I've been trying to pinpoint what it is about dresses that I like and dislike, and as usual, Sarai at Colleterie read my mind last week and wrote a post about what she likes about dresses. I don't usually read the comments, but I did this time, and was so glad to read kc's comment:
"I love myself a good dress, but only if it can be worn like separates. I will get TONS of wear out of a dress I can layer under sweaters, over shirts, under skirts, with or without belts, with or without tights/leggings, with shirts underneath, etc. I’ve got two dresses like this in my closet and they pretty much get worn year-round at least once a week. I should probably get to sewing more like them before they completely fall apart from overuse.
As for the other dresses in my closet, they fall more into Man Repeller’s assertion that “A dress is a commitment. To saying something and saying it over and over again.” Dresses are so easy to put on when you don’t want to think about coordinating anything, but once I get sick of the statement that particular dress makes (and once I’ve determined that it’s a terrible layering piece) it’s hard to get excited about wearing it."
This is exactly what I've been trying to say about dresses. I realized that the dresses that I currently love in my closet are ones that I wear like separates. I can dress them up or down, wear tights or bare legs, different accessories, cardigans, etc. to change how they look and work for the season. The dresses that I don't wear are ones that are "statement" dresses: the print is novelty, or the lines are difficult to pair with cardigans or other layers, or they are just too dressy for every day. I love it when someone clearly articulates something that I instinctively know, but can't quite say why. This clarity also helps me to hone in on the sorts of dresses to steer for, and what types of projects to make. I've already scrapped a dress project I had for the fall, because I think it will fall under the category of "statement" rather than dress-as-separate, and have plans to make a skirt and blouse instead. I'm shelving my dress projects for now, as the types of dresses I wear and want to make are the sort that Tasha has been cranking out this year, but are definitely not nursing friendly. I won't be nursing forever, and frankly, my body changes a lot when I wean, so it is probably best to stick to sewing and buying separates right now anyway.
The above outfit photos are of my first Portrait blouse, which I made with a yard (!!) of gingham fabric that came from my gram's stash in order to test the pattern. I had to get a little creative with fabric piecing, and forgot about matching the plaid (argh) so it isn't a great looking blouse overall, but when it is tucked in, it works fine. Plus it is super lightweight for summer. I'll probably remake it at some point, because the gingham is just great, and I've been wearing it a lot.
This is an outfit I put together just before Memorial Day. The blouse is from a feedsack, and I just squeaked it out (I sometimes think I should just title all my sewing adventures: In Which I Make Things From Ridiculously Small Lengths Of Fabric)
The skirt is a cotton-linen blend that I picked up from a local fabric store near fabric row. It is a good match to the burgundy in the blouse, but the fit is a little off. I can't quite figure out why--I used the same six-gore skirt pattern I've been using all spring, and the last few iterations have all been 1" or more too big in the waist, and this one came out slightly snug. I had to take off the original waist band, in fact, and reattach a new piece of fabric in a sort of faux bias binding way in order to have it fit at all. So I'm not as happy with this one.
The cotton blend keeps the skirt from wrinkling terribly, but the linen isn't high quality, so the skirt is just a bit on the scratchy side. It's not quite the easy-breezy linen skirt I was hoping for. (The turquoise one, on the other hand, is great)
I do like the blouse, however, and I used some 1930s or 1940s era green plastic buttons on it. I got the feedsack and the buttons from the same excellent etsy seller. Oh, and my Wardy Squirrel brooch from Acorn and Will that was part of my Mother's Day gift is the perfect complement. I did end up taking out all but the bust darts in this blouse, because the original version was way too fitted for summer wear (it looked great, but oh, so sticky and hot!) The blouse is looser without the darts, but much cooler.
:) lovely!
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