1954 Chiffon Dress

I first made this dress way back in 2006 and I always intended on making it again so I could have a copy of my own.

My first attempt.

(Picture By John Peacock)

The inspiration for this dress came from a John Peacock fashion history book.  I am still looking for an actual picture of this dress by Dior.

I was inspired by a Vogue hat pattern to jazz up the pill box hat.

Of course, I didn't practice the restraint I had promised myself after my last big sewing project and ended up making almost 30 dresses.  The good news is I used up 7 different pieces of fabric from my fabric hoard, so there's that.

Now before you think that I'm totally off my rocker, the dress was relatively easy to make.

It's the hat that is nuts.  It is very labor intensive to make.  Luckily, not every dress has a hat (thank goodness!). 

I think the hat really makes the outfit special though.

So here in no particular order is the evidence of my OCD.  Warning!  Lots of pictures!

I was able to make three different versions of the dress out of an orange border print.

 I'm keeping this one for myself.

The embroidery on this fabric doesn't show up well in the pictures, but it is beautiful.

To purchase the pattern, click here.

Merry Christmas!

I'm always running late when it comes to posting on my blog.  This dress has a little story behind it.  Last year one of my dolly Facebook friends posted this picture on her wall.

I got the biggest kick out of it, so I shared it on my wall.  Another dolly Facebook friend suggested I make the dress in Gene's size, so I did.

I originally wanted to make the dress in a satin or taffata, but I couldn't find the black and white dot in those fancy fabrics.  I ended up making it in cottons.

I turned this photo into our family's Christmas card this year.  I'm not sure what my non-dolly friends and family thought, but I was pleased with the outcome.

I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season.