Casual version: BurdaStyle 07-2017-124 cocktail dress in stretch denim

For some dresses, using a casual fabric for a garment with a glamorous style results in the best of both worlds. Sophisticated and yet wearable anywhere. Reflecting back on things I've made for myself over the years this combo has really worked well. When I made the blue wool version of this BurdaStyle Pattern 07-2017-124A  last winter for my friend Heather I said "I think this would be great in denim". At the time I concentrating on completing that one in time for her event but the idea stuck in the back of my mind. Looking through my fabric recently I came across a denim fabric I bought at Joann's, maybe the summer before last? And so I made the executive decision - this dress will be!



A blonde in a little black dress, ideal for vacation or a dinner out. I'm so happy I stitched this up. Sewing it in stretch denim, with no lining made it a bit quicker to sew. Plus I had already dealt with the pattern puzzle which is this pattern. And it is a bit of a puzzle, with asymmetrical seaming and darts.

Actually this inside look shows the detail probably better than the outside. Also you can see that while the fabric looks black it's really woven from a combo of blue and black threads so I guess it gives you either/or in terms of accessories. Note: my constant conpanion when sewing during the day, podcasts. First up every morning is The Daily.



Previous version of this dress was sewn in blue wool, which had a touch of lycra but wasn't really stretchy. This denim was much more elastic, and I went for a tighter fit in this version.



Here's the drawing for this pattern. Both times I've left off that overlay, which is a good idea but coupled with the asymmetric shaping just didn't do anything for the dress, in fact if you look at my previous blog post on the blue wool dress, I tried it when doing the muslin and it wanted to poof out strangely. Not a look anyone wants!



A few dress form pictures of this denim version and scroll down for more sewing details.












This dress is definitely very "dart-y" with both small vertical darts and longer horizontal bust darts coming from the side seams. I didn't like how they first came out when I basted the dress together for a fitting, and even after the fitting played around with them quite a bit. The photo below shows my first attempts and then the final version.



I pulled out the pattern pieces and was trying to recall what I did with the darts on the first version. I always figure the pattern is just a guide and I often change the length or angle of the darts as I go to suit the fabric or the body shape. I keep trying to back off the dart point to keep it from being too prominent but that just made the whole apex area more pointy - which is not the look most of us are going for.
Examining the pattern pieces I realized that the two side darts weren't actually the same either, so there was no need to try and sew them both the same length and width, it was better to just take in the dart as needed for shaping. In the end I had a bit of fabric at the underarm in the front, but I just sliced that off and did the edge finish.
For this dress I did facings in self fabric for the front and back neckline, and then just made some bias binding out of black cotton batiste for the underarm binding.




I tried a new method of putting in the invisible zipper which I saw on the Threads website, it works quite well but does involve a bit of basting. Not that I mind that and to get it to line up perfectly on the first try makes that hand sewing worthwhile.



I lightened up the shadows in this photo below so the details of the seaming are more visible.




And while the casual sandals look fine I know this dress will look great with a bit of jewelry. I've seen her wear some cute hot pink leather wedge sandals so that might just be the pop of color this outfit needs.
In the meantime we will make do with my photoshop flower 🌺.



So that's the latest on this project. Glad I finished it with a couple months more of warm weather here so she can wear it.

What's next for me. Yes, I've made another summer dress....and today I vowed on Instagram that it will be the last for a while. My closet is bursting with summer dresses. But they are so fun to make! And fortunately I can wear them all the time. Hmmm maybe talked myself into more?  Nope. Onto other stuff. Just cut out a t-shirt and about to make the Lander pants as I am teaching that class at Hello Stitch in early September, By the way - that class is filling up so if you want in, register soon!

Happy Summer Sewing,
Beth

today's garden photo, it's getting past peak hydrangea time but every year one of the many I have goes into overdrive, this year it was this purpley-blue one. ooo that color 💜