Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Easter Dress for Noble

Inspiration
When I asked Noble what kind of dress she wanted for Easter she couldn't tell me so I asked her to look for something she liked. She found the dress to the right and said she really liked this one; I looked through my patterns to find a starting point, because I can't draft patterns yet. 





I found this blouse pattern - Simplicity 5099


     And a circle skirt pattern - McCalls M4875;
     however when I was cutting out the bodice
     I realized that the fabric, a gorgeous yellow
     cotton pique, was only 36" wide which
     wouldn't accommodate this pattern. 





Back in the pattern box I found this lovely pattern and was able to use the bottom for the skirt.  I drafted a waist band for connecting the bodice and skirt; and cut out a tie from the blue linen.


And here's the dress!  Noble is a modest, virtuous young woman.  Isn't she beautiful!

 
This project really got my creative juices flowing, and even though I have no sewing room to work in, at present, I really enjoyed the challenge of creating this dress.  When I told my Mom that I was planning to go back to college and get a degree in Fashion Design, which includes pattern making, she reminded me that I had always wanted to do that as a teen.  Somewhere along the way I got distracted by other interesting things and didn't pursue my goal.  Well, now I am.  I really feel a calling to do this as there is a need for clothing that is elegant, beautiful, classy, AND modest. 

The other kind of clothing I've long been interested in is historic clothing.  While we were living in Virginia I was able to attend two symposia about historic clothing.  Wow, were they fun; one was held in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.  I got to meet and listen to several leaders in the field of museum curating.  My dream was to create for myself a closetful of clothing representing every era from the 1620 landing of the Mayflower to the New Look of the 1950's.  I think motherhood and Halloween costumes got in the way this time.  But as the good book says "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  I'm really hoping that now is my season to pursue my dreams.

3 comments:

  1. Just so everyone knows, my mom is a genius. All I had to do was show her a picture of a dress I wanted, and she made it for me!

    And I love the dress. It is so comfortable, and I don't have to worry about a neckline that's too low or a hemline that is too high.

    Eomma saranghae! (I love you, mom!)

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  2. Lovely dress! I absolutely adore the sleeves! Thanks for commenting on my blog and leaving a link to yours :)

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  3. Very nicely done - it takes an eye for design to "cut and paste" from different patterns like that. The finished product is beautiful! Pattern drafting, especially for someone who already plays with patterns like you do, isn't terribly difficult. I think creating a balanced design is harder, and you've shown you can do that :)

    Keep up the good work (and keep posting pictures so we can see them)!

    Jordan Elizabeth

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