Urban Simplicity: Ruby Mae Dress

Friday, October 31, 2014

Ruby Mae Dress

I've been poking away at my sewing pile this week and finished another Frankendress, among other things. I'm quite pleased with this one too, and the zipper insertion went much more smoothly this time. I tried a slightly different method, and the finished zipper line is a bit cleaner than some other ways I've done it. Still pesky though, those zippers.

Not much to say about construction, as I did it almost exactly the same way as the Union Station Calling dress. I just went back to the square neckline I'd originally drafted and brought the shoulders in about 1/2" on the inside line. I'm quite happy with the new kimono sleeve construction, and the bias tape on the sleeves, neck and hem make for an neat and easy finish. I've been buying up de-stashed bias tape on etsy and ebay every so often, so I've got a nice little collection to choose from, which is helpful.

Used some vintage black buttons from the stash--can't really tell how old they are, as they could be 30s, or could be 50s. They came in a mosh of black buttons, so no button card to help out.

Ditto for the belt buckle--hard to tell how old, but it does have nice detail. The belt is too long (as per my usual miscalculations) so I'll probably have a go at shortening it this coming week.

The color is a bit hard to describe--somewhere between burnt orange and red. Ruby, I guess. (Hence the dress name: Ruby Mae) Red thread worked just fine, so I guess it is red?

My hair is giving me a pain lately--I'm thinking of getting a perm (I know, gasp!) I have naturally curly hair (that I happen to like very much), but the curl is uneven. It is tight kinky curly on the underside by my neck, but more wavy toward the top.

I've stopped wet setting it these last months because my scalp has been protesting a lot about it, and I'm searching out other ways to style it that don't look modern but are relatively quick to do. I really love Caitriona's hair in Outlander, particularly the updos. I used to wear my hair like that a lot, and have been playing around with it like that again.