Photos by Drew
Dress: Liebemarlene Dress by Vivat Veritas
Necklace: Ebay, years ago (when I wanted to turn Catholic)
Tights: H&M
Shoes: ’90s, thrift store
This weekend I’ve been sewing up a dress out of that fabric I wrote about last week. I’m trying to go slow and take my time because the fabric’s too good to mess up and because I really want to make it into a dress I can wear over and over again this summer. Sewing is one of those things that always looks easier than it is, or at least to me. I got this really “easy” pattern from the ’70s with pretty large, straight-forward pattern pieces, and I still spend way too much time wracking my brains trying to figure out how pieces fit together or how to sew in zippers (the worst). But I’m just about done–all I have to do is fix some wonky spots around the zipper and do the hem and fit the dress just right, and I’m crossing my fingers the whole thing will turn out.
Anyhow, sewing’s hard, and I’m always in awe of people who can actually make their own dress patterns, and sew them up perfectly. Chie of the Tokyo-based online shop Vivat Veritas is one of those people, and when she gave me the chance to design a dress for her store I jumped at it. The process started way back last summer when I was still stuck on the couch with a broken arm, and I drew up a little sketch of what my dream dress for colder weather would be. Very very simple, a tiny bit ’70s, a small amount of goth, and flutter sleeves.
When I got the finished dress I knew it would be something I would wear all the time, and thus a success. I can’t get over how well Chie can sew—the seams are so perfect, and the dress is even lined (the idea of lining a dress myself makes my brain hurt). She’s made a limited amount of these dresses, so if you’re interested you can buy one of your own right here.
12 Comments
You`re such an ispiriring en adorable person! I really like the dress and the shoes actually!
Greetings from Germany
I mean INSPIRING of course..
I can’t wait to see your finished dress! You should check out The Sew Weekly or Sewaholic.net if you need any tips.
lovely!! can’t wait! love the photos!!!
I love this cute dress on you. It looks great, hope you manage to get your dress right. I love the iddea of sewing clothing but it really is quiet difficult! At least for a first timer
Daisy Dayz
How neat! That dress looks really nice on you. I’m looking forward to photos of the dress you’re almost finished sewing! I can’t imagine trying to sew on a zipper.. just the thought itself seems daunting. More power to you that you actually followed through and made a dress in such a short amount of time! :>
Cute dress and love the setting! Can’t wait to see your finished product!
I’m having a weird time with dresses at the moment, I seem to have accidentally fallen back into jeans and loose fit blouses after about 5 years of non-stop dress wearing, but this is just the kind of dress I want to be wearing today! I think I might have to do some extra strong hinting to my boyfriend – he didn’t buy me a christmas present – as we’re having such summery weather in London early this year it would be perfect.
Sometimes older patterns can be a bit trickier to figure out because they assume you know more about sewing than more modern patterns. I had a 20s apron pattern once that read something like, 1. cut out your pieces. 2. make the apron. ! In any case, sewing gets easier pretty quickly. Good luck and can’t wait to see your dress!
What park is this? I love that little bridge!
What a pretty dress! Good job on designing it. Sewing IS hard, I always want to do it right and perfect and then I get lazy and take shortcuts and hate how it turns out. Good for you taking your time!
that dress is perfect on you!