Bold, Bright and Beautiful: Fabric That Will Get You A Date
Self Drafted Dress in Faille Artemina Lilac Snow
When I first laid eyes on this fabric my heart beat faster. It’s rare to find large scale print fabrics. To see the scale of this print combined with this gorgeous floral, it was the fulfillment of my fabric daydream.
Since sewing this dress, some evidence would suggest I’m not the only one taken with this floral daydream either. I whipped up some puffy sleeves and wore the dress to photograph a wedding. It didn’t take long for the great aunt of the bride to start talking about sewing after she saw my dress. She regaled me with her (extensive) sewing and millinery accomplishments. At the reception she excitedly waved me over and asked me to write my number on a piece of scrap paper. She invited me to visit New York and asked twice where to buy this fabric. A little later, to my surprise, the collecting of numbers wasn’t over. The most handsome of groomsmen gently pulled me aside and said, “I don’t want to be unprofessional, but would it be okay with you if I asked for your number?” I was chuffed.
Self Drafted Dress in Faille Artemina Lilac Snow
But if you aren’t convinced yet, I have more evidence! Later that week I found myself listening to a firefighter give a fire safety talk to a group of 20 sunburned children at summer camp. I was there filming an advertisement video for the camp organization. It wasn’t the ideal situation to be wearing this dress. But the camp is situated along a beautiful river. I wanted to capture some shots of the dress in the sand after filming. So, there I was, puffed sleeved. At the end of the day, I ran into Mr. Firefighter as he was returning children’s lost backpacks. We talked for a few minutes. Maybe more than a few minutes. He told me how fulfilling it was to serve people and the community through his profession. I ran out of time to take photos of my dress as we talked, but it was worth it because as we said goodbye, he neatly printed his name and number on a pink post-it note and handed it to me. As I said, this fabric is a big hit!
Self Drafted Dress in Faille Artemina Lilac Snow
Aside from being an excellent number magnet, this fabric is fun to wear. It has a firmness to it that lends great structure to features like puffy sleeves. It is deliciously thick while being soft and flexible. The print is non-directional which makes it easier to squeeze in as many pattern pieces as possible along the grainline.
Self Drafted Dress in Faille Artemina Lilac Snow
This dress pattern is self-drafted and modeled after a dress my friend let me wear for an NYE party last winter. I enjoyed wearing it so much I wanted to have a similar dress in my wardrobe for future parties. If you’d like to make one, the free Mona trapeze dress pattern would be a good base pattern. Narrow the lower portion of the dress so it’s more of a rectangle than a trapeze, add some puff puff puff sleeves, and sew on a gathered collar. That should get you pretty close to the lines of this dress. And the great thing about puffy sleeves is they are forgiving. They don’t have to be perfect. But they are fun to sew, fun to try on, very fun to wear.
Self Drafted Dress in Faille Artemina Lilac Snow
If this fabric makes your heart beat faster, either because you like the print and make a brilliant piece of clothing or because people old and young are asking for your number while wearing it, please share your story in the comments below!
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8 Comments
Danuta Snyder
The dress is unique and beautiful. Thanks for sharing the fun stories! Love the collar!
Sarah Kirsten
Thank you, Danuta! It was fun to play around with figuring out what kind of collar to make. Sewing projects that involve an elevated amount of play are always more fun, right?
Dana Schmale
Gorgeous dress and fabric combo Sarah!! Beautifully styled.
Sarah Kirsten
Thank you, Dana! Recently painted this room and now it feels so cozy in here.
Kate Renwick
And, I love your shoes!
Sarah Kirsten
Thanks Kate! I was so happy to find them — leather soles and all of $6 at a thrift store.
Karen Jones
This dress is amazing. I’m so happy to see this fabric sewn into a dress like this because, honestly, although I love the large gorgeous prints, I could not picture what to make with them. This is very inspiring!
Sarah Kirsten
Hi Karen, it does seem to take the right pattern to showcase the large scale print doesn’t it? I’m curious what you’re thinking of creating! It’s fun to play around with different ideas of how to show off the print.