Christmas Dress - 2014

Earlier in the year, I made 5 bridesmaid dresses that used 36 yards of tulle each. (I'll have a post coming about that adventure soon!) It was crazy and labor intensive, but I just loved the volume and airiness of the skirt. You'd think I'd be sick of tulle after all that, but instead I was inspired to combine rich, red velvet and a frothy black and white dotted voile I had on hand, along with the tulle underneath for volume to create a fun and festive Christmas dress for myself!

 

As I mentioned in my capelet post, I also loved the idea of having a red velvet capelet to go with it. That part was much more difficult than I'd expected! But first the dress...

I gathered various inspiration pics, mostly of red velvets and white tulles together.

 

 

 

And some capelet inspiration!

 

 

 

 

Originally I was thinking of having a two-tiered skirt, like this one:

 

 

But after starting the process of adding the top tier, it was getting messy and difficult, and I felt there was enough fullness with just the bottom tier so decided against it in the end.

 

As for the bodice, I decided to go with a simple V-neck crossover, and used the bodice from New Look 6557, view B.

 

 

 

Usually crossover necklines want to gape and pull over my full bust, but I was impressed with this pattern, it actually sits really nicely and covers well!

 

For the skirt, I used the same pattern I'd used for the bridesmaid dresses I mentioned above, McCall's 6466. By now I could do it in my sleep! I just used 4 layers instead of 6. Sewing yards of tulle always turns into a mountain of fluff! 

 

 

I finished just in time to wear the dress to the ballet - The Nutcracker, a yearly tradition. 

 

 

I threw on a black cropped sweater I had in my closet, and a black velvet vintage had I'd recently acquired (along with my first hat pin!)

 

 

After that, I had a few days until Christmas itself, plenty of time to whip up a simple capelet! Or so I thought...it started out alright, I used Butterick 5032.

 

 

The pattern is really very straight forward. The problem was the fabric! I was using the red velvet, and a lining fabric, and they did not want to stay together. I managed to get it done, and make it passable to wear, but from close it looks awful and pulls in all kinds of strange ways, which you can see a little on the corner and edge here. 

 

 

 

Fortunately, you can't really tell too much once it's on.

 

 

 

 

 It was still fun to wear, but I think I actually prefer the black cropped sweater with the dress in the end. I look forward to trying out the capelet in an easier to sew fabric soon enough, though!

 

 

Despite the slight disappointment of the capelet, overall I was pleased with the end result. I got quite a few comments from people while I was at the ballet and at dinner afterwards, so I suppose I can call it a success!