10.23.2014

greenness, gathers, and gratitude

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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...

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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!

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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!)

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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...

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

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The HORROR! 

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

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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! 

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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.

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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. 

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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.

45 comments:

  1. Love the sleeves, and the whole look overall! Congratulations on the award as well.

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  2. Stunning. The fabric is so pretty.
    SSB https://facebook.com/sassysewingbees

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  3. Congratulations on the award and a stunning dress - reminds me of 1980s New Romantics!

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  4. woohoo! Congrats on your blog award!! That fabric is truly gorgeous and I love what you've done with it. I too went and bought a yoked blouse pattern after Mary's two blouses :) Unfortunately my first go at the pattern became a wadder due to the pajama-ness… the fabric I used didn't help. Note to self: use amazing silk with grownup print!!

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  5. Love your blog! You are very deserving of the award. Love this dress too. Green with envy. :)

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  6. It is gorgeous. That print is really something special. I have been trying so hard to make a billowy, shapeless dress that looks so cool and bohemian like this. Just fantastic! And congrats on your award. It's very well deserved!

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  7. i love this SO MUCH! The fabric, the pattern, the gathers and yoke. It is all so dreamy and you look amazing in it.

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  8. Congratulations! I can't believe you love narrow curved hems though?!

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  9. Love Little House on the Prairie and really enjoy your blog! Confratulations on the award, well deserved!!

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  10. Can't spell...LOL! Congratulations!!

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  11. I am in LOVE with with your dress and also with that incredible green fabric! Green is so, so good and such an underrated colour. It looks fantastic on you, you like like a pre-raphaelite goddess!

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  12. That fabric is so loverly!!! And congrats on Top 50 - you totally rock the sewing blog world :)

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  13. This is just divine! Definitely NOT little house in the prairie, house smock or those other vibes that were knocking on your door...but definitely not getting a foot in edgeways because the dress is smashing. I LOVE the shapelessness of it, and pockets - they are always necessary, no matter how likely or not you are to use them. PS Big congrats on the blogger award - well deserved!

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  14. Totally dreamy!! And though I loved Little House this does not give me that vibe at all. More romantic/artist/bohemian vibes. Absolutely beautiful!

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  15. Oh and congrats on the award, your blog is one of my favorites!

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  16. Not little house on the prairie! Very anthropologie, especially with your beautiful braided hair, so pretty. And I love the pattern and color, it all looks ethereal and lovely. And congrats on the award! Definitely one of of my top blogs!

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  17. This is stunning. And that blogging award is very well deserved!

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  18. It's beautiful and makes me think of something a bohemian artist would have worn in the 20's....congrats on your award!

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  19. Relaxed boho, yes! Really enjoying the hair 😙👌 curiousaliceloves.wordpress.com

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  20. You've done your yoke and gathers more than proud! It's everything I love in a garment, in a fabric I never would have imagined! And I think I'm going to need to add those poet sleeves to my list of design loves. I actually bought Folkwear's Cheesemaker Smock awhile ago and I'm not not going to make it some day... Congratulations on your award, too, it's well-deserved. I'm always inspired by your blog.

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  21. I LOVE this and it will be so fabulous to transition into cooler weather with tights! The milkmaid braids sold me on it.

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  22. I'm so proud of your honor!! Well deserved if mom does have to say so herself!! And this dress is sweetly beautiful... As is the lady wearing it!

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  23. It's beautiful! Love everything about it. I had a very similar Burda placket experience, and ya, came to the same conclusion too!

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  24. You beautiful creature! I gotta say, this might be one of my favourite Sallie makes in a while. The print! The side slit! The volume! Such a win win win WIN.

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  25. Loooooove this! That silk is stunning and the combo of it with that pattern definitely captures the romantic look you were going for. Congratulations on the top 50!

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  26. Woar!! this is beautiful. I love everything about it, the gorgeous print, the silk. Not the least the gorgeous shape of it. SO cool! And congratulations on being voted in the top 50 blogs on Burda!

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  27. Love this on you! It's a great print, and that green is so vibrant and happy! Normally I hate a full sleeve, but this looks nice on you and isn't too Ren Fair.

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  28. You are the most divine little house on the prairie gal ever! And you look really flippin good in green.

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  29. I love this! The color and print is lovely!

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  30. Congrats on your award, and I am so in love with this dress! May have to copy you...

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  31. I love the yoke-and-gather look too, especially with a shortish dress or a tank shirt so the flowy design doesn't completely overwhelm your silhouette. Your dress is gorgeous. (And I can't get over your amazing hairdo!!! You look like a fairy princess!)

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  32. Yay, congrats on the accolade beautiful! Very well deserved! I'm loving this bohemian number, you totally pull it off with such grace and elegance. The green silk is pretty gorgeous too, as is your hair. I hope I never meet you in real life, as I'm pretty sure I'll be in such awe that I won't be able to string a sentence together!

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  33. Such a well deserved award S!!! This is another gorgeous make - I love the volume you get, yet the sexy side split. And now, I want to grow my hair long.

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  34. Hi Sallieoh, so refreshing to see a garment that isn't body con from a blogger! This looks stunning on you, but then a potato sack looks gorgeous on you! I was particularly dumbfounded creating a front placket, even though I can whip up a tower placket on a shirt sleeve in my sleep. Alexandra of InHouse Patterns posted a tutorial after my request. I think this placket tutorial is really comprehensive and it was so kind of her to listen to my tales of woe. I only wish I knew how to make the link 'hot', please just copy paste and thumbs up for bloggers - thank you.
    http://inhousepatterns.com/blogs/news/15290105-the-front-placket-tutorial

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  35. ah! i love everything about this dress! the only thing I don't love is that it's not mine! all that leg definitely counteracts any "prairie"-ness (which, while i never watched the show I used to be obsessed with the books and the general pioneer experience so this is right up my alley). that fabric is wonderful, color is gorgeous and the silk looks beautiful in the wind! you are totally rocking it!

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  36. Amazing dress - that fabric looks gorgeous on you! And the little house in the prairie is definitely a reference - even for the French person that I am (la petite maison dans la prairie) - amazing show!


    www.made-inhome.blogspot.com

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  37. Hi Sallie! My name is Alex and I was hoping you could answer a quick question I have about you blog, Sallie Oh! If you could email me back at Alex.d(at)weddingtonway(dot)com that would be great!

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  38. Amazing the dress is gorgeous and you look beautiful. Knock out!

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  39. Oooooo the print on this fabric is fantastic and I LOVE the silhouette of this pattern! Super awesome all around.

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  40. how on earth did i miss this post?! anyways, this dress is divine! and i might just steal your idea, and make one for myself too (that issue of burda is my favorite one ever, but this dress never really caught my attention, until i saw your version).. now if i only can find a fabric so beautiful as yours :)

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  41. I love everything everything about this dress: the sleeves, the yoke, the bottom and spread of the dress (which sounds awful, sorry). It looks so beautiful with your Gretel braids. I also am truly madly and deeply in love with that fabric (and I have just aged myself with a reference to one of my favorite movies that still seems new to me)!

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  42. 1000000x congratulations!!! No one deserves it more - you should be on everyone's top 50 of everything in my opinion ^__^


    Love the dress of course, but you know you make everything look amazing - the dress should be thanking YOU! ^__^

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  43. blown away by the choice of fabric (oh the drape and the print!) for this pattern! would look even more stunning without the dueling greens background i m sure!

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  44. Hi, love the dress but am even more in love with your shoes. Is there any way you could tell me where you got them?

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  45. Hi Maggie, the shoes are from Sven Clogs. Thanks!

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