Concertina Socks & A Dress in Progress

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Here's the finished pair of Concertina Lace socks. They were done several days ago, and so are probably the fastest pair of socks I've ever made, because I've had plenty of time to just sit and knit. I think they're kind of cute, and they'll be fine this winter when it's cold.

My big thing right now is that I'm working on a dress. It's a re-make for me of a Marfy pattern (#1128) that I've made once before. You can see the pattern below. It's basically a really nice sheath dress, and I've thought it might be a TNT for me.



No pictures of the new version yet, but this time I'm doing it in a gorgeous and fairly beefy cotton matelasse (Valentino Atelier) print that was a very kind gift from a dear sewing friend. She'd made a skirt of it, and gave me what was left, which was a generous amount, and plenty to make the dress. I'm always amazed at how little fabric Marfy patterns take compared to the Big4. This was 60" fabric, and it took only one dress length, plus facings I think. I had planned to use self bias to turn the edges, but now I'm thinking of facing it, so we'll see. I'm doing it without the sleeves, and apparently (after the first try-on) without the collar. I'm going to do one of those trendy gathered/pleated necklines that just fold under. It's a print, so it's got plenty going on without a contrast collar. I found some jute-like ribbon that I'm hoping to incorporate somehow, possibly as a bow (big surprise there), but a flat one. I bought a longer zipper yesterday than is called for. It asks for a side zip, about 9" long, but it's a chore getting into and out of it, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and put in a 20". That should do the trick.

This is the first real garment project I've done for a long time, and I'm getting excited about it. It's nice to feel like sewing again.