A couple of weeks ago I had a mad moment and ordered three Deer and Doe patterns, I fell for the Passiflora, but once on the website the Orchidee and the Bluett also appealed.
I decided to make the Bluett first, this is a princess line dress, sleeveless but with a collar and stand and a bow on the back. I had a look through my stash file which I bought a few months ago. It’s been very helpful as I’ve measured all my fabric and together with a small sample I’ve listed the width and length of each piece. I’ve also listed them according to length so I could easily see which fabrics I had over 3m in. I had 4m of these beautiful midnight blue silk dupion. It looks darker in real life compared to the photos. It’s not as shiny or blingy as most dupion silks and I really like that understated look, it means I can wear the dress when I just want something smart and classy, not the full evening look.
I remembered my sizes from the last skirt I made ( which is fairly recent!) and duly cut out a size 42. I added about 12″ to the length to get it the midi length I like rather than the knee length of the pattern.
The pattern went together pretty easily. I did have a giggle one day, I realised I was running out of navy thread with no opportunity for a couple of days to go to a shop. As my OH was popping into Otley I asked him to buy some navy blue thread. He came back chuntering ‘Do you know how many blues there are, none of them have names on!!!’ There’s me thinking navy blue thread was a reasonable description! He actually googled gutermann thread whilst in the shop to find which number was officially navy blue!
The seams are all top-stitched, I over locked them first as dupion is a so and so for fraying. When I got t the sewing side seams stage I was already becoming a little concerned with sizing, so I made the side seam slightly narrower. The only other change was to add pockets, I do like a dress with pockets!
When I first tried it on it was definitely snug. I did consider adding a stitched on front facing but that would have meant I had to alter the collar stand and the collar. I decided in the end I could just about get away with it…and hope I lose a little weight!
The last part of the instructions was the button holes, with the extra length there’s about 17 buttonholes! I did wonder what my chances were of my sewing machine sewing so many buttonholes with out throwing a wobbly…but it made all 17 perfectly. It took me ages to sew the buttons on, there’s actually only 15 buttons as that’s all they had left in the shop, however I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to buy some more.
I’m really pleased with this dress, though it is a little snug, particularly around the midriff (I’m blaming starting on HRT!) I might need to put on some slim fast knickers! I’ll certainly be making another though, just maybe slightly bigger!
thecraftycreek 
Looks amazing!
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I like this dress. You usually look good in whatever you sew, but this dress reminds me of one I had years ago. It was a light blue floral a-line princess dress.When I first pulled it off the rack, my aunt said, “You’re not wearing that, are you?” I thought why not? “I like it.” was the reply. When I tried it on, she said it looked a lot different on me than it did on the rack. I may have to make one of these in linen now… Thank you for sharing.
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It would be lovely in linen.
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Love the back detail, and I think control underwear will take care of any slight snugness! Worth making another in something less dressy, and with a slight size adjustment for comfort; it’s a very versatile dress.
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I’m already looking at my stash for other lengths, I can see this being a popular pattern once I get the sizing right!
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I think it’s fab, your sewing is fantastic as always and love the colour.
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Congratulations on 17 perfect button holes!
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Thank you, I was very relieved 🙂
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Great to read. Poor hubby. No thread in the farm supplies 😂
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I love the back bow detail and it’s certainly the perfect dress for those occasions where ‘smart’ rather than ‘too dressy’ is called for.
I am a big Deer & Doe fan and have made a jumpsuit, a coat and a couple of their blouses. Being French, I find they do size for French women rather than English so they come up a tad on the ‘skimpy’ size. What did you think of the Arielle blouse I mentioned when you asked for pattern recommendations? You had reminded me I actually have the pattern and I made it up recently – yet to blog about it. Being too lazy to do an FBA, I found it a struggle to get on as it has no closures so took the front body darts out and now it’s fine.
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I’ve got the fumeterre skirt which I’ve made a couple of times, the airelle is very pretty, I like the vintage vibe, especially with the three quarter sleeves…it’s on my list 🙂
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Lovely dress, Margaret! I might should take a peek at Deer & Doe patterns … 😉
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Looks lovely! I am impressed with your Personal Shopper, mine would have given up and come home empty handed. I always start my button holes from the bottom just in case my machine needs some practice, never fails after a couple done in the real fabric, it continues without error!
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Mine usually blobs on the very top one, i.e. the most visible one 🙂
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Yes, my biggest fear! 😂
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Oh, you should never send a man to buy thread ! I’m convinced that men only see in black and white. I remember when my twin boys were young and singing in a cathedral choir, they needed new towels to stay in a hostel and I sent my husband to buy them a towel each. He asked what colour and I said it didn’t matter as long as they weren’t pink. Back he came with 2 barbie pink towels. When I challenged him he said “those aren’t pink, they’re red” Anything on the colour spectrum from tangerine to magenta is just “red” to him. Any shade of navy, brown or grey is just “black”. A Gutermann thread display would fry his mind.
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Lol, I thought navy blue was quite straight forward 🙂
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My husband would have come home with black
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Love the style and love the color, Margaret! If I sewed as well as you do, then I would make this for myself! 🙂
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Its lovely. Ever thought of applying for the Sewing Bee?
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That is a great style for you Margaret, and I bet if you lose 5 pounds it will make the difference, the fit is so close already!
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You certainly should be pleased — it is a most beautifully made dress and looks lovely on you
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That’s a lovely colour and Hubby deserves a Pat on the back! 😄
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Beautiful dress and fabric! Yay on the pockets – all dresses need pockets!
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