Tressie at Funkoma Vintage on Etsy sent me this link to her pattern (on sale now, click the image, B38, yadda yadda), which struck me immediately as a mashup of the recently posted McCalls 8858 and any of the innumerable shirtdresses I've been acquiring.
This is super-cute, of course, but I would definitely interface the neckline with that heavy-duty Pellon ShirTailor stuff; I recently used it in the collar of a shirtdress and that collar would withstand waterboarding, it's so crisp.
The image is great, too. Don't you see this as some kind of mother-daughter team, where the mother is not quite sure what she's getting into (hence her hanging back and looking a bit lost), while the daughter is looking around appraisingly and is about to jump right in? She even has one glove off, all the better to punch somebody, if necessary. (It's really hard to get blood out of white kid gloves.)
I'm getting a slow start this morning (I think it's all the snow!) which is a shame. There's an enormous pile of new fabric (yeah I finally broke down and bought that damn gray people print from Fashion Fabrics Club) on the sewing table upstairs waiting to be ironed, which seems like a lovely thing to do on a bright snowy day. And yet my inbox is not at zero, which means taking an hour to go iron should not be on the agenda … I need to figure out how to get an ironing setup in my office, what a nice thing that would be to do while on conference calls!
A Dress A Day 
I like the skirt of this pattern much better than the other one — but, the other pattern has a bolero. Wish I had a waist!!!Marie (from Texas)
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Hi Erin! When you made your dress with the yellow and purple canaries from craftyplanet, did you have to line it?Thank you!
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Hello! That grey and yellow print is lovely! I have been eying it and some other sateens for a while, but I can’t decide. As a beginning sewer, I’m somewhat wary of buying fabric online unless I know what it feels like.My main concern is how slippery the fabric is. So if you don’t mind me asking, it satiny or more of a smooth cotton?Thanks much!
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Nancy: it’s more of a smooth cotton — not slippery.Rachel — I didn’t line the fabric. You can see the edges of the front facing through it, though, so if that kind of thing would bother you, I’d line it …
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Wow! I don’t see why the gray people wouldn’t be the perfect fabric for this dress. Though, failing that, why not the McCall’s 8858?
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That storm swept through here, too (125 km / 80 mi. east of Toronto along the north shore of Lake Ontario. Across the lake from Rochester, NY!) We haven’t seen this much snow here in years. How wonderful!And more to come, I hope? Bring it on!I think, in this weather, though, one’s neck would be quite chilly in the neckline of today’s dress(es). I’d want to put a nice big drapey shawl or wide soft scarf around the neck first before going out, and make sure the overcoat had a high, close collar!
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erin….about that glove-off……shades of the 3 stooges….”Why I oughta…..”thanks for the props………giggle giggle so LOL !
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you know, I think I’ve been that daughter!
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The dresses are nice enough (okay, they are really, really nice), but more importantly – I want that cute little black bag!
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the snow……the snow!!!!!! I’m in Iowa and we got 10 inches Tuesday night. Parked on the side of the street (after a lovely day at home), plow leaves 2 feet piles up and down the street next to the cars. Half an hour to get out yesterday!But I did get to the shop and coincidentally shot pics of a dress with that same neckline treatment for the site (not there yet tho). Not as full of a skirt, but has a little jacket and a nice blue floral print……Ang
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Reading the Trixie Belden books as a child taught me that one holds one glove when a) they don’t match or b) one is dirty and looks bad. —Karen
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I can’t believe no one has commented about the waterboarding joke – tacky perhaps, but it did make me laugh. (And I WAS wondering about what interfacing a similar collar would require, so thanks for the tip.) I also laughed at the joke about the gloves. Speaking of bloodstains, isn’t there a book that recently came out about the color red? Apparently it is the most fade-proof and removal-proof color.What violent associations with such a pretty dress! But it occurs to me, those wide skirts do leave plenty of room for roundhouse kicks…
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dang, all this chat about *That* neckline is sending me to the sewing room to make a slim-skirted red or black sleeveless version ….guess I’ll draft it meself…hi ang!
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shame on you Erin. Joking about torture=okay. Making fun of a dress=riding out of town on the rails…
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Ironing during conference calls…yes! And frankly I think I should be allowed to sew by hand and iron between questions while working ref desk at the library.
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