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a problem solved


The garment district has been filled with lots of vibrant knits in scarf prints. They remind me of the clothing that grown up women were wearing during the hippie era. I had gotten a few lengths from remnant bins in the district.

This green and pink piece was purchased yesterday at one of the Kabbala-man stores. He charged me $3/yard for it. I actually put some thought into how to cut the fabric so the dress would work on a human body (mine). I realized that probably the easiest, and most flattering way to cut the dress would be to have the long black border running down the center front and back.

That was great in theory, but in practice, the fabric was too narrow to cut the back out completely . There was a triangel's worth of the skirt that wasn't in the yardage. I remembered seeing a cutting diagram from a thrifty 1940's sewing book where they showed how to piece the missing triangle of fabric to the bottom of the skirt. I used the black border to help me match the new piece exactly.

I used strips of the black geometric border to edge the neck and the armholes.

With the severe geometry in the middle, the edges of the dress look really curvy. The dress feels good on. I will probably wear it at some point this weekend.



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  1. AnonymousApril 25, 2010 at 9:22 PM

    Wow! Love the way you cut that fabric to make the most of the design. It looks wonderfully feminine and quite the attention getter. Bet it looks fabulous in motion!
    Joyce in Windsor Hills/Los Angeles

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  2. Sarah JacobsApril 26, 2010 at 12:11 PM

    Thanks Joyce!!!

    I wish I could say that I planned how va va vavoomy the dress came out. my only real concern was to keep me from looking like my body was divided into boxes. I think that the fabric may have been engineered to work the way I ended up sewing it. The shapes that the design made at the side seams were surprisingly beautiful.

    The other big surprise for me was that the big curve around the belly didn't end up making my large belly look even bigger than it is.

    And I did get lots of comliments on the dress when I wore it this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cindy May 1, 2010 at 10:54 AM

    That looks fantastic, Sarah! Brilliant use of the fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sarah JacobsMay 2, 2010 at 4:33 PM

    Thanks Cindy Ann..

    I was really hoping to do another rfake wrap dress...but I couldn't quite figure out how to make the print work.

    I found another remnant on Friday, a two yard piece of a Pucci-esque bprder print for a buck a yard.

    I will keep you posted about what that one decidedes to turn into.

    ReplyDelete

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