Good morning! How is your Monday treating you so far? I had a grand time this weekend, partying it up with K’s little friends at a horse-riding birthday party. It sounds rather highfalutin but was actually very un-fancy and super fun. Held at a city park with a tiny animal farm, 10 girls got to ride a gentle pony for a couple of minutes each, and I have to say the show was stolen by Sunny, the 500-pound pig, snoring loudly in her pen.
This week’s outfit is a simple dress with vintage flair. I think this aqua bouclé fabric feels like winter-wear in texture and heft, but with shots of bright, multi-hued thread, it’s fully spring-like in color – so I’m calling it a “transitional” dress. I like how contrasting fabric is used in the version shown in the book (it’s the dress on the cover), but you know me, I like keeping things uncomplicated.
K decided to pair it with the half-leggings that never got worn with the Kokka tunic. On a side note, I found that globe at Goodwill and it has “Union of Soviet Socialist Republic” instead of Russia – a true vintage! I bet you didn’t know that I’m an avid thrift store shopper. I am indeed. I’m a big fan of thrift stores and flea markets. I am particularly fond of mid-century modern furniture, and have amassed quite the collection.
K eyed the finished dress suspiciously and said, “That looks like it’ll be really scratchy.” Sharp as a tack, that one – it’s not lined, as most Japanese patterns are not and I was worried about the same thing. Turns out that it’s not scratchy at all and she wore it happily for most of Sunday until we had to go to aforementioned birthday party.
M is concerned about all the clothes I am making for K. He keeps asking me, “What are you going to do with all of them???” Though I’ve been true to my word and haven’t purchased a single item of clothing other than underwear, socks and tights for K since I started this sewing project back in August of last year, I admit that weekly outfits do start to pose a storage issue, but I don’t know…I’m very attached to my creations. I’m going to have to put my thinking cap on.
Here you can see the details of the peter pan collar (so cute) and the buttons. The buttons look off-kilter here, but they don’t look that bad in person. I’ve sewn with bouclé before and this time around, it didn’t fray nearly as much which made me happy. The fabric was on mega-sale at JoAnn’s and I got it early last year, when I had been thinking about Chanel-inspired jackets.
Alright, I’m off to deal with my allergies. Turns out that the cold I was complaining about wasn’t a cold after all! I do this every year…
Great transitional dress! What a plus to not have to worry about adding a lining to it.
I would LOVE to see some of your mid-century finds!!!
Hi Venus! Very astute of you to mention my mid-century finds…I actually started snapping some pix, but my house is so small and the lighting very unflattering (and it’s hard to move furniture), so I haven’t been happy with the way they’ve turned out so far. But I’m working on it! 🙂
Funny, I bought this exact book just past Friday. But my current project is the pair of shorts with really lovely pocket detail 🙂
I too have a piece of similar boucle (in purple/chocolate/cream, possibly from the same sale) and I was thinking jackets. Thank you for expanding the horizon! The dress is lovely!
Oh, I love the shorts pattern! I made it in a grey/black wool and it’s so stylish! It also holds up really well in the wash, which is a bonus. 🙂
first of all, LOVE the dress! That fabric is so great – love the shots of color running through it. Not that anyone would know it around here, but there’s a rumor that spring is around the corner, and I am just itching to see pretty, “spring-y” colors in clothing. Of course, with a dash of the requisite grey thrown in:)
And everytime you share something else about your hobbies/interests, I lament the distance between WA and MI as I know we would just have so much fun hanging together. Thrifting? I have to limit myself to once a week, and even gave it up for Lent last year b/c it was getting out of hand. And mid-century furniture . . . also a recent love of mine. My grandfather had an Eames chair that no one seems to know what happened to . . . which is killing me! Have you paged through the catalog “Design Within Reach”? I think you would like it. Found my new dining room table in there, but the hubs is not on board:)
Lovely post. Can you remind me which japanese book has the pattern for those half-leggings? perhaps I’ll get lucky and actually have it!
It would be so fun, Lucinda 🙂 Ooh, an authentic Eames? I hope you can track it down! And yes! I love DWR – we actually have a store here in Seattle and I’ve gone to pet the pretty furniture many times (I’m quite taken with all the chairs).
As for the half-leggings, I used this book, which I think you have (it’s the one with the buttoned turtleneck).