I hope you don’t mind – I snuck off to Paris with my husband last week to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary and I just didn’t get any posts pre-scheduled to go up while I was gone! BUT!! I have lots of fun things to share with you over the coming weeks, beginning with a couple pattern reviews for items I sewed before we left and was able to photograph in Paris! Today, I’m really excited to share a new Blank Slate Patterns dress with you – this is the Marigold Dress, which debuted as part of the most recent Pattern Anthology collection. When the collection came out, I sewed and shared my leather McCartney jacket, but knew I wanted to sew the other women’s patterns as well.
I made this dress from a fabric called peachskin, which I’ve never sewn with before, and have mixed feelings about. The fabric has a matte sheen and really represents its name “peachskin” quite well. I had a really hard time telling the right from the wrong side of the fabric (maybe it doesn’t matter?) while cutting and sewing. Also, the finished dress has some static issues. Nevertheless, the weight of the fabric makes this a perfect Fall dress and it held up really well walking around in Paris. I layered it with tights and a jacket, as well as boots. It feels fashionable, yet practical.
The bodice details on this dress make it a standout. The light gathering and dropped shoulder give it such a pretty, feminine touch. I think that the button placket looks really professional and it was not difficult to sew. I chose to cover small buttons with the same material for a cohesive look. This would alternately be a great place to add some detailing, with metal or decorative buttons. The shoulders or armhole area is just a tad tight on me – it feels fine when I’m wearing the dress and even when raising my arms, but I have to kind of peel the dress straight up over my head to get it off – I like the way the dress fits so I didn’t want to mess with the sizing too much and the slight inconvenience with dressing is fine.
The sleeve cuff and placket took some work – my second try turned out better than the first, so I think it just takes some practice – the pattern instructions are quite clear. A thinner fabric that presses more crisply would also improve the sewing finish, I think. It’s a nice design detail and gives you practice on something that you don’t run across in every pattern you sew. The sleeves were a bit long for me (remember I’m shorter than average), but could be easily adjusted with just a bit of effort.
The skirt of the dress is a circle skirt and you know how much I love circle skirts for us ladies with hips! The bodice ends right at the natural waistline and ties with a sash (ignore that my sash is too short – I sewed it in a flurry the night before we left on the trip and cut it too short). Sashes are great for accentuating a smaller waistline, but if you don’t want to wear the sash, the dress is constructed with elastic in the waistline – so you get the pulled in effect and the dress is super comfortable! I like the way it looks with the sash though! There are also pockets that can be added to the skirt/dress, but I skipped them this time. The drape of the circle skirt just falls right over the hips with a graceful drop. When hemming circle skirts, I almost always resort to a narrow/rolled hem (video tutorial here). The peachskin was just a little thick for the rolled hem – it sewed fine, but has just a tad too much stiffness at the hem – I’d do it again, though, because there’s just no other way to sew a curved hem.
Alright! Let’s give the husband a hand for excellent photography skills! I usually use a tripod and remote to get my photos, but that wasn’t really an option here and he did great! I might have to solicit him to take all my photos from now on!
To purchase the Marigold Dress/Top PDF Pattern, visit Blank Slate Patterns here.
Outfit Details:
Dress – Marigold Dress, sewn by me
Earrings – Forever 21
Boots – ECCO Women’s Sullivan Buckle Riding Boot
(aff link)
