Step Two: Figure out that I have a GREAT reason to learn how to sew as I am, all at once, beginning to realize that clothing is REALLY REALLY expensive on a substitute teacher's salary, especially when your favorite fabric is the Liberty of London fabric, plus I should take up this hobby because it will give me an additional thing to teach my elementary school kids in my fashion class (see fifth and sixth pic for more on that). Woo. Two birds--One Stone.
Step Three: Discover purlsoho.com. Uh, oh. Must be very very choosy because even though at $35 a yard their stash of Liberty of London tana lawn is WAY less expensive than even one full-priced J. Crew Liberty Print Perfect shirt (and hello, they probably use 1 yard at most to make the darn shirts), the fabric is still a lot of money for something you have to be insanely careful with...
Get over my anxiety and settle on the beautiful Brown Flowers (also known as Mauvey in some Liberty of London circles) as my poison of choice.
Step Four: Oops. I am going to have to actually make the dress. I still don't sew. Thank goodness for mothers-in-law and stepmoms. God bless all you all. With their help, I (in the past two months), have learned to cut a pattern, pin fabric to cut pattern pieces, cut fabric around pattern pieces, sew fabric pieces together, figure out exactly how to translate darts into actual real life necessities on a garment, attach a lining to the outer fabric, and teach me enough so that when left to my own devices, I CAN ACTUALLY SEW on a machine, and SEW a neckline so it fits me EXACTLY to my EXACT MEASUREMENTS. Woo! Rock on...
Sizes: Oh, wait. I don't have a size as this dress is fitted to me. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Feels good baby. I will say I wear a size 00 Petite. LOL. This dress has a shirred neckline, cap sleeves, and a wide contrast hem in a dark shirting fabric. I used just around 1 and 1/4 yards for this dress. Since I bought two yards, I will use the leftovers on a pretty little outfit for CW. (Did you think I would do something else with my amazingly soft Liberty of London fabric???)
The back.Yes, I did tie my hair back with some of the excess fabric. :)
The side. I look so pensive, eh? Either that or I spied some stain on the rug. Hmm.
Close-up of the dress so you all can see the intricate details of the print. This fabric is insanely soft and I kept adjusting the pleating of the shirring so I could touch the fabric. Obviously I have other items in my Liberty of London fabric collection, but clearly, with me having (at least 1/2) made this myself, this particular item is giving me an especially good reason to be all giddy!
Here I am with my darling sweet stepmom at my fashion class today. She IS the reason I finished this dress. I may be able to claim this dress as mine, but without her constant help and supervision, I could never have made it on my own (sounds like a hairband song verse from the '80s, huh?). She is holding a skirt that she was able to sew in the class today (she taught part of the day with me). Her skirt that she will wear. It is a cord fabric in an orange and green hue. Man, I don't know. Sometimes I want to scream to her..."AMANDA, BE MORE TALENTED." ;)
I like this particular styling for when I want to go out. The above pics you see the dress all loose. If I belt it, the dress is far too short for school, however, it is just fine for a date. ;) No, I wouldn't wear flip-flops on the date. Come on, now.
Only for polyvore, peeps.You all have a great night. Hope some of you venture into a challenge like this. I ended up discovering something I may. just. keep. up. (Yes, I actually have some additional yards of fabric lying around...shhh...just don't let it out that I may not be going to the Crew for anymore Liberty fixes.)
P.S. Look at this French lady's blog post on a blouse I assume she made from the same print. Gorg!
