A Sweeping Silk Dress

I’ve had Sallie’s gorgeous rendition of this dress on my brain ever since she made it…THREE YEARS AGO. That’s a long time to jones a dress when you know how to make a dress!

To be fair, I did attempt this Burdastyle pattern pretty much immediately, in a technicolor Liberty silk cotton, fully intending an A to Z copy. However, my short waisted, shorter frame didn’t jive with the pattern as drafted, and I went into an over-fitting rabbithole that ended tragically.

This is actually my third try at this pattern, and I was *almost* successful. I mean, don’t get me wrong, y’all, I consider this a success and will proudly flaunt this baby! In fact, she’s already been paraded thrice–a few wrinkles did not stop me from putting her literally in the spotlight, for her maiden voyage in a concert reading of Showboat.

Although I did wrangle a short waist adjustment, I could’ve used a bit more height taken out of the back, as you can see. This pattern is not for the faint of heart in terms of adjustments; there are no l/s lines, and lots of pieces.

But I’ll talk about that more on my blog later this week, because we’re here to talk about the fabric! ISN’T THIS FABRIC RIDICULOUS?!!! I snagged it in the silk section of Mood’s NY store. I *think* they’re blue peonies, I KNOW I am in love with them.

The bodice pieces are underlined and interlined and basically reinforced to the nines, in order to get the structure needed for fit. But the skirt is two lovely layers of free flowing flowers! (You can find a similar option here.)

The buttons hail from my stash–I believe there are 23 in all, and yards of rouleau made in self-fabric to go with them.

This little diddy ate up a whopping 5 yards of fabric, if I remember correctly. I feel like a queen in it, so: WORTH IT.