There’s something fishy about this Heidi:
Here’s the original post for this dress, from back in 2010.
I bought the fabric back in 2007. (I still haven’t sewn up the other fabric from that post.) I kind of wish I had more of it — I mean, wouldn’t you? I’d also like to have bright orange koi on a gray background, kind of like this graffiti art by Jeremy Novy.
The neck binding is a bit roll-y:
The zipper is nice, though! The pocket lining is just plain off-white batiste.
And the back:
ANOTHER orange-stripe Heidi; this one is matchier:
I really liked this fabric, it’s a heavy sateen:
The zip turned out okay …
Pink pockets!
And the back (still matchy):
I think after tomorrow we’ll take a break from Heidi for a few days. What do you think?
Another day, another Heidi:
This one was mentioned briefly back in 2010:
I think that this fabric fell into the category of “there isn’t possibly enough for a full-skirted dress but I love it so much I will buy it anyway,” and then voila! there was enough for a Heidi. It’s a nice crisp corded cotton with a gorgeous hand. In my opinion, there is not enough corded cotton in the world. Why doesn’t Liberty make corded cotton? I shall write a letter.
The side zip, pretty good:
And the back view.
I wore this one on Sunday with these sandals
Amazingly comfortable and really good for those of us with wider feet — they can be adjusted at both the ankle and toe, so you don’t have that thing where your ankles are swimming and your toes are pinched, which is the worst. Highly recommended. I got the black; if there are any in my size left at the end of summer sale I may be tempted to get the brown or even the denim-y blue colorways …
Another Heidi. I really love ticking-stripe fabric, and to find it in orange … well, I had to have it:
It turned out to be a very creamsicle-ish dress:
The original post for this dress did not show the wonky side zip:
I’m not sure what happened with that. Is it just me, or is it harder to find instructions on increasing the waist measurement than it is to find instructions for any other alteration? Is it just assumed to be easy, or does no one but me do it, or what? I find that whenever I have a weird side-seam problem, it’s usually because of some wonky alteration I’ve done. (While looking I did find this, though.)
I don’t wear this dress all that often, I’m not sure why. I do love orange …
This is without a doubt my favorite Heidi:
This is one of the few dresses that I’ve reworked after learning more about the pattern — the first version is here. The original neckline was a bit too wide — luckily I had enough extra of this fabric, because the Heidi sews up with virtually nothing.
This dress is just so fun to wear. I like to wear it with bright chartreuse tights.
Side zip, eh. The Heidi side zips are open at the top (go right into the armhole) so it’s important to make sure that you cover the scratchy bits.
And the back:
I realized while getting the next batch of dresses ready for their closeups that whoa, I have made a LOT of Heidis. I don’t think all of them are going to make the Hundred Dresses cut! Maybe I should do a separate series of just Heidis? I’ll try to do at least a roundup. I don’t wear them as much as I used to because they’re not as well-suited for biking (they can be biked in, it’s just not as easy as in a fuller skirt).
I had really high hopes for this Heidi:
I love the pink and red and gray colorway:
I kind of bailed on trying to match the stripes, since I think it’s impossible to match stripes and gathers:
Pockets, lined in batiste:
Side zip:
The whole dress is lined in batiste, actually:
I’m not sure why I lined the dress, the fabric didn’t really need it. Probably just to see if I could:
But this is why I hardly ever wear it, and why it’s going in the Goodwill pile, finally — there’s a subtle flaw in the fabric and I managed to cut it right across the front bodice. Arrgh:
I know it’s almost imperceptible, but I know it’s there, and it drives me crazy. So … oh well. I scrutinize fabric a LOT more now, especially bargain fabrics (which this was). If I find a flaw, I mark it (on BOTH sides) with blue painters tape, so that I can’t help but see it when I’m cutting.
So yes, still obsessed with the Heidi — I have been thinking about making one that’s a bit more jumperish, and came across this pattern (available from Anna at BootyVintage):
Scoop neck, big pockets — can’t you see it?
So I was wondering if I've already posted about this dress, or if, because it's camouflage, it has merely blended in with the rest of the blog, and that's why I can't find it:
This is currently my favorite casual Heidi dress, even though the fabric is a bit on the pilly side. Here's a closeup of the bodice — I took this picture after I'd worn the dress about a dozen times, so you might even be able to see the pilling:
I do think it's a little disturbing, how much I love camouflage as a print. Perhaps it's my knee-jerk Gen X "irony" (in the debased sense of "incongruity") or maybe it's just that I am in love with idea that you need so much technology to ape what are supposed to be organic forms, or that I enjoy the absurdity of making fairly distinctive clothing out of something that was originally intended to make the wearer blend into the background. Whatever it is, I just keep doing it. If you had to categorize my fabric stash, the second-biggest category (after "Liberty," of course!) is "camouflage."
I have pink, blue, bright green, and several colors of brown camo, in addition to this gray, but weirdly enough I can't seem to find what I think would be the ur-color of non-blending camouflage: blaze-orange camouflage. Wouldn't that be awesome? Hunter orange camo! If I had some of that I would probably have to be physically restrained from wearing it twice a week, but that level of absurdity and self-contradiction would make me really happy. So if you see some, let me know, okay?
These two have been languishing on the sewing machine table for weeks — I just have to hem them and sew down the bias-tape facings, but man, getting the time to do that … hasn't happened.
But aren't they nice? I can't wait to wear the blue one. Maybe by the time you read this I will have managed to get it done!
I'm really pleased with this Heidi (which I have been working on in ten-minute bursts for WEEKS, it's been so busy here). Even though it looks like nothing in the picture:
It's this lovely heavy cotton with a thin orange stripe. Think a cross between ticking and seersucker. Bought it from Fabric Mart Fabrics, very cheap!
I plan to wear it with a white sweater and an orange watch, or maybe an orange sweater and a white watch, and white penny loafers. And then I will eat a Creamsicle.
Here's a closeup of the fabric/pocket:
See? Very subtle, for me. Except for it being ORANGE.
I also took some more pictures of previously-constructed Heidi dresses and will try to post some this week. Stay tuned!
A Dress A Day 