Finished Project: Floral Wedding Guest Dress

Come to My Window Box Dress - ModCloth.com

As promised, I've finally got the photos and details of my latest dress project to share. It's another wedding guest dress. This time, I was inspired by a dress from Modcloth.com that didn't fit when I ordered it, so I decided to make my own version.

I searched high and low for this floral rayon fabric, but couldn't find an exact or even a close enough match in any apparel-specific fabric. I settled for a pretty quilting cotton by Moda Fabrics in a similar pattern and color scheme and paired it with Retro Butterick 5748, a pattern I'd admired for a while and finally decided I had a good excuse to buy.

When I started to get the dress cut out and put the project together, I realized I didn't have quite enough fabric to do the circle skirt in the pattern, so I created a gathered skirt instead, using Gertie's tutorial. I lined the entire dress in rayon bemberg, which feels great and makes the gathered skirt nice and swishy. It was my first time using the stuff and I'm pretty much hooked. I'll definitely be using it in future projects - it's so soft!

The alterations I made to the dress to improve the fit, since I didn't make a muslin, are the only part of the project I'm not 100% pleased with. I ended up needing to shorten the bodice, but chose to reduce at the already sewn shoulder seams to do so. This makes the armholes a bit tight and still leaves the fit a little off. It's still a fun, wearable dress, though. Here are some shots of the final product as worn to the wedding.

Belt - Target

Wedges - Jeffrey Campbell c/o ModCloth

One thing I'm really enjoying about this dress is how wearable it is. Since it's made from regular quilting cotton, it is easily dressed up or down. I felt fancy enough at the wedding wearing wedges, and then paired it with flats and a cardigan for work the following week. I'm looking forward to wearing it again soon!