Back to work

I got the March Burda magazine the other day, and there's really not a lot in it that gets me. It's not as bleak as the February issue (which I still managed to make something from, despite my complaints), but only one dress is really calling out to be made.

What's funny is that I completely disregarded this dress in the casual section but fell in love with the shape of it on the wedding gown pages - I think I looked at the floral fabric and puffed sleeves on the dress and couldn't see any further, something which doesn't happen that often. But I'm so not a puffed sleeve kind of girl.

I like the darts around the waist and the neckline, and I like the shape of the opening, though I'm going to raise it at least an inch. It's too low on the model and she has no real boobs to fill the gap. I don't want the entire keyhole neckline to be filled with cleavage. I also like the way they anchored it at the neck with a pin on the wedding dress, though I’ll put a button on anyway and add a pin when I want a change.

I love the more vintage look of the wedding dress (they're calling it a la Duchess of Windsor), and I think a good part of its appeal comes from those drapy sleeves. No reason they wouldn't look just as good on a regular dress.

There are several fabrics in stash that could be this dress, I just need to make up my mind which one will work best. I have a wonderful cotton voile from Metro Textiles that I would love to use for this. Since it's mostly white, with a wonderful brown floral, it's technically too sheer, but I do have an underdress pattern from a Vintage Vogue that I could make up in a plain white and wear with the voile, so it’s still a possibility. There's also a brown/turquoise vintage-look floral from Paron’s that would be great as this dress. I'd had this fabric earmarked for another dress, but a woman's allowed to change her mind, right?

Dilemmas like this are one of the reasons I love sewing so much. And while I make up my mind, I think I'll go finish the first skirt to the wardrobe, so I don't end up running behind when I've been ahead of myself up until now.


Of course, if anyone out there would offer an opinion, I'd love to hear it.