Yellow Tweed Sheath with Tie Collar
My newest dress is in a beautiful yellow Oscar de la Renta tweed from Mood. When I saw this fabric online, I knew it had to be mine. It’s mainly yellow, has loads of texture and sequins, and a total lux feel to it. I set about finding the perfect pattern to showcase it and had a bit of a roller coaster along the way.
My first pick was McCall’s 5972, the curved collar design. I made a muslin but could not get the skirt portion to fit me. Fine. I’ll just use my TNT straight skirt pattern for that part, McCall’s 5972. Of course I did not muslin the collar. Those never give me fit issues. I finished the entire dress plus the lining before trying it on and guess what? I hated the collar. My fabric is really thick and the seam along the edge kept rolling out. Ugh! What to do? Take off the collar and have a plain sheath dress? Find another pattern with a collar I liked better? Did I mention I was totally out of fabric? I decided to make another collar using NewLook 6968, but had to wait another month to use my September Mood fabric allowance.
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| Yes, these shoes were the wrong choice. I should have chosen my brown high healed loafers. Just look at these pictures with your thumb over the shoes, okay? |
This fabric has subtle horizontal stripes, which I was careful to line up along the sides.
The collar on the NL pattern was cut on the bias so there was no seam to roll to the outside. That pattern has a back zipper and the collar relaxes on either side. Mine already had the side zipper per the original 5972 pattern, so I sewed my back collar pieces together.
Isn’t the texture of this fabric pretty?
You may notice that the front tie of my dress is a bit different then the front tie on the pattern example. Because my fabric is thick, I thought I might need some extra length when I was tying the long tail of the collar, so I lengthened it by 4 inches. That turned out to be entirely too long. I tried looping it around another time. I tried tucking it in rather then looping it. I thought, “Holy smokes! This is another dud collar!” Then in a moment of divine inspiration my hands suddenly knew what to do and I tied it in this perfectly lovely single knot. It made a well fitting dress in a pretty fabric become something really interesting and special.
The full lining is made from bemberg Ambiance, also ordered from Mood. The armholes were finished with bias tape as per the pattern instructions. Can I just tell you how much I love this method of finishing sleeveless lined garments? I am pleased that pattern companies are starting to incorporate this technique in their instructions. The neckline is also finished with bias tape, but that is because I removed the original collar after the armholes and lining were completed. That was kind of fiddly to do since there were 3 layers of thick fabric, one layer of lining, and one layer of underlining, all to be graded and tucked under a narrow strip of bias tape.
The entire body of this dress was underlined with polyester organza. I needed something to sew the outer fabric to so that it had some structure. Also, the loose weave of the tweed unraveled just by looking at it, but behaved itself much better after being stitched to the organza. This is the first time I’ve underlined an entire garment and I really liked the process and the finished result. My bottom hem was easily slip-stitched up to the organza and is invisible on the outside. I added a pretty lace hem tape to keep all the strings tamed inside.
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| McCall’s 5972 |
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| McCall’s 3830 |
Patty Pozolo
October 1, 2012
Way to tame a “difficult” project and finish with something truly spectacular!
Erica B
October 1, 2012
That dress is stunning Amanda! You look like you stepped off of an Oscar de la Renta runway!
Cidell
October 1, 2012
I’m with Erica. This is stunning!
Jane
October 1, 2012
I absolutely love this dress. I can sew, but know absolutely nothing about pattern making. I would love to take lessons from you.
Angie
October 1, 2012
Awesome job Amanda! I love the bias tape technique, Imma steal that.
Rosa
October 1, 2012
What a terrific idea the Mood Sewing Network is! I had never thought of ordering from Mood before one of those chosen started including linked to Mood in one of her blog posts. What fun it was to receive my package from Mood !
Amanda — What a terrific review and beautiful dress.. I love that you just made it work even though it wasn’t exactly what you planned originally. Serendipity!
Nancy
October 2, 2012
This is beautiful! Your tailoring and attention to detail are spot-on.
Rosa Claxton
October 2, 2012
Your dress is simply beautiful, you did a great job and it looks really great on you. You have encouraged me not to give up on a project just because I may have a problem along the way. If I keep at it, I can make it work. Thanks again for sharing such a beautiful dress with us.
Julie
October 2, 2012
Prior to this your peacock dress was my favorite, but this is in its own stratosphere. You outdo yourself with each new creation. Thank you for the inspiration.
Dianna. Labastide
October 2, 2012
Love the dress Amanada particularly the neck. You look wealthy and you made it. Two thumbs up. I just came across this email and read the whole thing didn’t even know this was going on with and at Mood. Love the store, variety of fabric and will love to be a part of this. You girls are doing great keep it up.
Carolyn
October 2, 2012
This dress is just stunning…
Sylvia Stevenson
October 2, 2012
I’m new to Mood Network. Your dress is spot on! I look forward to your next project.
sandy
October 2, 2012
An absolutely fantastic job. It’s spectacular and fits you to a T. Great workmanship. Absolutely elegant!
Leigh
October 3, 2012
Looks great! Way to make it work!
Sandy
October 3, 2012
Love the dress and all the wonderful neatness on the underside. This is my first visit and I will definately be coming back for more.
Carol
October 3, 2012
Good job on that yellow dress, Amanda!! I think you must be very organized to have time to sew with three small children. I guess disciplined is the word. I love your classic style that always has a twist! Keep up the good work.
Candice R
October 4, 2012
This dress looks so RICH!! I never would have thought to use this fabric in a dress – but it is perfect! I am going to steal your underlining with organza; I have a very similiar fabric in pink and ivory that I have been wanting to do a jacket with. The organza will work wonderfully!
Fiona
October 7, 2012
Such a great dress, Amanda. Your attention to detail on the finishing is amazing. Is the bias taping on the armholes hard to do?
Amanda S.
October 8, 2012
It’s a little fiddly, not gonna lie. I did a tutorial on it a few years back. If you click on the label “tutorials” on my blog it will come up. Thanks for the compliments!
Elizabeth
October 8, 2012
This dress is beyond gorgeous! I absolutely love it. And I love that you frankensteined different patterns together. It is great when it all comes together like that!
wimmie
October 10, 2012
Lovely dress, and you did a beautiful and well made job…..
Cheryl
October 11, 2012
Beautiful job, Amanda! I especially love it that you showed how you’d underlined the dress. I’m going to have to remember that when sewing those fabrics that love to ravel! Enjoy wearing your fabulous creation and hope you find the perfect shoes