Good news and bad news...

3:37 PM 8 Comments A+ a-

The good news is, I made a bombshell dress! The bad news is, I haven't worn it in public yet...

I was convinced that I might have an opportunity to wear the dress in New York so I spent a whole weekend working like crazy to finish it, only to get to New York and discover it was too cold to wear it. Plus, my friends and I are poor, just starting out 20-somethings, so we didn't really hit up the type of establishment that warrants a dress like this. However, it's done, it fits pretty well, I learned a crazy amount making it and I have plenty of weddings coming up in the next few months so it will get it's day in the sun.

As always, my face looks crazy in the pictures and I forgot to iron the dress. Someday I'll get my act together, promise...

Also, it's worth mentioning that the cleavage is insane in this dress!





So here's the detail/mistake shots. I used a crazy vintage piece of fabric from an estate sale for the dress. I'm not sure what it is exactly, it's kind of like a Chambray with black and metallic blue woven threads. It's also pretty delicate. I have a few holes like the one below in the bodice, which are super annoying but I didn't discover them until it was all put together and I was definitely NOT going to take it all back apart to replace the pieces. I'm assuming no one will be that up close and personal with my chest, so hopefully I'll be alright...


I lined it with a pretty green rayon, also an estate sale find. I adore the color and definitely need to use this fabric to make a dress of it's own. Some of the stitching around the boning channels is crazy because my machine was freaking out and I didn't care enough to fix stitching in a part of the dress that no one would see. I also ended up with a lining that was a few inches longer than the bodice top, so I decided to forgo the waist stay, since the boning went down a little farther and did a pretty good job of holding up the dress.


Love the zipper guard detail, this will be happening on more of my dresses in the future.


I'm hoping I think of somewhere to wear this soon because it's a pretty great dress. It was crazy complicated compared to most sewing I do but I really enjoyed the process and Gertie was a dream teacher. I feel like there will be several more of these in my future...


Speaking of the future, I'm participating in...


I'm really excited that this is coming around again. I participated in two of these challenges last year and it was remarkable to me how much easier it was the second time around! So here's my pledge:

'I, Forrest of Presserfoot Propaganda, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I endeavour to wear as much handmade and refashioned clothing as I can each day for the duration of May 2012'
I thought about going "all the way" and only wearing handmade clothing, but I haven't gotten around to making jeans or bathing suits yet and I'm not ready to forgo wearing those things for a whole month. I'm excited to see what fabulous things y'all will be wearing in May!

8 comments

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Sara
AUTHOR
April 11, 2012 at 4:06 PM delete

hehe, I'm imagining you piling on layers and layers of clothing each day in May... trying to wear "as much handmade and refashioned clothing" as you can each day. :D I'll be joining you. Hope to see you in the Flickr group!

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Meg the Grand
AUTHOR
April 11, 2012 at 4:13 PM delete

Oh, my friend - that dress is just STUNNING. You rock that color like whoa! And I'm very excited to see what you'll be wearing for MMM!

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Ginger
AUTHOR
April 11, 2012 at 4:19 PM delete

Holy cow!!! This looks great!! Fabulous job!

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Sue
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April 11, 2012 at 4:55 PM delete

Great dress - I love that blue! I've got some weddings coming up this spring/summer and now I feel like I need to make a bombshell dress. :)

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Amanda
AUTHOR
April 11, 2012 at 5:07 PM delete

Just wow- that looks freaking amazing! What and amazing job and even better because of the epic fabric finds. I say do your groceries in that number and own it while everyone looks on in envy teehee!

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T. Sedai
AUTHOR
April 11, 2012 at 5:45 PM delete

Wow - the dress looks amazing! Lovely color and great fit. I wouldn't be too worried about the tiny imperfections in the fabric - everyone is going to be so blown away by the dress that they won't notice!

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Valerie
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April 12, 2012 at 10:04 AM delete

This dress is living up to its name - you look totally bombshell! Great job!

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