So as y’all might already know, I have a new book coming out next week. It’s called The Hundred Dresses, and it’s all about dress archetypes. (It’s illustrated by the amazing Donna Mehalko.)
The book was inspired by the Eleanor Estes classic, also called The Hundred Dresses — and probably the #1 question I’ve gotten about my “Hundred” is whether it’s about dresses I’ve sewn myself. “Oh, no,” I said, “It’s about classic dresses, like the Flapper and the Airship Hostess! Anyway, I’m sure I don’t have a hundred dresses …”
And then I went and counted.
So it turns out that yes, I do have a hundred dresses that I’ve made myself, if I dig deep into the archives and also include some poor neglected “someday I’ll fix this” things that have never seen the light of day. So for the next hundred days, I’ll be back to posting a literal dress a day.
Ready? On to day 1!
This is McCalls 3528, and yes, it is very, very moire, isn’t it? Don’t look at it too long. It’s also extremely bulky, because it features GATHERED BOX PLEATS. Yep, there is a LOT of fabric there. (The fabric is a nice heavy shirting, not sure where I got it from.)
It looks like I might have not gotten the nap right on this one either, because the light hits it differently, depending on which side you look at. Oh well. The stripes match okay — that’s the important part, right?
I haven’t worn this very often because it’s a teeeeeensy bit big in the waist and the thought of taking all those pleats out, re-balancing them, re-GATHERING them, and then putting the dress back together just makes me want to lie down and take a nap. It would be less work (or at least, FEEL like less work) to make it all over again from scratch, especially since the fabric (or a facsimile thereof) isn’t that hard to find.
So that’s Day 1, Dress 1! Stay tuned for more!
Hurrah!
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Love this! I’m looking forward to the next 99 dresses! I’m in the middle of my 27 Dresses Challenge at the moment…18 more to go 🙂
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Looking forward to it!
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Why not pair it with a wide, brightly-colored belt?
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ooh, good idea! I only have skinny brightly-colored belts. I bet I need one of those stretchy 1980s numbers. 🙂
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Fun! I look forward to seeing your 100 dresses! This one is amazing!
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Yay yay yay! Just ordered the book! A hundred congratulations to you and thanks for all of the inspiration.
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wow – 100 dresses. no words.
i just finished 5 every day dresses, very simple stuff, but now a have to take a vacation from my sewing machine for a wile……
congratulations to the new book!!!!!!
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I’m with Joni–just wear it with a belt–it’s a cute dress. A dress every day for 100 days?! Hooray!!
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OMG, you did a beautiful job matching those stripes. I second/third/fourth the suggestions to wear it with a belt. That dress deserves to be worn.
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A post from A Dress A day every day for 100 days? Yea!!!!!
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Can’t wait to see the next 99 dresses – loves the stripes on this one.
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It makes me tired just thinking about the work that goes into the 100 posts with pictures for these! And just to increase the workload, here’s a suggestion: it would be nice if you’d include a guess at when you actually made each one. But either way, it’ll be an anticipated treat for my summer.
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This is so exciting!! Can’t wait!!
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Too big in the waist? Obviously it’s time to eat more ice cream. Usually works for me…
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I’m so excited by this series! It’s total dress porn. This one is gorgeous!
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BEST HUNDRED DAYS EVER!!!
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Yay! Look forward to every delicious one. Thanks! Wait a minute…you have a hundred dresses you made?
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yes … but remember, I’ve been sewing for thirty years! 🙂
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[…] honor of her new book The Hundred Dresses, Erin is posting a dress she has made every day for 100 days. […]
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I really REALLY love this dress. I’d buy and wear it in a heartbeat.
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I have to agree with mochimac: this dress is a knock-out. I’m looking up the pattern right now.
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[…] are still many, many dresses to come. Like this one, which is more than a little reminiscent of the Day 1 […]
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[…] dresses that she has made herself. Appropriately, she is posting one each day, for 100 days. Click here to start with Day 1. If you peek further into the archives, be sure to check out some […]
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So which of the two books would you recommend A Hundred Dresses or The Secrets Lives of Dresses to be read first?
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