Monday, November 09, 2009

Favorite Things Prairie Girl

A fall/winter variation on a summery, cotton dress/top pattern. Sorry, it's a headless picture day. My hair is a MESS. Sadly, I'm wearing my new riding boots too, but you'll have to wait til later to see them I guess!


While I was snoop shopping the other day, I ran across this Nanette Lepore:

and noted that the bodice shaping was very similar to this Favorite Things Prairie Girl pattern:


Remember, I made this one before this year, in a cotton print:


I'm always excited to get to make a pattern again, especially in a very different fabric choice or look! That gives me more bang for my buck! Why don't I do more of this??

For my plaid version, I made the dress length and kept the sleeve frills. I didn't have enough fabric to try to duplicate the very cool drape on the Lepore dress, so I thought another little 'extra' oomph would be nice. I actually like the little frills, even if I feel just a tad Daughter Judy.


I got the fabric at Hobby Lobby last fall, and it's a poly blend. It didn't press easily, but it wasn't impossible to get a crease eithier. I like it because that "red" stripe is actually hot pink! And the coloring of the plaid is such that I can go black OR brown with boots/tights/etc.

The bodice shaping is just a dead ringer for the Lepore dress though:


Construction was easy since I've made it before. The only snag I ran into was that the sizing was off. The first time I tried it on (only needing hems. OF COURSE.), it was about 2 sizes too big! I didn't realize I'd lost that much weight since summer, but apparently I've lost a little. I had to basically take the dress apart at the shoulder seams & side seams, and also take up the bodice seam in front too. I shortened at the hem about 2.5" too, since I prefer knee length and this is below-knee as drafted.

Now, back in the summer I did have some sizing issues, especially with the bustline being too low (no FBA for this, not even lowering the empire seam!) but I had adjusted the pattern at that time, and thought the next one would be perfect. I'm just writing down all my changes on the instruction sheet before I forget, so maybe the NEXT one will be perfect!

Here's one more peek!


My grass is still really green in the back yard, but all my pretty leaves are gone. Sniff. Next thing we know it will be snowing! Eek!

18 comments:

  1. Isn't it so much fun when you can sew such a fantastic garment from RTW picture? Your dress looks great

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very pretty! I am loving plaid this fall, too. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cute jumper. It wil look fantastic with boots.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angie - very cute. Where did you get the boots? If I may say so without offending, it looks like we share the affliction of the wide calf and I am always on the hunt for boots.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very fun little dress! And I LOVE the sleeve frills. They really make it special.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rebecca, I can't view your profile or email you so I hope you check back! No offense at all! I posted about my wide calves a few days ago, HA! And my boot source....avenue.com These were black lace up riding boots. Hope that helps!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love, love love this! I want one now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. (BTW this is beangirl, I'm logged in at work and too lazy to log out, log in again, then log out and log in again at work... in the time I just typed that I probably could have done that.)

    As DD Abby says "That is so cutie-patootie!" She's five, we let her talk like that for now.

    Anyway, cutie-patootie! And even though it is a hug PITA to have to refit patterns, it's kinda nice that you have to because you lost some inches, no?


    My gee-you-have-big-calves boots haven't arrived yet. I'm sulking. Although it's 75 today, so maybe not boot weather, per se.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love that dress on you! Sooooo cute.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks, Angie- got the boot info.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It looks great! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love this - it's fun to see a version that's so different from the original.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love it! But than I'm a sucker for plaid, so your dress wins right from the get-go with me!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I really love that dress. The plaid is very nice and I, too, like the idea of the pink rather than red. It's different. You look awesome. I can tell you've lost weight.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey Angie, I just saw this Alexander McQueen blouse (still snoop shopping for the new wardrobe):

    http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod84010044&parentId=cat7690734&masterId=cat17740747&index=80&cmCat=cat000000cat000001cat17740747cat7690734

    It's not a good shape for me, but I thought of your recent posts when I saw it. Just sharing the shopping wealth!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fabulous dress. I need to sew - can you send me some clothing mojo? g

    ReplyDelete
  17. Everything looks great! Love the plaid!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks so much for this post! I have this pattern and used it for a summer frock and it never crossed my mind to do it in a winter wearable. Gosh,I color in the lines too ;) Thanks for showing me that if I occasionally do so (step out of the box) something wonderful can happen.
    Beautiful work !
    Elise

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you, and thank you in advance for reading and commenting! &