Using the good stuff

I'm going to do it. I'm going to cut into some "good" fabric. I admit that I'm apprehensive because my sewing skills are rusty. I think the last garment I made was almost 2 years ago. I have sewn some things for the home - Roman shades, pillows and such, but even for that stuff I felt out of practice at the sewing machine. So why on earth am I using the good stuff and not making some practice garments first? Good question.

Here's the deal. I bought some beautiful fabric in Paris a few weeks ago as a birthday gift. Ok, I didn't really need an excuse to buy fabric, but it actually was my birthday and our anniversary weekend, and I just couldn't be in Paris and not go to Tissus Reine. Then I saw this fabric and while I didn't need it, I felt I'd be sad if I passed it up. So I splurged (it was over €20 per meter) and bought 2 meters. Gulp.

The fabric is a knit and appears to be double faced. I didn't note the fabric content, or maybe the tag didn't say, but it feels to me like it's a rayon knit and I'd think the price would support that. The fabric has a lovely drape to it, and it's a nice medium weight with good recovery. The color may not be coming out correctly in the picture - what may show as bright red is more orange and not so bright.

It's a lot of print, so I knew right away I wanted to make a print-blocked dress. Now normally I would put this beautiful fabric into my stash where it would sit, along with my idea of making a print-blocked dress. But print-blocking is in style right now. I can't tell you how much fabric I have in my stash that I bought with the intent to make something that was in style right then...but didn't. So I really want to get off my butt and do this. I'd also like to get it done in the next two weeks so that I can wear it to a gathering I'm attending. I really don't have time for practice garments right now. Hey, it's not like I'm sewing a dress I'm going to wear to my nephew's wedding the night before we have to leave. Yeah, been there, done that.

So anyway, here's a line drawing of the pattern I want to use. Yes, that's German text. The pattern is from the German magazine Sabrina Woman. The magazine is also published in other countries under other names; in Italy it's Modellina. This will be a challenge, but it should be fairly straight forward construction, although that doesn't mean I'll breeze through it. I'm a poky, perfectionist sewer.

Here's a photo from the magazine. Don't worry, I will definitely add some length. It's been decades since I've worn dresses this short. I plan to wear it with black leggings.

The side pieces will definitely be black, but I'm not sure if I'll make the top strip and/or sleeves in black. The nice thing about using a double faced fabric is that I can test out these combinations without cutting extra pieces - just flip them around. I'm hoping the 2 meters I have will be enough - it's a 3 hour train ride (on a very fast train) to go back to Paris. The instructions call for more fabric because they figure you're using two different fabrics.

So now that I've proclaimed on this public site that I'm going to make this dress, will I do it? Well, you'll have to wait and see.