Monday, September 16, 2013

blue green colorblocked knit dress

i want to sew with more knits, but i haven't been thrilled with the knits at the chain fabric stores nearby, and ordering knits online is a gamble. if you remember, the last striped knits i ordered online ended up feeling slinky almost like a swimsuit, but i used them anyway for my stripey dress. so this time i wanted to pay attention to fabric content and weight. i wanted something mostly cotton for that soft feeling, with some stretch for a nice recovery, and something at least medium weight. i didn't want to end up with something tissue thin.

so i ordered 1 yard of a green michael miller knit. at almost $13 a yard, that's around the top of what i'm willing to spend on a yard of fabric. (and a $20 yard of fabric for me is a splurge.) but i'd rather pay a little more and get something i like, than cheap out and then be unhappy with it, because that would be a total waste. but what am i really going to do with just 1 yard. i really wanted to make a dress. i'd need closer to 2 yards. the green was now out of stock (but it looks like it's back in now) and even if it was, i'd risk that chance of getting fabric from a different dye lot and it might not be exactly the same green? so wheels in my head spinning, i decided to color block it. i thought a navy blue would look good with this green. so i ordered this navy blue michael miller knit. note that both times, of course i ordered several other things to push my orders past the $35 mark so i could get free shipping. fabric.com you are so clever with your free shipping offers.

well what i received was not really navy. it was more of a royal blue. in fact it was almost exactly the same color as the royal blue ponte knit that i'd also ordered. usually i'd be like, who cares, close enough, but i wasn't sure how this blue would look with this green. and now that the dress is done, i still wish it was a darker navy, but such is life. but i will add that fabric.com's customer service was very helpful and even sent me a refund on the navy, when i contacted them to check and make sure there wasn't a mix up because the color was so different from what i saw online. and i know that colors on computer monitors can appear differently, so i wasn't expecting a refund or anything, just verification that i was sent the correct fabric. anyway thank you fabric.com for restoring my faith in customer service. esp. after the nasty lady at joann's... i promise i'm not a crazy demanding customer, but i know that people should be treated civilly. hopping off my soapbox now.

so this dress is a similar shape to my stripey dress, but i re-drafted the top to change the back. the skirt is 2 rectangles with 2 narrower rectangles sewn and topstitched to the bottom. i was very careful to get all the seams to line up. and i added pockets. i just used the same pocket pattern piece i made for my last dress. overall i'm happy with it. it is Super-Comfy. i love this fabric. it's exactly what i'd want in a knit. thank you michael miller! (although i wish you made your navy darker.) i used the clear elastic that i also ordered from fabric.com and i like it a lot more than the regular elastic i'd been using. it's a lot less bulky, and i'm using it on the lady skater dress that i'm working on right now.

i wore this dress to work last week and then out to dinner with friends. it's not exactly work-wear, it's more like weekend wear, but i got away with it since our department is business casual and with a sweater (since the AC is freezing) it's less weekend-y. i got zero comments on it, which at my office is a win! ha ha, the women around me all know i sew, so they're always asking me "did you make that?" but no one asked me about this dress, so i'm thinking that means it looked store-bought. that's what i'm telling myself anyway.




12 comments:

  1. Very cute! It does look very professional, and I like how the colors look together.

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad to know you think it looks professional!! Win!

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  2. i love it! i think the blue and green look great together (but i know how it is when you have an idea in your head!). i never get what i expect when i order knits online so i have joined a swatch club in the hope that it will help me to get a feel for the different weights

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    1. ha ha, i know! i had this idea of dark navy with the kelly green and this just isn't what i imagined. I thought about darkening the photo to see how it could have looked... he he. what's the swatch club? i'll have to check that out

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  3. So cute! I think the colors look great together! That's funny what you said about no one commenting on your dress at work. I wonder the same thing at work all the time! I was thinking about purchasing the lady skater after I saw the 3 lladybird made. What do you think of it so far?

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    1. thanks! i cut the lady skater pattern out a week or so ago, but then the saltspring dress distracted me, so i finished that one first. and now i'm back at the lady skater one, but my serger did one nice seam and then it messed up and the stitches aren't catching, so i'll have to re-thread again tonight to see if i can get it going again. i'll let you know how i like it after i can try it on and see how the fit is, but it's a pretty straightforward pattern. i think it will be a good basic, easy to throw on pattern. did you see this one? http://cirque-du-bebe.blogspot.com/2013/07/lady-skater-pattern-tour.html

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  4. I know it's not what you imagined, but it does look good on you:)

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    1. Aw thank you! I had to do a bit of tweaking to get it to fit right because this fabric has a different amount of stretch than the last knit dress I did. But it is seriously one of the comfiest dresses I own now :)

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  5. This is really nice! Funny though how we can judge our clothes by others asking if we made it or if they say nothing - I'm never quite sure how to take it!

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    1. thanks!! and then a lot of store bought clothes aren't even well made, so if you think of it that way, then i guess i don't want what i make to look store bought?

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  6. Beautiful. I struggle with more expensive fabric prices too- and of course, I know that $30 for a dress in the stores is a steal so why worry over $30 for fabric for a dress? but I do. And I can tell you this: I've never regretted splurging on good fabric. ANd your dress demonstrates that nicely. It is beautiful!

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    1. that's true, i haven't regretted spending money on nicer fabric! but i did regret wasting money on cheap-o fabric that didn't end up working out well for a project.

      it reminds me of my painting professor in college, after i used one of those premade canvases for a project. he said that if you're going to put in the time and energy to do a painting, you should build your own frame and stretch your own canvas. he was talking about not skimping on your materials. holds true in sewing as well.

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