Another Party Dress, Plus Doll Clothes: Sewing For Family

So here’s the second party dress I made for my daughter* during my recent sewing marathon. For this super-fast dress we turned to a simple sheath dress pattern (New Look 6120) and chose a knock-out fabric to do the heavy lifting. This is an Italian metallic brocade I fell in love with at Mood NYC. You can use either side, but we liked the side where the black bouclé dominated the metallic gold. Here’s a closeup of the fabric:

Available at Mood NYC. $50/yd, 54″ wide. Call 1-212-730-5003; ask for the silk department.

Call me biased, but I think Mood has the best selections of brocades available anywhere, both in store and online at MoodFabrics.com. Check out our online selection of brocades and let me know what you think. Many of these are perfect for a simple little party dress like the one I made here.

So, back to the dress…. To add some definition to the neckline, I edged it with a rope of teeny black rhinestones, which I attached by hand-sewing. This is my favorite part of the dress. I love how just a little bit of trim can make a home-sewn garment look like better ready-to-wear.

For the lining I used black silk crepe de chine. The only other construction tip I have to offer is that this fabric frayed like a beast. In hindsight I’d probably cut the seam allowances extra-wide and then serge them, same with the hem area.

As I said in my previous post, sewing two party dresses in five days is crazy, But you know, the things we do for our family. As soon as I finished my daughter’s dresses I started right in on making Bitty Twin doll clothes for my niece’s Christmas present:

Left, boy doll’s overalls of black cotton velveteen and shirt of Italian cotton shirting; girl doll’s dress of poly crepe with ribbon trim. Fabrics and trim found at Mood Fabrics NYC.

Doll clothes are not really my favorite thing to make, because sewing all those 1/4″ seams and the little teeny details can turn you a little twitchy after a bit. But whose dolls get voted “Best Dressed” when they go to those American Girl doll-themed birthday parties? You know it—my niece’s dolls with the clothes made from Mood fabrics! Love it.

My niece with her new Bitty Twin dolls, whom she named Kate and Kris. (Oh no, could that be a sign of Kardashian brainwashing?!)

*Note that the person modeling this dress is my colleague Deirdre, who is around the same size as my daughter and offered to model at work, where the lighting is better for photos. She’s a good sport!