I'm Just mad about Saffron

"...Saffrons mad about me"

Oh Donovan! How many post titles can I come up with from his lyrics? Perhaps we can discuss that another time, because now I have my finished dress to show you! 

Taa Daa! Isn't she so yellow! The fabric is actually more mustard in real life, depending on the lighting and you can't help but feel cheerful in this yellow frock

Marigold from my garden

The pattern I used for this dress was Simplicity 7296. Although this pattern requires quite a few coutoure techniques, as I had made a similar one before, I knew where to take the time for certain parts and also which parts could be skipped over.

Vogue 7219 - The first version 

The Simplicity version

I found the instructions on the Simplicity version lacking quite a bit. They instruct you to add bound button holes to the front placket but don't tell you how to do them, they also don't remind you to add windows for the buttonholes on the facing of the placket. Also despite needing buttonholes on the cuffs, they forget to tell you that as well!

There are also the finer details of slip stitching the facings, buttonhole windows and a few little bits that in the Vogue version they seem to make a big deal out of, but in this version they skim over it.

I guess that's why Vogue patterns always costed that little bit more - the detail they encouraged you to put into your work was higher then that of other pattern companies.

Something to remember when buying vintage patterns!

The fabric of choice was a woven silk which I bought from The Fabric Shop in Surry Hills. It might be a blend but I can't remember anymore. 

And it pills likes the dickens so I have to be careful with bags and things that might rub against it. The drape and the softness of the hand kind of make up for it. It feels sort of like a good quality flannel and is quite warm, so I might have to wait till the cooler days to wear this. And weirdly it has a really unique smell. Not your normal fabric smell! Kind of like freshly cut wood! 

Yes I'm a weirdo I know... 

  

When I bought the fabric I immediately knew which pattern it needed to go with because of the illustration on the Vogue pattern. And I couldn't help myself but replicate the pose! Ha!

But I bought the Simplicity version in the mean time and decided to try it out instead

Twinsies!

The Simplicity pattern does have a pattern piece for a tie-belt, which you could draft up easily anyway, but I think it's also a nice piece to make this dress easier to wear for work.

Details wise the collar is very simple, it doesn't include a collar stand or things like that so it just lines up with the placket and is encased in the facing

Bound Buttonhole front

One of the mistakes I made was lining up the buttonhole windows on the yoke facing.

If you see in the top button hole it doesn't line up properly to conceal the raw edge, but the one on the bottom does. It's pretty easy to avoid this mistake. You just need to be careful when drawing up the little windows and being sure to line them up before sewing.  

I used a different button on the cuff because I ran out of the kit buttons. Once I get more i'll replace them! 

The pockets of this dress instead of being patch or inseam are welt pockets with a nice neat flap over to cover. The pocket flap is handsewn at the sides to keep it up and in place

The insides, for those of you who might be interested. Most of the detail is on the front of the dress, so you have quite a bit of work to do before you can even sew the back on.

I'm really excited by this dress! It's so fun and bright to wear and fills both my love for tent dresses and work appropriate smart dresses.

I love it so much I had to do a twirl!

Well, I hope you enjoyed that mellow yellow adventure! I'm still on holidays from work so I'll be working on Rosie Wednesdays Shift dress sew along this month and I also need to finish of the 4 DIYs dresses. Naughty me always sewing things for myself!

Enjoy your week! and If you back to work this week try not to work too hard!

Cat xo