3 Dresses 3 Fits 3 Looks

05 Mar 3 Dresses 3 Fits 3 Looks

Maybe you go through color phases like I do.  I don’t know where they come. Two years ago I was all about orange but lately I’ve been partial to blue and green.

Recently, the delightful fabric designer Jennifer Paganelli sent Julie and me selections from her Hotel Frederiksted collection. We each made a tunic for one of our book signings at Quiltcon in Savannah last week.  The fabrics are quilting cotton which isn’t always recognized as garment friendly, but one can have fun with the great prints found in quilting cotton, and create cute casual garments! Here’s mine.

I decided to make a summer dress fitted through the bodice and a-line below the hips. Back darts were added in the back.

By adding an invisible side zipper, I can get in and out of the dress without wrinkling the cotton.

The large pattern design needed to flow freely especially on short me. My placket is sewn in the dress fabric and matched to the bodice. I piped the placket in the companion fabric to give it some definition and RTW detail.

I contemplated piping the neckline but opted instead to pipe the armscye for balance and to give the dress a finished look. I love the dress and am eagerly awaiting warmer weather!

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Earlier in the fall I made an all purpose dress in a four-way stretch nylon/spandex fabric which I found at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store in Gastonia, NC. I see RTW garments everywhere in this stretch fabric!

I wear this simple dress ALL THE TIME! Julie and I were inspired to design the ruffled neckline two years ago by the Devon Baer line, and are we glad we did! Now we cannot keep up with the designers offering  this ruffled neckline dress and tunic.

The stretch in this fabric naturally resulted in a looser fit. I added narrow back darts to fit the back, but because I loved the comfort of this dress, I made no other adjustments.

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I happen to be someone who asks “What if….” a lot.

What if I made the ruffle wider?

What if I used a heavy scuba type knit on this pattern?

What if I made it really fitted?

I put the pedal to the metal over the last couple of days and here’s the result.

I picked up the fabric from my local JoAnn’s. The fabric is so heavy it would not fit through my ruffler so I gathered the ruffle by hand, otherwise it all worked out! Due to the weight of the fabric and because I wanted a fitted dress with little or no flare, I ran the back darts all the way to the lower edge.

I used bias strips of silk for the armhole facings and cut the shoulders in slightly beyond the pattern marking. Since the dress is more fitted than my usual makes I’m wearing it a little longer striving for balance……..

All of the dresses are made from The Tunic Bible. The philosophy behind the book is by fitting yourself once, you are free to experiment and be creative with the design details, and it has been the greatest reward of our efforts! Additional construction techniques and details can be found at thetunicbible.com.

As promised earlier – the next post will feature Julie Starr’s Winter project which I must share! (not tunics 😉 )

Happy Sunday everyone!