Tag: seersucker

The Hundred Dresses: Day 71

Erin13 Comments

This dress was an indulgence:

Seersucker Mail Order 4946

It doesn’t really show up against the light background — it’s from this pattern:
MailOrder4946

It’s an indulgence because I really don’t need a light-colored seersucker dress (especially as cold as it’s been this month!) and things have been so busy that if I’m sewing, it should be sensible things. But I really loved this pattern, and the minute I saw it I knew I wanted to make it in stripes, with the yoke stripes going in the opposite direction from the bodice stripes.

Here’s a better look at the bodice:

Seersucker Mail Order 4946 bodice

And the yoke stitching detail:

Seersucker Mail Order 4946 detail

The pattern wanted to you to turn in the yoke piece 1/4 inch and then topstitch it, but I thought that was a nightmare scenario … so fussy! So I faced the piece with some very very lightweight batiste, and then topstitched the faced piece:

4946 yoke facing

4946 yoke

Here’s the side zip:
Seersucker Mail Order 4946 side zip

And a closeup of the inverted pleats — the pattern wanted me to stitch them down, and I tried it, but it didn’t work with my body type (cough, apple, cough) so I picked out those stitches and let it be open pleats:

Seersucker Mail Order 4946 skirt

And here’s the back:

Seersucker Mail Order 4946 back

I definitely want to make this again … good thing I have lots of striped fabric stockpiled!

 

The Hundred Dresses: Day 33

Erin4 Comments

I think this dress is the first Vogue 9929 I posted about:

seersucker stripe Vogue 9929

Here’s a less-blurry view of the fabric:
seersucker stripe Vogue 9929 bodice

The zipper here is doing its best. I somehow mis-adjusted my dress form while wrestling all these dresses off and onto it, and didn’t notice for a couple of dresses’ worth of photos … things in your browser may be looser than they appear.
seersucker stripe Vogue 9929 side zip

And the back:
seersucker stripe Vogue 9929 back

This one gets worn with a white cardigan (when necessary — it’s a hot-weather dress, for sure) and those red Keds again. (I like the red Keds since they are one of the colors Keds makes in the wider width, which is more comfortable. Seriously, Keds, when are you going to call me? I have all SORTS of ideas for you, and I’ll work for shoes.) I’ve also tried this with a green cardigan, to match the green stripe, but that overall effect is much too “Christmas in July!” for me.

 

The Hundred Dresses: Day 28

Erin10 Comments

This is the last Simplicity 1577 (for a while, not the LAST ONE EVER), but this one? Is my absolute favorite. I never get tired of this dress:
seersucker Simplicity 1577

BLACK SEERSUCKER. It’s the best fabric ever. I wish I’d bought all of this there ever was. This collar has a little bit of bad roll to it. (Oh! I tried Kathleen’s super collar instructions and it worked beautifully. Sneak peek picture here.)

seersucker Simplicity 1577

The zipper is just, eh. A C:

seersucker Simplicity 1577 zipper

The pockets and the collar are lined with black batiste — here’s the pocket:

seersucker Simplicity 1577 pocket

And the collar (you can see the ripples from the seersucker):

seersucker Simplicity 1577 back collar

And the back view:

seersucker Simplicity 1577 back

I wear this either with black Justin boots or with these European grandma shoes that I searched for FOREVER and finally found on Etsy. (That’s the seller’s picture I pinned.) I wore them a couple of times and then the ancient glue holding the soles together gave up the ghost, so I had to have them resoled. (TOTALLY WORTH IT.) And sometimes I wear this dress with these ancient J. Crew ankle boots for maximum Dickensian glamour.

I wore this dress in Paris way back in 2011 and got stopped on the Champs Élysées by someone who asked me directions … in French. (NB: I do not speak French.) I figure that’s probably the best endorsement this dress could ever get. (I was actually able to give directions … they were asking where the Georges V was, and I’d just passed it and thought, “Oh hey, that’s the Georges V, that I always read about in novels!” I answered with some “straight on thataway” gestures and I think I was understood.)

The Hundred Dresses: Day 7

Erin7 Comments

Getting a slow start on a Sunday … but this is one of my favorite dresses:

blue seersucker Vogue 9929

It’s another Vogue 9929, of course. I like the way the bias binding stripes worked out on this one:

blue seersucker Vogue 9929

 

And the zipper’s not too bad:

blue seersucker Vogue 9929

 

And here’s the back:

blue seersucker Vogue 9929

I’m pretty sure I bought this fabric at the Oakland White Elephant sale, a few years back. it was a remnant length but I couldn’t resist it — I love dark seersuckers — and I’m so glad I grabbed it.

Probably my favorite thing about this dress is how versatile it is. I’ve worn it with blue, maroon, pink, yellow, and gray cardigans, and in every weather from 40 degrees (with kneesocks and brown boots) to 80 degrees (with gray Keds and not much else).

And there’s a Hundred-Dresses-the-book update, too — it was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe over the weekend! (both are paywalled, sadly) Official publication date is Tuesday …