I really love this Marcy Tilton skirt.
You can read my previous blog posts out it here and see a couple of my versions below.
But I always thought that this skirt shape would make an awesome bottom part to a dress. I had 3m of a cheap cotton bought at a Spotlight sale on hand, so I thought why not give it a try?
The bodice part of the dress would have to be simple, with all the drama and volume going on lower down. So I used my trusty Eva dress bodice again, my go-to pattern which fits me well in the shoulders, armscyes and bust, and combined it with the skirt part lower down. There was a fair bit of winging-it going on in the middle, as you can see from the photo.
The Eva pattern piece, traced on paper because you need the full version, not just half with an assymmetric pattern, placed on one end, and the main pattern piece of the skirt on the other. A lot of fudging to make the two meet up as a dress. I misjudged the length I had to add in the middle and the dress turned out a little longer than I intended, I would have preferred tea length, but I think I can live with it as it is.
I followed the principle of ‘fitted at the top and freewheeling and loose lower down’, which is my usual approach to Lagenlook dresses. It did not turn out too bad at the first try, but I took in the sides a bit more from armscye to high hip to accentuate the bubble lower down. Otherwise the dress looks just straight up and down with a bit of rounding off at the hem. As it is, because of the printed fabric, the bubble construction gets rather lost, even after I topstitched all the bubble seams for emphasis. Maybe I should hand pick these style lines with a green embroidery cotton on top of the stitching, like a hand picked zipper. Not sure to be honest, I will need to marinate that idea for a while.
I added some volume to the skirt in parts to keep it in proportion with the upper part of the dress. As for the nitty-gritty of the sewing process, you can read all about it on Pattern Review.
Looking at the photos I think I could also have put in a dropped waist seam and joined the skirt to that. I have a bit of a tummy these days, so I don’t wear tight-waisted styles any more, but a dropped waist is more roomy and would look ok at high hip level. A bit of a flange would be a nice detail at that point. I might try this again in a plain linen with those changes. In the photo below there is a bit of a horizontal white patch at waist level, which almost looks like a seam there, which gave me the idea.
Karen Saieed said:
Rivergum, you look absolutely wonderful in the dress and skirt. I do like the idea of the dropped waist for the dress but think the style as is makes a perfect look. The length is great; the printed fabric just lovely and the skirt TDF. You are such an artist and look so great in everything you make. Enjoy wearing these garments during the new year. Karendee
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sarah Schwab said:
OH my gracious, how absolutely beautiful your dress turned out! I love the print and the way you manipulated the pattern. You’re a genius ! So love reading your blog.
LikeLike
Cocos Loft said:
gosh, this is just so pretty. And looks perfect on you. Nice work putting the patterns together – no one would know. I’m interested in where you take this, but I really like it as is.
LikeLike
KathieB said:
Great job melding the two patterns! I also love the Eva dress will now be looking thru my skirt patterns for ways to change it up.
LikeLike
Itziar said:
It´s a perfect job. I really like it. Congratulations!! I think that fabric is amazing.
LikeLike
Rivergum said:
Gee, thanks everyone for your kind encouragement. I do love the fabric and I enjoyed wearing this on New Year’s Day for a lovely relaxed lunch at a pub overlooking the beach. I got a request from a mother and daughter who were in our party to take them fabric shopping, so I guess they must have liked it too.
I do worry that my blog or pattern reviews are not much use to the inexperienced sewist, because I muck around so much with patterns, almost nothing i make is suitable for straight forward copying. But hey, there has to be something for the experienced and quirky too in the blogosphere, and I guess that’s my niche.
LikeLike
weibsbildkollektion said:
Ich liebe das Design, ich habe das auch schon so gemacht, auch mit Stretch Stoff sieht es sehr schön aus.
LikeLike
Rivergum said:
Ich glaube, das Design braucht einen Stoff mit Stand, obwohl der Schnitt Jersey oder Ponte empfiehlt. Da ist ein Stretchstoff eine gute Alternative, auch weil er sich bequemer traegt. Leider hate mein Stoff keinen Stretch, aber manchmal findet man halt einen schoenen Stoff guenstig und verwendet ihn, auch wenn er nicht ganz ideal ist.
LikeLike
Kate Johnson said:
Very cute, and the fabric is very fresh and pretty! And you got a nice mention on FB from Marci, so kudos!
LikeLike
twotoast said:
Very pretty and certainly suits you well! It is an interesting transformation – I’ve seen the Tessuti Eva dress made into a skirt, and this is very clever as well! I do like the skirts and dresses that peg into the hem, and you look lovely in yours!
LikeLike
Rivergum said:
Oh, this is interesting! I’d love to see that, is the pic online? Must make a not of it for a skirt idea, I had not thought of that.
LikeLike