greenness, gathers, and gratitude

So I'd like to start this post off with a little announcement, one that I've been struggling to keep in for the past few weeks, but I've been given the green light so I figure it's time to shout it from the rooftops!

A couple weeks ago I received an email from BurdaStyle informing me that I was voted as one of their Top 50 Best Bloggers for Sewing Enthusiasts!! I was so floored by this news, I can't even tell you! As so many of you know, sewing and blogging can feel like a lonely pursuit if it wasn't for the amazing community I've been able to connect with by doing both.  Every single person who takes the time to comment, email, stop by, lurk, or end up here by accident makes my day brighter and makes me so happy.  I love to share what I love to do, and you guys make that pursuit worthwhile.  So thank you to whoever nominated me for BurdaStyle's 50 Best Bloggers, and thank you to all of you who took the time to vote for me! I feel so incredibly grateful to have so many wonderful ladies (and gents) by my side, encouraging me and letting me be a part of this lovely community. Thank you guys! I love you!

Burda hasn't gotten around to posting the full list of all the 50 bloggers, but I can't wait for them to! I love discovering new blogs, and this list is sure to recommend some awesome new-to-me blogs! I promise to share as soon as I get wind...

Now that I got that off my chest... let's talk shop! One of the things I love about all the sewing blogs out there is that they present a never ending stream of inspiration. Sure, this can sometimes be overwhelming (I never seem to have enough time or resources to make allll the dresses!) but it can also light a little spark that makes you want to try a style you never considered before, or dredge up some forgotten love for a particular detail.

This particular getup was inspired by some of my favorite lady sewing bloggers. Last spring, Morgan from Crab & Bee wrote a few posts about her love for yokes and gathers as a design feature, and proceeded to make a few, utterly lovely, garments that featured said yokes and gathers - such as this one, this one, and especially this one (that last one... sigh... be still my heart!) Those makes got lodged somewhere in my brain, and ever since then I've been on the lookout for a good "yoke 'n gather" look for myself (sadly, that Built By Wendy pattern is out of print... *sobs*).  Then Mary from Idle Fancy went ahead and added fuel to this slowly building fire when she made two, back-to-back, swingy, artist-smock-esque tops, here and here. And then I remembered that I went through a brief period on Pinterest where I couldn't stop pinning looks with full, romantic, 19th century poet sleeves, like this one, and this one. And in a thunderclap of yokegatherbohemianbigsleeve mania I decided I needed to have all the things on One. Dress. Because I'll practice self-restraint when I'm dead, dammit!

The result of said mania is the dress you see before you! This might be another one of those makes that just isn't everyone's cup of tea. There's a lot of poofiness going on here, and a general shapelessness that some might consider 'unflattering'.  As I was making it I was getting some pretty distinct "nightie" vibes from it, followed by "choir robes"... Hopefully this amazing fabric (more on that in a bit) helps steer it from "housecoat" and more into the romantic-bohemian-artist territory that I was going for. The pattern is Burda 10/2010 #122 which I selected as one of the five free patterns I was awarded by BurdaStyle (seriously hard to choose five patterns, by the by!) I changed the sleeves to be 3/4 length and added serious width at the hem by slashing and spreading the pattern piece to create the full sleeved, slightly 1800's, look I was going for.

If all of this is looking a little too Little House on the Prairie for you, don't worry, because this dress also delivers some serious leg!

(Complete aside: Is Little House on the Prairie still a relative cultural reference? Did I just age myself by bringing that up?? Not that I really care because I loved that show! It made me feel lots of feelings!)

Those side slits are verging on indecent! However, I decided to go with it as a counterpoint to all the poof that was happening up top. I zeroed in on this pattern because I loved the squared off yoke (with the prerequisite gathers, of course) on the front, and the little placket and mandarin collar.  However, like most Burda patterns, the instructions are a bit scant. I love Burda because they have such a huge, insanely affordable, offering and they really cater to trends. I don't sew with their patterns nearly often enough, but any time I'm looking for a hard-to-find style in a sewing pattern, I always start with Burda. However, you definitely do not get the generous hand holding and lovely illustrations and thorough instructions that we've all been spoiled by with indie pattern companies. This wasn't a huge issue, since I've got a nice bit of sewing under my belt at this point, but in the future I think I'll trust my gut more and follow my own sewing instincts rather than trying to decode the included instructions.  It took me sewing the front placket according to their instructions to figure this out though...

Egads!!! Are your eyes bleeding?? What? You want to get in closer??



The HORROR! 

Ah well. You win some, you lose some. I'll know for next time!

I treated myself to this fabric from Emma One Sock (sadly, all gone) specifically for this dress.  It's a light weight silk that seems to fall somewhere between a crepe de chine and a habotai, and it's completely lovely.  Ya'll might remember how I was going on about green not being my favorite color when I made this skirt.  Well, that skirt must have started something, because I'm all of a sudden finding myself drawn to all sorts of amphibian shades! Primarily this lovely grassy shade.  But really, it was the print that sold me on this fabric. I just can't get enough of painterly prints, and there is something about this one that I just find especially lovely (it's slightly 'leopard-y').  It definitely wanted to be made into a voluminous, billowy, bohemian look! It was lovely to cut, lovely to sew, lovely to handle, and lovely to wear. The only sad thing is that I've used it all up! 

I wish I had had enough fabric to make bias tape to face the curved hem (and keep a bit more length) like Rochelle and Lauren, but I was literally down to teensy scraps (definitely filing this tip away for the future though! So simple and so genius - especially when you don't want to sacrifice length).  So I had to make do with a simple 1/4" narrow hem.  Oddly enough, sewing these sort of hems on lightweight silks like this one is (dare I say it?) one of my strengths when it comes to sewing. Isn't that funny? I hate bias binding (different than bias facing), but I don't mind narrow curved hems.

Ah yes, and pockets! I'm not entirely sure what I plan on putting in these pockets, but it's fun to have a place to hide my hands amongst all those rippling folds. 

Well my best beloveds, there you have it! My take on yokes and gathers and artist smocks and poet sleeves and maybe more than a dash of Little House on the Prairie. I had another length of fabric earmarked for this exact same pattern as well, but I think I might give Tessuti's newest pattern, the Alice Dress / Top a go. Or should I save that one for spring... what do you think?

And as a final note, can I just say how hard it was to shoot this green dress in front of my usual photo backdrop of 'some stranger's garden'? Talk about dueling greens! It's hard to compete with nature!

Have a great end to your week everyone! 

xx

*Disclaimer: This pattern was given to me for free by BurdaStyle, but I selected it because I loved it, and wanted to make it, and I'm very happy I did. All thoughts and opinions on the pattern are my own and not influenced by the lovely people at BurdaStyle.