Sunday, October 31, 2010



Have you seen 'Eat, Pray, Fall asleep' or whatever it's called? (I dragged my poor husband to it who would have walked out if he could, "vacuous self indulgent nonsense.") I did enjoy it, I have to confess, in a vacuous self indulgent kind of way and I did like her shirt dress with thin belt, large earthy hessian sack looking bag and roman sandles in her Italian stage, and decided that was a look I could easily replicate. Me, I do love a good shirt dress.

Burda 06-2008-108




The sleeve is simply adorable:



The technical view - I left off the elastic frankly there was no spare fabric under the bust to pull back in!



This is, in fact, another muslin. I have been making a lot of wearable muslins recently, because I've realised it's such a good idea to wear something for a day to find out not only how it looks, but how it functions. There are 2 immediate changes I would make to this - I forgot that a full bust takes up both width and length, and I have to shorten back the front tucks by an inch. Also, I'd add some side pockets - I always need to carry a tissue and keys. I'd also consider putting the elastic at waist level, instead of empire line level.



This is my incentive to make a muslin: this beautiful silk satin, it's quite heavy, with a lot of body, almost twill like in its weight, but without the diagonal weave.



So hopefully soon we will have shirt dress by day, and shirt dress by night.

21 comments:

  1. And you would look just as good in your outfit on her Italian stage with that beautiful ironwork fence.T might care to invest in one of those little head lamps so he can read during the movie. That fabric is going to be lovely in that pattern.

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  2. Haven't seen it, probably your husband and I would have the same ideas on the movie. hehe.

    Your dress is lovely! The sleeves are delicious. Can't wait to see the "real" version.

    (Could not agree more with you about needing to "test drive" the way a garment functions.)

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  3. After a life of being shirtdress neutral, I am finally seeing the light, and you've just given me a further nudge in that direction! Especially loving that sleeve...

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  4. Love the movie, especially the Italian stage.My favourite part was the message about Italians just doing stuff they enjoy and not having to justify it !!! I think we could all take that on board. I loved the sleeve on your shirt dress it looks fab.

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  5. Cute! Love the dress design, and those sleeves are adorable.

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  6. Your dress looks fantastic! Cute sleeve detail!

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  7. I agree so much about needed to wear muslins...how many have I ditched because a large collar drives me batty during the day, or a waistband pops up over my belly? I think this dress looks fantastic (I, too, am a sucker for a good shirtdress) and that satin will be gorgeous!!

    On a side note...I found out today that my husband, who is a touring musician, will be going to Australia and New Zealand with the production he is currently in. I am trying VERY hard not to be mad at him....

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  8. It looks great - love the sleeves.
    I was never keen on shirtdresses before, but I can see their value now. I really like the pattern you used - it wasn't one that I had picked out as a potential trier :)

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  9. Ooooh, beautiful fabric! I had to laugh at the timing of the universe b/c I just finished the book yesterday and will rent the DVD whenever I can get my hands on it. I'm all about wearing the muslin -- if it doesn't feel comfortable after a day in my life, I won't wear it.

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  10. Those sleeves are cute. The fabric for your night version is gorgeous...can't wait to see that fabric. It reminds me a little of your Holly Hobby dress..do you wear that or did you end up chopping the ruffle off?

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  11. I like yours better than hers. The real fabric is going to make a gorgeous dress. I don't have the patience to sit through a movie at the cinema. If I ever watch a film, I do it at home where I can move around, turn it off and knit or sew if I want to. That's the down side of working in the film industry! It all seems like self indulgent twaddle.

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  12. Oh Mary Nanna, I loved the book and identified with her in many ways. If I'm vacuous and self indulgent so be it, I'll accept it. (Also, I thought the book was better than the film).
    Your shirtdress looks fab and not like a muslin. I might need to consider adding a shirtdress to my list of dresses to make for next summer!

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  13. Please, if you ever change the name of your blog, consider using the name "Shirt dress by night". That would be awesome.

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  14. I like your shirt dress.


    Do you think that wearable muslins reduce the frequency of sew-itis? Perhaps version one acts as an innoculation, so that version two is not affected?

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  15. Great dress - are you running off to the Ashram any time soon?

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  16. Ooh, quite nice. I actually have this pattern cut, but it's not short sleeve weather here anymore.

    And I think yours looks much better than the inspirational version - the nice bodice darts, pleated sleeves, and the better fit take it up a notch, I think.

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  17. Oooh, that fabric is very Prada. Love it.

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  18. I wouldn't even try to drag my husband to this movie! lol

    Your muslin looks pretty darn good, very much like your inspiration pic.

    I agree that it is nice to wear a muslin properly for a day or so, to find out if you really like it. Otherwise, I end up standing up straight, sucking in my stomach and smiling into the mirror and decide everything is hunky dory. Then, I really make the pattern, try to wear it and find out I can't bend over or sit down!

    The silk fabric your have is truly stunning. Sooooo pretty.

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  19. I enjoyed the movie - easy to watch, except don't go when you haven't had dinner - the 'eat' part left my stomach rumbling...

    Like the shirt dress - I have a great desire to make one too and love your version.

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  20. you look great in thata shirt dress. Mirir passed on one of your other shirtdress offcasts to me . I was kind of hoping it would do fro a wedding and a big birthday Ive got to go to in a couple of weeks. I looked so so so so frumpy in it that it has to go to the recycling shop. I hope you wont worry about that. I went to that julia roberts movie and I remebered how annoying I find her as an actress.

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