What I Wore Wednesday

I found some barkcloth in an op shop recently and ummed and ahhed for a little while before finally deciding to buy it.  After all, they had 50% off everything in the store and there were 5.3m for, in the end, $5! 



I wasn't sure what I'd do with it but in the end decided to make old faithful - another dress. :)  I'm so glad I did.  I just love it, so much more than I expected!  I wasn't too thrilled on all the brown, so I chose to have a yellow trim to bring out the yellow flowers.  I think it makes the dress so happy.

I changed the pattern a little - I made the neckline higher, the shoulders wider, the skirt has more volume and I gave it unpressed box pleats instead of gathers.  The box pleats took a bit of fiddling but I love them.  The sash with a bow is something new too.

The fabric was so nice to sew with, and is so nice to wear.  Barkcloth is quite thick and textured.  I had to trim a few bulky seems - in some places six layers thick, which is a bit much when the fabric is so thick!  It feels so nice to wear though.

  

I was careful with the placement of the pattern pieces so the bodice pieces would have the same print on both sides, front and back.  I was glad I had so much fabric to play with!

The dress cost me about $8.  Less than $3 worth of barkcloth, $3 for the yellow fabric and $2 for the zipper.

Dress - Made by me
Shoes - Pierre Fontaine (these poor shoes have no soles and are too far gone to be repaired... and yet I continue to wear them... I haven't found a replacement pair yet!)
Necklace - gift from Mum, from the Stitches and Craft Fair I think