The Carnival Rose Dress

I have just barely made my own deadline for posting my Literary Sewing Circle project! I sewed all through this rainy weekend to finish off my design, which I'd laid out and cut last week.

This dress has many inspiration points from Something Wicked This Way Comes. I decided to go with one of the quotes I shared in one of the earlier inspo posts:

"In a chair by the fire mother knitted and hummed like a teakettle...His mother's fingers twitched, her mouth counted, the happiest woman he had ever seen. He remembered a greenhouse on a winter day, pushing aside thick jungle leaves to find a creamy pink hothouse rose alone in the wilderness. That was mother, smelling like fresh milk, happy, to herself, in this room."

I have had a length of vintage rose print cotton in my stash for quite a while -- pink and red roses on a black background seemed to fit this book & this quote well. But I know it's vintage as it was only about 36" wide. Thankfully I had nearly 3 metres of it so after trialing a couple of designs I found one that would fit onto this narrow fabric -- nearly. I would have to make the neckband and linings out of a coordinating fabric.

I chose Simplicity 2927, a 60s influenced style -- also suitable since Something Wicked This Way Comes was first published in 1962. I got this pattern in the pattern swap at PatternReview Weekend in Chicago so thank you to the anonymous sewist who donated it!

Then I espied a 1/4 yard of black and white polka dot cotton in my stash & thought it would be perfect to use for the neckband. It adds a fun Carnival flair!

I also used the polka dot cotton for the pocket and sleeve linings, but had to use a plain black cotton for the underside of the neckline, as I ran out of dots. I used up quite a lot of my stash making this dress! 

I'm pretty happy with it -- vintage roses and dots, on a black ground, with a 60's feel -- says Something Wicked to me! 

The only thing I'm not happy with is that somehow I missed the extra inch I needed to take out of the bodice length when measuring everything -- if it was one inch shorter above the waist, it would sit more comfortably and have less extra fabric pooling at the small of my back. Oh well, it's good enough to wear and I know to adjust the next time I make it.

I think it's a fun and easily made pattern with some neat details, like the pockets and the two piece sleeves (love those). The pattern construction was easy and straightforward, though I had thought on first look that the pockets were inseam ones. They're actually topstitched patch pockets (though I think it would be pretty easy to make them inseam ones if you wanted to). The buttoned neckband is cute, and comfortable. This pattern is a winner for me.

Really recommended -- I think it would make a fun winter tunic in a softer fabric as well.