Vignette

I think this is my favorite thing I've made so far this winter.  It is another Dottie Angel frock, using some printed floral broadcloth from Michael Miller.

I got lucky with the sweater--it is an older LLBean wool sweater that I found on ebay a week or so ago.  It is the perfect shape and length for this style of dress, in my opinion.  The color was a perfect match.  My kiwi cowl was also a good match to the green in the print.  I finished my mitts yesterday afternoon (I had finished knitting them a few days ago, but had to seam them up).  They are functional more than pretty, but at least they were a fast knit.

I made a few changes this iteration from the last one:

1) I lengthened the dress 1 1/2 inches total.

2) I used elastic in place of the bust tucks at the front.  I may experiment with elastic placement in the front on future iterations.

3) I made the elastic in the back a bit longer (I think I will shorten it on the next one)

4) I raised the back neckline another 1/2" for a total of 2 1/2" from the original pattern line

5) I added more sleeve coverage and converted the kimono sleeves to cut-on sleeves with a 1/2" under sleeve.  It made the bias application much easier and the side seams much cleaner.  I used my Emery bodice block as a guide.

6) I sewed down the bias on the pockets, which gave me a double line of stitching around the edges, but not having the edges of the bias flapping around in the pocket was worth it.  That annoyed me a bit on the Flea Market dress.  I suppose if I wanted to spend more time on it, and wanted only one line of top stitching, I could hand sew the bias down, but I don't mind the second line of stitching and it isn't that noticeable anyway.

It was about 19 degrees this morning, so I wasn't about to faff around without a sweater for photos, so these will have to do.  I did get a silk long undershirt from my husband for my namesday on Friday, and I put it to good use today!  I'm really impressed with how warm I've been today!  I ordered a pair of pants too, to wear under my heavy cotton tights.

Sorry for the blurry back shot.  As I said, it was cold, and I didn't want to retake it!

I really love this color palette!  I have a spring weight teal cardigan that will match the blue flowers later on.

Just the facts:

Vignette dress: Simplicity 1080, Michael Miller broadcloth (from fabric.com), bias tape, elastic

Wool sweater: LLBean via ebay

Kiwi cowl: me-made, Stockbridge yarn, kiwi colorway

Kiwi mitts: me-made Stockbridge yarn

Tights: Foot Traffic Signature cotton tights in gray

Boots: Payless

Earrings: etsy