MOB Dress In Action

Details to come...

The Beginning of the MOB Dress

With some decisions made, the process has begun. I have been shopping for months, trying to find an appropriate dress to wear at my daughter’s upcoming wedding. MOB dresses seem to fall into the following categories:

• Las Vegas showgirl
• Muddy colored polyester knits incorporating sequins and geriatric styling
• Cringe-worthy MOB regulation uniform 

 

Well, that just isn’t going to work. I ended up at Sew Elegant, a little shop on West Avenue, in San Antonio. They have lovely formal wear fabrics. My first visit was several months ago during lunch hour. This time, DD#1 accompanied me and when she saw this fabric, we were done shopping!

 

Now I have to decide on which patterns to use. I’ve looked at every pattern website I can think of along with searches through my own pattern collection. All I know right now is that there will be an unlined jacket from the embroidered silk organza and a simple, full-length dress sewn from the silk dupioni. The lining is rayon - Ambiance Bemberg. I’m thinking there should be an underlined bodice, but don’t really want to underline the whole dress as drapey is preferred for the skirt.

The lines need to be clean. That means no fancy pleating, ruffles, etc. to compete with the embroidery. The purple of the flowers matches the purple of the bridesmaid dresses and the mother of the groom’s dress is a creamy beige lace, so these fabrics will certainly coordinate. Tell me though - does that even matter?

For the dress, I’m considering 425A from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Burda Plus.

And, for the jacket, McCall’s 9700 (OOP from 1998), view A with the short sleeves from view B. View A lacks the front princess seams of view B. No side seams either, but the center back seam, which gives shaping, needs to go as it would be a shame to break up the flowers. Frankenpattern? Likely...

And, yes, a muslin will be happening very soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

Enjoy your week!

Ottobre Woman 05-2008-01 - Simple-Yet-Elegant Pintuck Dress

As you know, DD#2 had asked me to sew a dress for her.  She went through my Burda Style and Ottobre Woman magazines and chose this pattern.   We traced a size 40. Her fabric selection came from either Fabric Mart or Fabric.com, though I’m leaning towards Fabric Mart.  I don’t know what this fabric is - a cotton Lycra satin twill?  Well, whatever it is, it is lovely and a great match for this pattern.

We put together a quick muslin before the black fabric was cut. That let us know the dress needed to be a little longer. Other than length, no alterations were needed.

After cutting the black fabric, I sewed the dress according to the Ottobre instructions with the exception of the center back zipper.  Per her request, I eliminated the zipper.  And, since there wasn't a zipper that meant I could do away with the center back seam.  I was fine with that, as long as she could get the dress over her head.  The yokes were interfaced with black Pro-Sheer Elegance interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply.  Good stuff!

DD#2 liked this thread color and wanted it for the topstitching on her dress.  To beef it up, I used two spools threaded into one needle and the Bernina, as expected, handled it well.

She loves her new dress and plans to wear it soon even though it is freezing here. This pattern is easy to sew and since the dress also fits DD#1, I know I'll be making it again!

The 1952 Dress - Progress

I’ve been working on the 1952 dress.  The side seam zipper is next and I suppose I should create the shoulder pads before fitting the sleeves.  The shoulder pads are constructed from crinoline interfacing and thin layers cotton batting.  What I will actually end up using depends on what I have here. Likely, it would be less costly to purchase ready-made shoulder pads but I want to try making them.

I skipped the bound buttonholes and the ribbon seam binding. The seams were serger finished. I hadn’t considered putting bound buttonholes into a dress before. But, after thinking about it, they would be a good-looking detail.

I still haven’t decided what sleeve style to use. Also, I have been looking for a belt buckle and so far, they are either too large or the wrong material/color. Maybe I should start looking at RTW belts (hmmm, thrift store?) for an appropriate buckle.

The good thing is that there isn’t a deadline for completion. I merely saw the pattern in the file and, on impulse, decided I wanted to make it. So, no pressure other than I would like to have it hanging in the closet instead of on the dress form!

Planning the 1952 Dress

I am still pulling the pieces together for the 1952 dress.  I went to another fabric store and it had a much better selection of buttons.  There were several that would work with the basketweave fabric.  However, most were too heavy and dry-clean only.  I decided on these twinkly (and washable!) ones.

I was surprised that the store actually had 4” zippers.  I have never had a reason before to seek out such short zippers and I really bought them out of curiosity.  Anyway, I’m prepared if I want the dress to have long sleeves.

No luck yet in finding a dressy black belt buckle. Nor do I have any shoulder pads in the stash.  I think I am going to sew them.  It doesn’t look like it would be difficult and I haven’t ever made shoulder pads before. So, why not?

In the meantime, I have cut out a jean jacket, McCall’s 5191.  This a Palmer/Pletsch Classic Fit pattern and is out of print.  The fabric is a Wal-Mart mystery fabric that was purchased a year or so ago when Wal-Mart still sold fabric.  If the jacket fits and is comfortable, I’ll sew it again in denim.  This really is a trial run to see if I like the style.  If I don’t, I do have another jean jacket pattern, McCall’s 5860, that I can use instead.

McCall's 8841 -The 1952 Dress

Well, other than being too long, it looks like it will fit.  Though you can't see it, the skirt nearly reaches the floor. To begin, I’m going to cut the skirt pieces several inches shorter.

The fabric I chose is a bright black basketweave that drapes and is ample enough for the long-sleeved version.  I bought it several months ago from Fabric Mart and it survived the washer and dryer.

There are three sleeves for this dress: short cuffed, cape and long.  The long sleeve has three small elbow darts and closes at the wrist with a zipper. Since the sleeve decision is still up in the air, I will wait to cut them out until the dress is further along.

An oddity (to me, at least) is the option of inserting a placket, instead of a zipper, into the side opening.  Just so you know, it isn’t important to me to utilize 1952 techniques on this dress.  I will be using my serger, fusible interfacing, and anything else that makes things easier.

I need to find three sparkly black buttons and a little belt buckle for this dress.  Today, I visited the fabric store. The sparkly black button selection was sad. I exited without buttons and/or a buckle.  I did, however, come out with four $.99 patterns.  The trip wasn’t a total waste of fossil fuel.