Tuesday, August 06, 2013

The Red Cotton Eyelet Dress

Lace and eyelet garments are mainstream now. There's loads of lace everywhere.  I've made quite a few lace pieces over the last couple of years so I had no real desire to make another one this summer.  Then you know that whole tear apart and put the sewing room back together happened and I touched all of my fabric.

This red cotton eyelet fabric stuck in my mind and I decided that I wanted a simple sheath dress with short sleeves from the fabric. Nothing exciting...just a good work dress.  So that's what I made.

Materials...
Fabric ~
2 yards of red cotton eyelet from Fabric Mart via the collection




Notions ~
2 yards of tan bemberg rayon lining
22" red zipper
red rayon seam binding
red corded piping purchased from Daytona Trimmings

Construction Details...
This pattern has been made over and over again because it is my standard go-to dress pattern.  However, choosing the cotton eyelet did present some challenges. The first being whether to underline or line the dress.  For this dress I really wanted to line it. I wanted the two pieces (fashion fabric and lining) to be connected at the neckline and armholes only.




So the next thing was to decide what color to line the dress in.  Should it be a total red dress, or should I use white, black, nude or tan lining.  I finally decided to go with a darker tan which will emphasize the red fabric.



The dress has a v-neckline to make it a little different from all of the sheath dresses in my closet.  I added piping to the neckline to finish it off nicely. Since I was adding piping I decided to add it to the sleeve too.  However, I didn't just want to add it to the hemline...here is what I did...


Sleeve serge finished

The sleeve band is the length of sleeve hem by 4"

Sleeve with piping pinned on

Close up of piping pinned to the sleeve hem

Close up of the piping basted to the sleeve hem

Sleeve in original state & then pressed and folded in half

Close up of piping inserted between the sleeve and the band

Sleeve with piping and band

Pic of sleeve on my arm

The only other thing I want to address is the seams.  
  • Sewing this together I used a size 80 universal needle with a 2.6 stitch length.  I wanted to make sure that the stitches were short enough to hold the seams together despite the eyelet holes.  
  • I did serge finish the dress pieces prior to stitching them together.
  • And except for the center back seam the seams were pressed flat and open.
  • However, on the lining all of the seams were pressed to the side so that they wouldn't show through the eyelets.
Besides including a few design details to make this dress special unto itself and not looking like every other sheath dress in my closet, it was a simple sew with some special details.

Some more photos...





This is a simple dress made with an eyelet fabric.  It's more utilitarian than flashy...more need than want...just a pretty red dress for work.

...as always more later!




59 comments:

  1. I love this dress. I am a huge fan of eyelet. Its so very girly. I had an idea looking at it that it would look even better with a belt.

    http://www.etsy.com/shop/CurvyTiffy?ref=seller_info_count

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  2. Great dress and I love your shoe choice!

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  3. What gorgeous fabric, and I love the subtle sleeve detail.

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  4. lovely dress! great job!

    http://glamourgirl-bg.blogspot.com/

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  5. It's a beautiful fabric and the sheath style let's it sing. Very nice!

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  6. Lovely dress! Thank you for giving the details on the application of lining and piping to this dress. Happy stitching.

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  7. Oooo! Müthiş güzel olmuş. Kol ve yaka uygulaması da süper fikir.

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  8. I do like the way the new neckline frames your face.

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  9. It is beautiful and you look so lovely in it!

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  10. Fab dress, great colour, perfect cut and cute details. Nice work! I love the lipstick you are wearing with it too -perfect! :-)

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  11. That sleeve detail is great, I fancy a go at that myself. The dress is amazing and that colour looks so good on you, an inspiration as always thank you

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  12. Carolyn, this dress turned out perfect! Love the color with your complexion!

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  13. I LOVE you in red! Your sleeve detail is so professional, job well done!!!

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  14. There is something about a red dress! Looks great and the piping makes a nice little accent.

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  15. Gorgeous! Love that corded sleeve detail.

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  16. Very pretty dress, great choice on the lining. I really like the piping on the sleeve, nice detail.

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  17. Carolyn,
    You look super in red! The dress is beautiful and the neutral lining was a great choice.

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  18. Looks fantastic! Sometimes simple is all you need.

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  19. Beautiful on you. I love the color. Scared to work with eyelet right now.

