Burda Style For people who sew
Description
A handful of years ago when my family took a vacation to Charleston, SC, I fell in love with southern sweet tea. We ate at a variety of different, local places throughout our week long stay, and I made it my mission to taste as many varieties of sweet tea as I could! Even though I haven’t really had any since that trip (I already have enough of a sweet tooth without indulging it more often!), once the weather gets warm and the afternoons long and sunny, I always think about how a glass of cool sweet tea would be just the thing to make the day even better. This dress, which I made in time for Easter last weekend (so it became my unofficial “Easter dress”, I guess!), reminds me of the sort of dress I would have loved to wear sipping sweet tea during long lunches breaking from wandering around Charleston.
The pattern I used is one that has been in my stash for quite a few months, and I just hadn’t gotten around to making! It’s Colette Patterns Parfait Dress (http://www.colettepatterns.com/shop/parfait). The fabric is actually two pillowcases I thrifted while Mom was visiting last month. Once I opened the seams, there was just enough fabric to make a dress! I flatlined the entire thing, since the pillowcase material was sheer.
As with all the designs from the Colette Patterns line that I’ve made, I’m very pleased with the fit and the way all the pieces come together. However, that being said, there are a few changes I’d make if I sewed this up again (mostly personal preferences): I’d lengthen the midriff pieces about 1″. Even though the pattern is supposed to be a slightly higher waist, I have a long torso, so the “waist” sits around my stomach, which can sometimes be uncomfortable for me. I’d also lengthen the shoulder straps (again, that annoying long torso!) about 1″. Finally, the skirt was a bit too short for me (even when accounting for if I were to length the bodice midriff). This was an easy fix on this project: I just bought a couple yards of embroidered eyelet and tacked it to the hem. But on another incarnation of this pattern I might prefer to forgo the additional trim!
Material Notes
pillowcases, eyelet
Difficulty
Intermediate
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Apr 20, 2010, 08.14 PMby ailuj
beautiful summer dess
Apr 11, 2010, 08.35 PMby Nat Rogers
This dress is gorgeous! I love the fabric and the structure of it. :)
Apr 10, 2010, 11.04 PMby keren
What a lovely dress! I love the lacy hem!!! And I can’t believe it used to be two boring old pillowcases!!
Apr 10, 2010, 05.29 PMby violaisabelle
Lovely job, Miss C. ;)
The pillowcase fabric is perfect for the dress. I really like the ‘fabric’ and the pattern. Looks wonderful on you. The hat makes the outfit. :)
Apr 10, 2010, 05.08 PMby cquinn13
it’s gorgeous! the fabric and the pattern, looks great! i wasn’t too keen on the pattern originally, but after seeing this…very well done!
Apr 10, 2010, 01.10 PMby helenadoll
I love it, very pretty… I might get this pattern, but make it with shorts so it’s a playsuit… :D
Apr 10, 2010, 07.39 AMby nettevivante
What a lovely and sweet dress for spring. The floral pillow cases are just perfect.
Apr 10, 2010, 04.28 AMby gillthecat
god id need more than 1 pillow case i think
Apr 9, 2010, 07.41 PMby ajtak7171
Perfect. Just perfect – as always!
Apr 9, 2010, 06.55 PMby in-stockholm
Beautiful!
Apr 9, 2010, 06.14 PMby libra-s
Lovely dress! I think that the trim goes very well with the fabric and pattern.
Apr 9, 2010, 05.49 PMby wzrdreams
I LOVE the pillow cases you used… they are so perfect for this sweet pattern. Also, that hat is fabulous.
Apr 9, 2010, 05.19 PMby learning-to-fly
This is adorable and also far prettier than their original version of the dress!