Operation Easter Dress- Year 4 (pt.1) (by Kendal)

Every year I design and make a dress for Easter Sunday- this will be the fourth year in a row, assuming it works out again. When Kelsey and I were little, Mom made us Easter dresses (not every year, but often enough that it was a tradition of sorts). So when I could sew clothing well on my own, I decided to make a dress for Easter Sunday. I was 16 that year, and had already been experimenting somewhat successfully with clothing design, so I decided to design the dress myself. It worked, and I've done it every year since. Now that it's a tradition, there are a few guidelines that I follow regarding my "Easter Dress":

1: It has to be the first Spring dress I make that year
2: It is the first Spring outfit that I wear to church that year (supposedly there's a fashion rule that says that you shouldn't wear spring clothes/shoes until Easter Sunday anyway)
3: I've made the dress white on alternating years- why break the tradition now?
4: It has to be a design that goes outside my current comfort zone

I'm willing to break any of these if necessary, but I've stuck to them so far. :)

Here are the designs from previous years:

The first dress was white eyelet- the style was probably a bit young for a 16 year old, but it was pretty, and I enjoyed making and wearing it. Here is a drawing from my design folder- I no longer have the actual dress:

I made the next dress out of Swiss dot, and was a little more daring with the design. It was a combination of two patterns- one I had designed and one I bought- plus a tie in the front similar to one I had seen on a friend's dress. (Beware to my friends- I may copy elements of your clothing!) Here is the dress and the drawing:

Sorry about the quality of these pics- I didn't feel like dragging out the camera, so I used my webcam.

 

I really took on a challenge with the next dress. It was definitely the most difficult thing I have ever designed- it took weeks just to make the pattern. I had seen a similar dress at Khols for $150, but I wasn't willing to spend that much on a somewhat casual dress, so I made my own version. I had no idea what a challenge it would be to make a lined dress solely out of vertical panels, but it was worth it! The design:

Kelsey and I did a photo shoot with the dress in Floyd:

This year I knew I would make the dress in a color other than white, but I didn't have any strong inspiration. I wanted to use chiffon (which I have avoided for years, but used successfully in a semi-formal dress I designed last fall), so I sketched something out that I thought would be workable with that fabric. (For those of you who don't sew, chiffon is almost always an absolute nightmare to work with, but it hangs and flows SO nicely)

After I showed my original drawing to Mom, I had to adjust the drawing a little (modesty factor vs. artistic design- you know how it goes) and this is what I came up with:

It's pretty, and doable, but I still wasn't feeling inspired, so I did a Google search for chiffon dresses hoping to get some ideas. I found a dress I liked, and made some adjustments, and this was the result:

(you can click on the picture to see the back- it is pretty much the same as the front, though)

It will be slightly simpler (less time consuming!) than the previous idea would be, which is great since I'm trying to complete a good bit of CLEP testing right now, and don't really have a ton of time for sewing. :) I think it's somehow more artistic as well... I don't know exactly why...

I'll probably still make the other dress, or some version of it, later this year, but I'm definitely sticking with the second idea for the annual Easter Dress.

 

I went ahead and bought fabric this afternoon, here is a picture:

 

The color isn't quite accurate- it's a bright, somewhat greenish, robin's egg blue. Kelsey wouldn't let me get the periwinkle color. :) I'm sure I'll like this color best anyway...

 

Since I've never done posts on my design process, I think I'll at least attempt to post at different points while I'm making this dress. (I probably won't start working on it for a couple of weeks, though.) Unfortunately, this means y'all will know if the project is a total flop, but I suppose that's  ok. :)

 

Well, I hope all of you are having a great week so far! -Kendal