When I first found this fabric, I knew I wanted to go all out with the dress I would design for it. The quirky, somewhat organic shapes and patterns of this amazing corgi and balloon print made it perfect for hiding extra cuts, panels and seams. This meant I could give the dress a super full skirt without worrying about the pattern repeat matching up perfectly. When I decided the skirt would have a centre seam, I knew the perfect bodice to pair it with: an open back, centre and princess seam bodice from a 1956 vintage dress pattern I found years ago when I first started sewing clothing for others.
It’s been a few years since I’ve made a fully lined dress. I made a few when I first started working as a dressmaker but I found people weren’t into the higher prices that resulted from all the extra time and fabric. Now that I’m more established, I’m finding the opposite true. For a while it seemed like every review I received was lamenting the fact that my dresses weren’t fully lined. So this spring, I decided to try something new/ get back to my roots and design a line of fully lined dresses and skirts.
When I first sat down to do my sourcing, I knew my goal of finding a way to increase the quality and value of my work, without increasing my prices out of the purview of my current customer base, would be a difficult one. I decided to switch from a stiff and sturdy eco cotton to a delicate, less expensive but still very nice 100% cotton voile. It has always been important to me than my linings are soft and made from natural fibres, as they sit close to the skin, so naturally, I was very excited to find this luxurious 100% cotton voile. This light and gauzy material is much better suited to skirt linings than the fabric I was using to line bodices before, so it was an easy choice once I finally found the right supplier.
Then, like the cherry on top of a cake, I added a pretty vintage button from my Grandmother’s generous collection to the band at the back neckline. I love using my grandma’s buttons because although every dress is made with the same size and colour of button, every one is unique and every dress is special.
Dress Sophster-Toaster
Shoes ModCloth (different colour)
Petticoat ModCloth (different colour)
Hair Bow Sophster-Toaster
Earrings a street market in Panama
All photos by me.
