Peacock Dress

The fabric for this dress was an impulse buy.  I was purchasing fabric to make this bag for my friend - she'd specified blue for the insides of the bags so my eyes were scanning for all things blue and of course this fabric jumped out at me.  It's a basic quilting cotton, a bright blue background with peacock feathers - my two favourite things.  I decided to buy two yards of it just because.

I couldn't leave the fabric sitting around either - I had to make it up.  I decided that I wanted it to be in the style of my Avian dress.  I love this dress but it does have a few minor issues with fit in the bodice - so I redrafted the bodice.  To do this I used the bodice and waistband from my interview dress.

 I modified the back neckline into a deep scoop.

I cut the front on the fold to eliminate the front button band and modified the front neckline to line up with the back.  I also raised the underarm by about 1.25 inches.

The skirt I made exactly as I did the avian and interview dresses - a basic rectangle with pleats and pockets in the side seams.

I did french seams throughout and finished the neckline and arm holes with store bought green bias tape I had in my stash.

After wearing the dress for 1/2 hour or so I realised that this was not a smart idea with the arm holes  as I hadn't removed the seam allowance and it was digging in around the front arm hole.  Thankfully I had enough bias tape so I just cut off the old stuff and redo the armholes 1/2" or so further in.  I really didn't feel like unpicking all that bias binding!

The after wearing the dress into town one day I realised that I wasn't happy with the front neckline.  I'm not sure if it stretched out because I didn't stay stitch the neckline or what but I found that my dress was gaping quite a bit in the center front.

What I needed to do was take a seam right down the front tapering from about 1/2" at the top to nothing at the waistband...but I knew that if I did that it would look really tacky and homemade so instead I took two darts starting at the neckline about 1" from center front and angling out to the bottom of the princess seam at the waistline - It just looks a little more purposeful than a single seam down the front.

Now that I've made those minor changes I am so happy with this dress.  I love the fabric, I love the style - it's a great dress.

It has however made me think quite a bit.  The first time I wore it I got asked by someone I don't know very well  (ie. someone who doesn't know that I make all my own clothes) if I made it myself.  Now normally I love saying "I made it" but I can't help thinking that maybe this dress looks a little TOO homemade.  I've thought about this subject quite a bit and decided that it's probably due to the style rather than anything else.  A bright patterned quilting cotton dress tends to scream home made no matter how nicely you make it.  Oh well - It's certainly not going to make any difference to me - I love this dress and I love how it looks on me and I can definitely say I will be wearing this dress in public on many occasions.

At the big lobster in Shediac New Brunswick Canada

What it generally looks like - un-ironed and slightly rumpled!