Simplicity 1419 with Smuggler’s Daughter Fabric
Amazingly, it’s been kind of chilly the past couple days which made me think – how can I style a sleeveless dress for this frigid 60 degree weather we’re having? So I paired it with some tights and a long sleeve shirt and a, uh, winter necklace, I guess? FASHION!
But then you might be asking: “Dixie, if you dressed up for cold weather why didn’t you take these pictures outdoors?” and I would say, “Are you insane!? It’s practically a new ice age outside! But no matter, it’s now nap hibernation time.”
Onward to the dress –
The Pattern: Simplicity 1419 is a Lisette pattern that is pretty much your standard fit-and-flare design with skirt pleats and a darted bodice. I thought the simple style would be a good way to show off this border fabric. Plus, I’ve never used this pattern before so I wanted to see how well it would turn out.
The Fabric: This lovely lavender linen from Smuggler’s Daughter. It’s a mid-weight which made it substantial enough for a dress. What I really loved was the wide, embroidered, cut-out border on one edge.
I did the pretty standard choice to place the border on the hem but you could add it to other places like a front or back yoke or even use it for lace-y short sleeves.
The fabric is wide so I was able to cut out the whole dress in two yards with quite a lot of fabric leftover (at one point I thought I was going to add sleeves but then decided not to, even with sleeves cut out I still had a ton of fabric remaining).
I didn’t line the skirt because I like the open effect (I think it looks really good with the tights). But you could line it with a complimentary color for a little bit of pop at the hem.
I worried the embroidery would be difficult to sew over but it was fine. On the side seams I sewed a normal straight stitch then serged the seam allowances. If you don’t have a serger, you could zig zag or bind your seam allowances with something like Seams Great.
The Changes: Only a few. I shortened the bodice by an inch. Normally Simplicity patterns hit my waist at the right spot but lately I’ve been gravitating towards a slightly higher waist. Not sure why. It doesn’t look like much of a difference in the pics but I can tell when I wear it.
I also took a little bit of fullness out of the skirt at the curved hem to make the straight-ness of the border less noticeable on the finished dress.
The pattern has you add a tiny button and loop at the top of the front neckline, making the slit into a keyhole. I left it off. I like the open look. Plus, I hate trying to turn tiny tubes (there’s a lot of alliteration going on in this post, sorry).
The Results: This is quite a cute dress and bonus points for taking it from summer to fall! I love love love the eyelet at the hem, especially from a distance where you can see the full pattern. It’s a solid color so it goes with many other garments but the eyelet makes it stand out. A little cake with your frosting, if you will.
It really is a cute dress, and I love the way you styled it!
The dress is terrific – I also love what you’ve paired it with.
Brilliant idea and lovely dress! I always dream of wearing my pretty dresses with tights and a cardigan in the winter but even that is too cold! But a layer UNDER….. hmmm that might work….
The outfit looks really cute on you! And that side pose, I think it’s called “Doing a Tilly”! 😉
Ahh, you know for a min I thought that pose looked familiar. I remember now, I was just about to do a twirl but I guess the camera timer was too quick.
Thanks!
Very cute! And great idea with the layering!
love this dress layered! the eyelet with tights behind is so cute.
Thanks! I think black tights really stand out.
Thank you heather!
Thanks! I’ve never really tried this look before but I like it.
Thanks so much!
Hey thanks! And I just checked out your new pattern. I’m glad more people can now make your nifty skirt. 🙂
I LOVE this dress! I think it’s great!
Really cute! I love the cut-outs in the hem, and they keyhole neckline.
I am too! Even though yours looked great, a pattern may be easier than a tutorial 🙂
That border is AWESOME! And I love the fall styling.