Tuesday, March 5, 2013

the lbld: little black lace dress

Because I'm tied to the academic calendar and now am living a thousand miles away from my sewing machine, I only get to sew during breaks anymore. Which is really depressing, because now I have constant Internet, which fills my little chispita brain with a thousand ideas for projects. It's like a big, theoretical sewing Clue. Lisa...with Butterick 4790...in navy blue calico!

More recently, I've gotten my heart set on having a black dress with a lace overlay and lace three-quarter sleeves and a black underlining. This is what my mind-dress looks like, except in black. 

Allover Long-Sleeve Lace Dress
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A little blousy, not too tailored, with a sash instead of a belt. And longer, because I'm a rather prudish modest teenage girl. 

Then I just started getting excited and pinning a ton of lace dresses "for inspiration" (or 'cos they're so pretty!)

Blueberry Iced Tea Dress-so darn cute! should ride at the waist though. empire waists always make me look pregnant...
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I started fairly on topic--this has the basic, gathered bodice look I settled on. I even have a pattern kinda like this that I'll be using for my dress. 

I like the cut and the lace :)
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Just darned pretty, though much more formal than I had intended. But that lace! And that neckline! Isn't it just gorgeous?


And Julia's made me drool. Fortunately, I don't have my lace yet, so no beautiful fabric got wet. 

Black lace dress inspiration
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This may not be the silhouette I'm aiming for, but I'd love for my dress to have as much classic beauty as the Duchess's!

Alas, I can't sew every lace dress I come across. I just don't have the time or frankly, the social calendar. But I do have this pattern, the one that's rather similar to Modcloth's Iced Tea dresses. 


It's McCall's 5804, from their now-extinct Hilary Duff line. It was my first dress, and boy, was it a mess. Wearable, and one of the things that I get complimented on all the time, but still a mess. Particularly if you, like me, get to open it up and see the guts and machine-sewn hem (I know, I know!) or how poorly it actually fits me. I took it in with poorly down darts twice, and it still swims. 

Needless to say, I'm quite excited for the second go-round this time. Armed with four extra years of sewing know-how, I hope it'll go better this time! I'll have to add in sleeves, but that's just a matter of finding a pattern with sleeves and stealing those. Pattern mash-up, anyone?

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