So I finished hemming the 1930s dress around 3pm on a Thursday afternoon, in time to wear it for a dress rehearsal at 7pm, for the performance the next day.

Fabric: Green Italian Silk Charmeuse. Beautiful beautiful stuff, and eeevil to work with

Pattern: Hah, oh the pattern. The skirt is Excella 3742. The top is a frankenpattern combo of draping (for the back cowl) and altering fitted block (for the front)

Year: 1930s

Notions: Snaps

Hours to complete: So. Many.  50? I don’t even know, there were so many mockups and hand-basting of seams

First worn: Danse Libre performance with the Peninsula Symphony.

Total cost: The silk was $60 for 4 yards (I have maybe half a yard left), plus a bit for matching thread

Some final thoughts about this dress:

• While this dress looks amazeballs from stage, this really is a 5-foot-away dress. I’m already afraid that I’m going to hate it in 3 years when my skills are better.
• I still don’t know how to cut silk without it wiggling an absurd amount!
• When doing sharp corners with french seams, do really really narrow seams
• Of course, the problem with super narrow french seams, is you run the risk of fraying fabric poking out of the seam on the right side, giving you a fuzzy fringe look (again, stay 5 feet away from this dress 😉 )
• This is by far the most difficult thing I’ve ever sewn. The combination of the material, the ill-fitting pattern, and the bias cut was not easy. So I am pretty proud of myself that I was able to pull this off successfully.

And now the part you are all here for, photos of this dress! Alas nothing prettily posed to show you the dress from all angles, these are all from dress rehearsal and the show. Must get some more photos!

I was pretty sick at rehearsal, hence the glasses and gloves.

Hey, one posed photo! Yes I am that short (but yes, the people behind me are that tall)