Today is a twofer; here’s dress 1:
This is McCall’s 8484, which I think I also made once in a striped seersucker version that didn’t survive. I don’t wear this that much because the bodice is a bit blousy for my taste. It definitely needs a belt. I used to wear it with a cream-and-green faux zebra-stripe sash, which sounds ridiculous but actually worked.
I do really like the collar:
Side zip, eh:
The pockets are actual lining material, which I don’t really ever do unless I think they will show through — and this fabric is both pale enough and sheer enough that I thought it would:
I didn’t do a very good job on the back neck, although it was one of my favorite features of the pattern:
This is one of my favorite Liberty prints — I wish I knew the name of it! — and I have a standing bounty on it, let me know if you have any to sell. So when I went back to the UK in 2007, I bought some more and made this:
I can’t find the pattern this was made from — I know I made another version in gray sateen that I abandoned halfway through as it ended up looking like the uniform of someone enslaved in a Magdalene laundry. It was all about the midriff band, which is kind of beside the point in a fabric this busy:
The back is also gathered for a little bit of a train effect:
Here’s a closer look at the bodice — I liked the curve of the v-neck, too:
And the side zip:
Man, I wish I had more of this fabric …
A Dress A Day 
Wow. Just wow. I paused in my syllabus construction of the neuro portion of my comparative vertebrate anatomy course to see if you had posted today’s dress: thought I had lost my mind there for a second when I scrolled over the images. Love, love the fabric and both patterns work well.
I have been dreading the coming of Day 100, but following your series has inspired me: I cut out half a dozen dresses this weekend, the most productive I have *ever* been. Laying out is my hurdle, and reading that you do it in about an hour roused me from inertia. And now I can just sew.
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I am feeling inspired, too! I want to make skirts, which are easy and I love wearing, and maybe venturing to sew dresses. I have a very casual job – just wearing a cotton skirt (even with sneakers) is dressing up. I like the idea of dresses that can be worn on a bicycle, or that don’t get in the way when I play my guitar (classical, so you can’t sit all “lady-like”).
A question about the Liberty fabric – does it wrinkle a lot? I don’t mind ironing while sewing, but hate ironing laundry. Most of my clothes look good enough when I take them out of the washer, give them a good shake, and hang to dry. If Tana Lawn does well with that method, I won’t have an excuse not to order some!
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I don’t mind ironing, so I iron Tana Lawn dresses, but I’ve also packed them on trips where the hotels haven’t had irons, and not felt too wrinkly. So I hope that helps?
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Thanks – that does help! I could also change my mind about ironing something in a fabric I love (ooh, more time to admire it up close!).
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so if the pocket lining might show through, what happens when you load up the pockets?
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Great dresses, beautiful fabric, in both color. Thanks for sharing all of your beautiful dresses.
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