Oops, I Stitched It Again!

This two-pieced pattern got me "hooked".  I already made four versions of this pattern, two dresses and two tops.

First blog post of pattern 123: first two versions
Second blog post of pattern 123: third version

 

I wanted to try something out of my comfort zone and create a unique color-block dress while the color-block/silhouette trend is still going strong.   An upcoming concert of one of my favorite cover bands in March gave me an incentive to work on this dress.  For my fourth version, I used a medium weight knit and I cut out 4 "protractor" shapes of themed fabric on the bias.

 Some inspiration for the "cutouts", Cynthia Steffe, her "Rory" color-block shift dress.

I sewed each pair at the ends, wrong sides together and clipped the curves to reduce "bunching" before stitching them to each of the two cutout portions of the dress that started two inches below the lower armscye.  The cutouts of the dress have the same shape as the themed fabric but each edge taken in 1" to accommodate the 1/2" seam.   Stitching the fabric cutouts to the dress was unexpectedly quite a fiddle-some task and occupied the most time in the process.  The cut-outs came out 2" lower than intended on my figure, but maybe it was better that it turned out way than the cutouts affecting the chest/bust area.

After stitching in my "noir-wear" land,

Other Modifications

The dress needed further tweaking to go from "frumpy" to "dinner-and-dancing" ready.

*Removed 3" from the length that I used for the previous dress from the same pattern (third version)

*Also removed 2" from the sleeve length (past the shoulders), tapering to 0" at the lower armscye (under the arm).

Call it avant-garde, bizarre, straying from the norm, or a fashion risk when I look at  my original design.   After seeing some "interesting" designs making the headlines, I put aside more of my own personal doubts. Now I "feel fine" that I have a "little black dress" with my first attempt at color-blocking with unconventional fabric.  I am still not sure about it, I will take a fashion risk and wear it at least for one evening out...

For the "one pattern, many looks" PR contest: