Saturday, July 21, 2012

The "Audrey Dress"

I downloaded this pattern when The Selfish Seamstress made it available after seeing her version for the Little Black Dress competition on Pattern Review a few years ago.

Then DH advised me we are off to the annual convention for his business and we have a fancy dress night (dress as someone famous) and the Gala dinner to attend.

I soon realized that when I printed off this pattern I hadn't checked the print size box so the pattern wasn't a true size 32 so I started with my TNT dress Simplicity 2648 and changed this pattern by:

  • Straightened the shoulders (the forward shoulder adjustment didn't work with this style). 
  • Joined the back bodice and skirt together at the waist and made a full back piece on the fold. 
  • Took out a further .5cm (2/8") sway back adjustment. 
  • Reduced the length of the back darts at the top by 2.5cm (1").
  • Moved the zip to the left side seam. 
  • Took a .8cm (3/8") gaposis tuck out of the back neck band.
  • Drafted an all-in-one facing for the neck line and armholes. 
This brown linen has been maturing in my stash since 2009 purchased from The Fabric Store and it is fully lined with Sun Silky.

For the back neck pieces I used Textureweft and fused it with two layers making sure that I had the grain lines going in opposite directions and I fused the top of the back point.

Construction

As I wanted a clean finish on the neckline and back sections I used the information in the Singer Sewing Book dated 1969.

The rest of the dress was was straightforward and of course the lining has a lace edge.

For the Gala dinner (they tend to be rather low key).



and for the Fancy Dress:


I have a number of garments planned but the next project is to work on the Jean-ius course with Kenneth King through Craftsy using a pair of Levis 550 that I love the fit of.

15 comments:

shams said...

So cute! And how perfect for the Fancy Dress party. :D

Dilliander said...

Fabulous Sharon, perfect for the party and for other occasions too. You did a great job with the Audrey styling.

BeaJay said...

Fantastic - you look like you are ready for breakfast at Tiffany's. Smashing job as usual.

Irene said...

Lovely, lovely dress! Not only do you have a dress for a Fancy Dress party, but also for many other occasions afterwards. Beautiful.

gwensews said...

That is such a beautiful LBD. Obviously you can dress it up or down, and it's perfect either way.

Mary said...

You look marvelous- Love your tiara darling!

dlogan said...

so wonderful sharon!!!great job and the jeans class looks really interesting too:) Darby

Cherrypix said...

Don't be surprised if Audrey calls to borrow that dress. It's very "her" ...and "you"! Particularly like the back shoulder detail.

Carol said...

Oh, it's lovely, Sharon! I particularly like the pop of orange necklace, too. I bought a length of fabric last week that would be great in this pattern, so you may see me wearing one come summer!

Carolyn said...

An absolutely gorgeous dress. And I uber-love the Audrey dress-up version! this looks like a great dress for many many occasions :)

Robyn said...

Love your dress and the fancy dress gala sounds like a lot of fun.

Tee said...

Love your blog! I too purchased the Kenneth King jean class. Waiting for a really cold day next winter to work on it.

Gail said...

I hope you are going to wear that crown at Guild on Saturday. Lovely dress.

Unknown said...

I love your blog - it's great to see an Aussie blogger who is also in the ASG. I'm in an ASG group in melbourne. I'd love to hear how you go with Jeanius.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.