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  20. Love the dress! What is the pattern?

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  21. The red eyelet dress is beautiful. I have been away on vacation and catching up on posts that I have missed. "A Designer Interpretation in Linen" posted on Aug 1st is beautiful. I love the black linen with contrast top stitching. So flattering.

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  22. Nice piping detail! It makes the dress a little more special.

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  23. In my world of "less is more," I wouldn't call this a utilitarian dress at all. The gorgeous fabric and elegant details raise this to the level of a classic.

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  24. You look good in red, my friend! I have a deep love for eyelet, so this is right up my alley. Love that sleeve detail.

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  25. What a pretty eyelet pattern, and that color is divine on you!

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  26. The corded piping is a very nice detail to a simple sheath. Like everyone else has been saying, red is a lovely color on you.

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  27. Cute! Carolyn this is adorable, it's a super flattering cut and I loove that eyelet. I also really love how that piping looks, the dress in general looks really professional and just well made in general. Great job!

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  28. How pretty! I love that color on you. A great summer dress!

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  29. oh I love eyelet and have been craving a dress or blouse. I want :) and you look great in the bright red.

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  30. Nice dress!!! and love the color, red has always been one of my favorite colors to wear now I need to make some.

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  31. I love the way you inserted that piping! Red is such a great color on you.

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  32. I really like this dress -- makes me want one. On a side note, it is great to see you posting more frequently.

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  33. Beautiful color and love the piping. You look wonderful in that red.

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  34. I love the red eyelet material. I like eyelet, but when it comes to colors, I am not fond of the pastels usually associated with the material. Great dress.

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  35. The red looks beautiful on you. Sleeves are a nice detail. I relly like the neckline, it's soft looking. Well done you!

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  36. I love this dress. Eyelet has always been a favorite of mine. I especially love the sleeve piping detail. What a great summer dress!

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  37. Hi Carolyn,
    after following your post for quite a while by fortune and becoming a true fan of yours, today I really need to post a comment on that lovely eyelet dress. I occasionally thought of the song "Lady in red" :-) Your style and your perfect intuition of mixing patterns and materials make your blog even more interesting and enjoyable to me. Your wardrobe must be tremendous and it must be as hard to choose e what to wear every other day.....I thank you for a bundle of inspiration following your sewing world and send you warm greetings from Cologne in Germany, Andrea

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  38. Love the texture of the eyelet and it's a stunning color on you!!

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  39. Pretty dress! Your output/sewing production is amazing! I'm working on doing more sewing and less blog reading, LOL.

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  40. This is so pretty, Carolyn! I love the piping detail - would never have thought of that.

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  41. Very pretty, Carolyn, you look fabulous in that red! Thank you for sharing the construction pictures. I like seeing your techniques - they inspire me as much as the finished garment.

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  42. Your dress is lovely, Carolyn. FYI, Wawak is having a sale on rayon seam binding for $5.73. I believe the sale runs through the end of August.

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  43. Beautiful dress!! Love the piping treatment around the neck and arms.

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  44. You sure know how to turn a simple red dress into something special! Love the details.

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  45. Beautiful fabric and the color looks so nice on you. I think you made the best choice for lining. Really wonderful.

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  46. Love that fabric and piping - good tip for reducing the stitch length when sewing something holey too. Enjoy your new dress!

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  47. Lovely red dress and love the sleeve piping.

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  48. How did I miss this? This is a stunning dress. I love it - want is not a bad thing in this case.

    Is this a mood fabric? I really want a lace or eyelet dress. g

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  49. Love the red dress Carolyn and thanks for sharing the construction details. I always learn something from you. Keep up the Great work.

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  50. I chuckle as I was making the same mental decisions! I wanted to line in a neutral too, but didn't have any in my stash. And I had to decide if I would underline or line. I feel very self satisfied as I seem to have made the same choices you did!

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  51. I love this! The red really works on you! And the v-neck is really flattering, too!

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  52. Love the details - very professional!

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  53. The neckline frames your face and shoulders so nicely, and the color brings out your eyes and beautiful coloring. You look fabulous in that color.

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  54. Beautiful dress. Love the color and fabric choice. Looks so nice on you!

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  55. Gorgeous! Looks great on you!

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  56. Love red fabric and this is great looking red. Nice dress. I still have not made my eyelet dress I had planned to make.

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