The Lucy Dress

If this one looks strangely familiar to you all, it is because it is.  It’s the second version of my last make from Serendipity Studios and it’s another Madeline dress.  I made it a bit differently this time, with that exposed zip I oh so love, and I went ahead and added a little contrasting hem band to it.  I can’t say yet if I like it any more than the other, but I don’t like it any less.

I did everything the same with this one except for adding that exposed zipper.  I still need my hand held while doing this specific kind of zipper, so I had to watch the video tutorial as I went.  Those who don’t remember, I went with this one from Professor Pin Cushion.  I did have to redo it a couple of times.  Once because the back part of the center band was not lined up properly, and even though it was only slightly off and I would never see it except when hanging it up or ironing it, I knew it would drive me crazy knowing it was that way.  Then, because of the exposed zipper, I ended up with my seam allowance a little bit snugger than I would like.  I measured this beforehand, like the video says, but the fit was a little affected.  I fixed this by sewing the zipper to be as exposed as possible and that extra bit of room made all the difference.

This was pre-zipper let out, and you can see a little bit the wrinkling under the right arm.  The dress feels better on now, and I am hoping the wrinkling isn’t as bad anymore.  Now, about the fabric.  After my last make, I had to stop by a local quilt shop a couple of weeks ago to see if there was anything new.  This particular place, Sew Many Ideas, stocks some very original and high quality fabrics.  It has been awhile since I have left that store empty handed.  I like also how everything is arranged in color coordinated displays.  It makes it very easy to pick out some matching pieces.  I say ‘matching’ like I know what I am talking about.  The two fabrics that I used looked wonderful together side by side in the store, but I was doubting my decision once I washed them and had them stacked on top of each other.  The contrast is a bit brighter than it looked, and I was kind of surprised by how my zipper matched the main fabric better than the other orange.  I picked the zipper out at a different place with no fabric sample in hand.

The fabric is called ‘for you Zen Chic’ by Brigitte Heitland for Moda.  I googled it, and found several from her collection that I love.

Overall, I think the colors blend well together – at least I am telling myself they do – and I am happy with how it came out.  Oh, yes, I did make a hem band to add a little to the contrast.  The pattern has instructions for this, I just made mine a little smaller than the recommendations.  And the name for my dress came from the fact that I had old I Love Lucy reruns playing in the background as I made it.  It used to be one of my favorite TV shows back in high school, and I recently found it available on Amazon.  I guess the splash of  orange helps make ‘Lucy’ an appropriate name as well.

And that is all I have to say about this one.  I have sewing on my mind, but also wine making.  My free time this week is going to be shared between the sewing machine and the computer as I am looking for more wine making supplies.  Until next time… Thanks for reading!