Do you think so? What a crazy idea it was to fall for this designer dress? So, who's the teacher, the dress or me? I say this dress has taught me a few things!
Peter Pilotto Dress
Lesson 1 - Before taking the plunge, make sure the chosen item is simple enough. The way that I went about deciding how to bring everything together was a bit time consuming.
Lesson 2 - Make sure the designer hasn't created his/her own fabric. That's exactly what happened. After deciding that I wanted to try duplicating it, looking at fabrics online for days and not finding anything similiar, then going back and taking a closer look at the details, I read that the designer created the fabric.
That was alright, with the exception of the time spent not sewing. So, thinking this dress looks like squares, I ordered the houndstooth fabric. One day I'm looking at the details with the enlargement from the website and oh, my goodness, it's diamond shapes with teal diamond inserts. Pure shock!
Lesson 3 - If the item is complicated, make sure that you've experienced creating your own pattern/s. One thing I knew was that I could use TNT Simplicity 8523 which included a v-neck a the baseline. Then I tried my hand at measuring and drawing the strips for the front bodice. I drew a pattern for the area of the waist to the hipline, and the part below the hipline. (Reminder to self: Don't forget to add the seam allowances!)
The pieces for top with seam allowances.
This is where I started with the top. I decided to use bolder colors instead of pastels.
I decided to add the black in the front as the belt since the back was solid. The colors started to become too much for me. I didn't think I could take another minute of sewing strips together nor could I stand to see any additional colors on this dress. This took days and almost brain freeze.
So, I decided to fiish this and make it my own, for sure, by adding a ruffle to the hemline and the sleeves.
Do you think I might need a little more experience with plaids when it comes to deciding where to cut the pattern so the invisible zipper is completed where it fall on the black or the white line? Who knows?
1. I live in the country (what we call outside of the city limits. Of course one must have a rocking chair on the front porch. The picture below is looking off the back deck and into the acreage behing my property.
2. If you live in the country one must have pets to spook off any unwanted creatures (snakes) as many as possible. The puppy is Sheltie and the kitty is Cutie. We love them so much. 
3. Sewing spaces come in all sizes. This is where I sit and complete my work. This area is the front part of my bedroom. It is part of a 12' x12' sitting area. I use this side in front of the window. Under the window is a keyboard and next to it is a shelving unit which houses sewing magazines and baskets with fabric/patterns. Standing next to this is the cutting board and ironing board.
4. A 3-ring binder is used to store my pattern envelopes. The binder is housed on the shelf next to the keyboard.
5. This wonderful file cabinet is used for storing my pattern and stash. It is located in the garage. This is how I store my patterns. They are in freezer bags with the numbers visible and in numerical order.
6. This is the National machine that I use to complete most of my items. This is my serger which a friend got at a yard sale.
