I have been focused all week on trying to finish up my latest pattern and get it out for testing! When you have weeks like this one, it is so wonderful to have sewing friends who come to the rescue. So here is Julie to tell you all about her lovely Juliet dress. Julie has been on the blog before to tell you all about July Flowers which you can read here and here. So welcome Julie!
I have the had ‘Juliet’ by Bonnie Blue pattern in my collection for a while. I like the fact it can be made into an heirloom style garment and has a large size range. I also like that it can be made to be more of an everyday dress and the fact that I can use lace from my stash to make the dress (and yes, fabric from my stash too!)
I finally decided to make the dress when I was looking for something that did not involve some handwork ahead of the machine work. I picked a floral fabric from my stash that feels a little like a lawn. On looking at the fabric and then the lace in my stash, I felt that it would look too dressy to be an everyday dress if I added lace. So, after a little poking about in my trims drawers (yes, my lace, ric-rac, pre-made bias bindings, etc. are neatly stored in four drawers) I found a bright yellow ric-rac. I also found a matching pre-made yellow bias binding, and having found my accent trims, I made my version of the Juliet dress.
The Juliet pattern calls for the lace trim to be added to the back and the front. I decided to only accent the front with my ric-rac, so machined it in place on the fabric before I seamed the shoulders, thus neatening that edge of the ric-rac. The bottom edge was neatened at the hem edge while making the hem.
I used the pre-made yellow bias binding to make the bound sleeves and finish the neck edge.
The buttons for the back were also from my stash and I chose plain pearl buttons as I did not want to make an accent of the buttons on the back but preferred to have them neutral.
The dress construction was very easy and everything went together nicely.
I love the way the dress turned out. The ric-rac brightens the fabric, and makes the dress look pretty, but wearable as an everyday garment rather than special occasion dress.
Now to plan my next Juliet dress and maybe this time use some of that lace from my stash as well as some stash fabric!
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