Palomino Dress

From PalominoDress

I've said for a long time that I want to make more dresses, but I don't actually do it, it seems. I began this project with my original plan for this fabric (from Mood LA). I was going to make a long sleeved high-necked top that I could wear under dresses, or with a cami under it since it's so sheer. I then thought it would be nice as the yoke and sleeves of Jalie 2682. I then thought maybe I should make it a dress instead of a top, by just lengthening it. I am quite pleased with the result, and am glad I made a dress of it.

As you can see, I raised the yoke/bodice seam from under the bust to above the bust, just below the armscye. This meant that the FBA I had done on the original pattern needed to be adjusted as well, with the dart pointing up to the new seam, rather than down as before. I also added the bow with streamers. A nice strong vertical line is hardly ever a bad thing. As I look at the photos now, I may make the bow part larger, which would only involve un-tacking it and pulling them out longer. Pressing the seam out after turning the piece for the bow took about as long as making the rest of the dress. The sheer part of the burnout wants to stick to itself, and I had to pin the seamline to the ironing board about every couple of inches or less, and carefully manipulate the fabric while pressing. Hooray for teflon iron shoes, as I was able to use steam on this. It was resistant to pressing flat, too.

From PalominoDress

The Brown Burnout is a knit, and the body of the dress is Slinky Knit. I didn't have much trouble putting them together, although the burnout is very light and flimsy, and the slinky is fairly heavy. I used clear elastic in all seams involving the slinky, which seemed to work well. I used a twin-needle for the hem. This project involved changing thread colors depending on which fabric I was working on at the time. I have a fairly unique zip-up jacket made of the slinky that I will have to try with it. You never know.

This dress is really comfortable, as you might expect. The burnout seems pretty fragile, but once you have it on, it's fine. I was surprised at how much coverage it gives, especially since it's double on the front bodice. I am wearing a strapless bra with it, but I think I could wear a regular one without much problem. I found I did need a half slip with the dress, otherwise if I had the skirt fitted this closely, it showed every bump, and if I had it looser, it just looked like a sack. I think I found a happy medium, and I like wearing a slip anyway. I was just afraid it might show, but it doesn't seem to.

From PalominoDress