Celebrate Color Entry: Plum November Dress

 I am SO excited to show off this dress. It has been a labor of love and I am really happy with how it turned out. First, I'll tell you how I made it.

A few years ago a friend of mine was getting rid of a bunch of her clothes, including this dress. She was going to throw it away since it was so badly tattered but I really liked the lines and style of it and figured I could salvage it somehow so I took it. I kept it for a few years, intending to get around to doing something with. And then I heard about the Celebrate Color contest over at Stitched in Color. It was the perfect motivation I needed.

I got my hands on some navy voile and I carefully disassembled the tattered dress seam by seam, taking pictures of details in the process. Some pieces I adhered to fusible interfacing to make a pattern piece, others I drafted an entire new piece by using the tattered material as a rough outline. Using these new pieces as a pattern and my pictures and parts of the tattered dress as references I made a new dress.

 

I wanted a really nice rich plum, so I picked up some "Fire Red" iDye at the fabric store and hand dyed my new dress from navy to the rich plum you see here.

 The whole process was a lot easier than I had anticipated despite all the hand stitching for the hems and snaps and whatnot.

I'll be wearing this to Thanksgiving, it's comfy and elegant, perfect for a holiday meal. I love how airy and light it feels as well, I've never made anything out of voile before and I'm pleased with the texture and weight of the finished dress.

A huge plus for this design is that the top snaps open, meaning it's a perfect nursing dress as well! I love all the gathers and pleats in this, too. It makes an otherwise simple garment a truly beautiful piece.

Thank you, Celebrate Color, for the inspiration to make this! It's my new favorite dress.

Be blessed.