Tuesday, July 16, 2013

New Look 6184 -- China Dress

I have been on something of a creative hiatus since early June, but my daughter has not.  On the contrary, she has been working hard on some beautiful projects.  This dress is the first one:

I titled this the "China Dress" because the fabric is reminiscent of blue china to me.  It is a gorgeous cotton with subtle metallic highlights (like gold or silver leaf on china:) purchased from Hobby Lobby.
It feels as pretty as it looks
For her pattern she chose New Look 6184 view B and made an unaltered size 10.  Features include pleats at the neck, darts at the waistline, and a circle skirt made of several panels sewn together.  She tried adding a white belt and bow out of satin (per view B), but it made the dress feel too little-girly and took away from its effect, so she left it off.


The dress is not lined.  The neckline is finished with a facing, and the armholes are finished with bias tape, which makes the inside tidy.  She did finish all other seams by sewing a line in each seam allowance and then pinking the edges.

It closes with a lapped zipper at the back.

She didn't add any to the length (she is 5'9" for reference), so there was not much room to turn up a hem.  A circle skirt should have a very narrow hem anyway, so we used hem tape sewn to the edge and turned up.  I think that also added a little weight and helped the hem to hold its shape.

As sometimes happens, a new dress necessitates new shoes and purse:), but thankfully we found both quickly and very reasonably.

I love the retro feel of this, and the fit is spot-on.  Truly it looks lovely on her. As I did not make this dress myself I cannot offer my opinion, but my daughter says that this pattern is quite easy and not hard to understand at all.  I will let her results speak for themselves.

14 comments:

  1. Oooooo...I love that fabric! This is certainly a beautiful dress on a beautiful girl!

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  2. Lovely - she did a good job.

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  3. Goodness, an unaltered size 10! She is in a fitting sweet spot. Now we know exactly the type of statuesque beauty patterns are drafted for! She sews wonderfully, too--you must be a proud mom.

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  4. It the dress is beautiful as is the gal wearing it. I'm particularly impressed by the neckline...lovely!

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  5. She is just beautiful in the dress.

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  6. Stunning. Both your daughter and the dress. X

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  7. What a beautiful dress, Angela! Your daughter has clearly inherited her mother's sewing skills - it looks absolutely gorgeous and yes, the pattern is reminiscent of beautiful old blue and white china. Looking forward to seeing what else she has been making! E x

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  8. Congrats to your daughter on good sewing, and a perfect choice of fabric and pattern. That's lovely on her! And that fabric!! I'm afraid that's my downfall, in a fabric store, is how luscious they are. That one is particularly gorgeous!

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  9. I really love that fabric, and it's a very flattering pattern. Good job, Emma!

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  10. I love it. My daughter recently bought a dress with a similar neckline and it is so flattering on her. It is on your daughter, too. She is lovely.

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  11. Thank you ladies for your kind words! And yes, if she makes a size 10 unaltered, you can see why most of us have to change up the patterns.

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  12. Your daughter's dress is absolutely stunning!

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  13. I just bought this pattern today and googled the number to see if i could find pics with the flared skirt. So glad I found your post! Thank you for sharing!

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