Christmas party frock

Monday 13 December 2010
I'm glad I provided you all with a laugh at Anna's escapade - think of it as my Christmas present to you. She has been better behaved these last few days, but it is still exhausting keeping up with her as she leaves a trail of destruction around the house. Thank you especially to those who left tips on how to get the sudocream out of the carpet, I am going to try it as soon as I can muster the energy. And as for the dog, well he can sleep on the floor while he learns his lesson!

And as promised, here's a pic of my new frock made just in time for the festive season. My social calender is looking a bit light this year, with just a few casual get togethers scheduled which is actually kind of nice and much more relaxed. And because it's so hot, all I need is a simple but colourful dress, just like this:




It's made from Simplicity 4930, which is undated but I'd guess that it's late 1950s/early 1960s. It's very similar to the dress I made for Christmas last year which is the white, black and red print dress up in there in my blog header, but this one doesn't have the contrast 'bib' and it has a lower cut back.

I made it from some medium weight cotton which has mint coloured stripes on it which are graduated in colour so the stripes on the bodice are darker than that of the skirt. I bought this from an op shop some time ago I think. The fabric is a bit vintage itself, according to the selvedge it's a 1983 Robert Burton (an Australian designer): look at that font, it reminds of the school projects I used to so proudly print out on my commodore 64 when I was in primary school!


Not much to report on the construction of this pattern, it is so simple and a pretty typical fitted bodice with full skirt type pattern. I did switch the side zip to a centre back invisible zip just because I don't like the zipper tape and pull digging into the flesh under my arms. I also didn't sew the skirt to the full width required by the pattern because I didn't have enough fabric, if I had the skirt would have been enormously voluminous. I also fully lined the bodice because that seemed easier than fiddling about with separate neckline and armhole facings.

And you can see from the photo above that I matched the stripes at the back perfectly, and the sides are pretty spot on too. It must be all that practice I've had lately with stripe matching....

Just for k, here's the wretched Santa photo:

I'm pretty sure my face wasn't that shiny, they just had a super dooper flash happening. And I wished for what I always wish for - a full nights sleep with no screaming or tears, but I'm not sure if Santa can deliver on that!

11 comments:

  1. Love the stripes babes! Such nice style of dress for that material! You can pick the fabric so well!

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  2. That dress is very flattering on you!

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  3. Very pretty dress the stripes are perfect. Enjoy your holiday parties.

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  4. Lovely, lovely dress. I'm somewhat envying you that you need something to keep you cool, as opposed to me who has to figure out a balance between how many layers I need to keep me warm and at how many layers I start looking like the Michelin man.

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  5. I love the dress. It's really cute on you! I've actually had the Desitin finger paint happen to me. You might also watch when you go to the library, she might want to start pulling armloads of books off the shelves. Use a ball point pen to follow the lines in the wood trim in your house. These children do turn out to be quite bright. Watch out for your fingernail paint and polish remover. I think that's when I went natural with my nails.

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  6. Adorable dress.

    (And, hey, Santa pictures so rarely turn out well. Last year's featured my son screaming and twisting himself to get away from Santa. It will be great to show to my son when he's older anyhow.)

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  7. Very pretty dress - love the stripes with the red accessories.

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  8. So hard to relate to a summer dress for holidays! We are below freezing here. I am quite jealous that you are in a gorgeous cotton frock. Love that scoop back.

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  9. Your dress looks just perfect for your casual party gatherings. I really like the scoop back on that pattern. Very flattering.

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  10. Thank you! She looks so calm there. I know how that goes. We had to skip Santa and Halloween for a few years, and clowns for a few more (not that I minded - clowns are strange).

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  11. Telle une lettre mal faite semblable à un marteau dans un angle courbe, une intime conviction livre la tour des steppes emflammées comme un astre fauve dans la pureté d'une patte noble.
    L'anorak de kuny est un k.way, une marque de qualité pour le confort de la clientèle, bien sûr sa couleur change en fonction des saisons mais il plait aux arbres lorsque les sentiers ont le parfum de l'automne.

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