going back and forth over whether to make a skirt or a dress, of course a dress won out...and not any dress pattern but another version of my TNT dress.

It's raining out today and I wanted a few outside shots

Some stats:
Fabric ~
Polyester crepe with lace trim from Anna Sui

Notions ~
22" black invisible zipper

First a discussion of this fabric.  It's not one of those high quality feels like silk polyesters.  This is one of those hard-wearing, iron-like polyesters.  I'm excusing the quality of the fabric because of the embellishment.  Also because this dress won't wrinkle, it's great for days when I sit a lot...and on those days when I have several meetings...I do a lot of sitting.

I thought I would add a lining to the dress but after working with the fabric, I realized that this polyester dress doesn't need a lining for several reasons.  One, you won't be able to see through it because the fabric is medium weight with no opacity.  Two, I'm hot quite a bit of the time now, another layer of fabric will just make me hotter which means that I won't wear the dress often.  Three, a slip will work just fine underneath the dress, if I feel I need the coverage.

The only challenge I experienced in making the dress was the dress' hemline.  Why was it a challenge?  Because the lace is not attached to the dress at the selvage so to serge finish the side seams, I left the sides unattached about three inches from the hemline.  Then I hemmed the black polyester fabric about an inch from the lace's hem.  Next I trimmed the lace hem to match at the sides.  Hem is finished...not a great hem...but a workable hem.

This dress was an easy, down and dirty sew.  A lot of bang for the buck from a TNT pattern and a great embellished fabric.  Of course, this is not a part of my "The City in Winter" collection but a little detour that is good for the creative soul...and a wonderful new dress for work!  

A few more pics of the dress...

Dress back

Dress side

Dress front

Dress other side

Dress with RTW Cardigan

My next piece will be from the collection.  I thought I would work on the Vogue dress but I'm not sure...so stay tuned to see what comes out of the sewing machine next.



...as always more later!