Winter is officially over here, so right on target I’ve finished a wintery little dress. 🙂
I spent some quality time with my dyepot, dyeing bright blue corduroy in four different moody blues for the colour blocking. This is my second version of Vogue 1316; I’ve dreamed up several different plans for this great pattern which I want to explore, including this one…
One of the things about a colourblock design is that I think it’s more effective if the fabrics are all the same type and weight etc. As well as the colours blending in and going together nicely somehow. And it’s hard enough to find great fabric that you love, in great colours that you love too, let alone a single fabric in four great colours that you love, and that go together harmoniously. Impossible! So I made my own nicely co-ordinating set of coloured corduroys 🙂
My originally bright blue cotton corduroy is from Spotlight.
I divided the pattern pieces up into their colour batches and laid them out on my fabric, leaving a good margin around each piece to allow for a little error, just in case, then cut the colour batches apart for dyeing. Before dyeing them I overlocked all raw edges to decrease the risk of distorting or stretching out the pieces during the dyeing process.
I labelled each piece and was super careful to keep each label with its piece throughout the process and not get them mixed up!
my tutorial for basic dyeing here
I used iDye in various strengths of Black, Crimson and Chestnut; to get, from left:
-deep inky navy, from a biggish dose of Black,
-royal purple; from a medium biggish dose of Crimson
-deep teal/aqua; from a medium dose of Chestnut,
and finally the rightmost batch was soaked overnight in the leftover bath of Chestnut just to take the edge off that brightness, tone it down and dirty it up a bit. The piece on the right is a small scrap of the original colour saved for comparison.
I took my own advice and put in pockets that sit underneath those long curved hip bands again, as described here. Yes Vogue, I improved your pattern.
The dress is fully lined with navy blue polyacetate and I used a long, navy blue invisible zip. As previously, I re-shaped the dress to be a little less boxy and bit more hourglass-y by re-fitting through those long back seams that run almost the full length of the dress. A useful feature!
I’m so happy with this dress! it’s funny; I’m rarely 100% happy with things I’ve made but this project is pretty close to being completely satisfactory for me. I’ve made another highly satisfying thing recently too, which I am yet to photograph and blog about. The weather needs to warm up a touch first, but I’m so excited about that one too! I have to say, making two things in a row that I’m super happy with, in quick succession, has put me on SUCH a high. Honestly, I wish I could bottle this feeling.
Details:
Dress; Vogue 1316, blue corduroy dyed in 4 different shades using various iDye dyes, my review of this pattern here.
Tights; self-drafted, navy blue stretchy stuff, details here
Boots; Roberto del Carlo, from Zomp shoes
Oh I love combos of blue. Perfect
You're so genius! The dress really stands out and you look super stylish in it. I'm in awe. I can understand why this dress utterly satisfied you.
You are totally amazing–there is nothing that you can't do!!
Amazing! This is one of my favourite things that you've made!!
This dress is stunning Carolyn!! Great idea dying the same fabric different colors. You should be completely pleased with yourself!
I agree with you about the textures needing to match – and your solution is brilliant. I have put this pattern aside for just the reasons you stated. Your solution is brilliant, and I love the results 🙂
This is perfection – and thank you so very much for sharing your thoughts & methods – another inspirational creation from you 😉
Wow, wow, wow, wow! Totally in awe of your talent. I love how you chose the darker pieces to go on the waist and shoulders, draws the eye and is so clever.
This dress is STUNNING! I am in awe. Wow!
Love it so much. Love the colours the fabrics came out as.
This is so special! You are one super clever lady! And such a beautiful fit. Just awesome.
This dress is perfection, amazing job.
Carolyn this is amazing. No wonder you're happy – it's so beautifully fitted and all the pieces combine perfectly. Definitely a standout amongst your already extraordinary pieces.
That. Is. Awesome! What a brilliant idea to use dye for the different colours. I love it. Also, did you see we are both on the Burdastyle 50 bloggers list!! http://www.burdastyle.com/blog/time-to-vote-on-the-50-best-bloggers-for-sewing-enthusiasts#read-on
It's gorgeous. I can only imagine how much work went into pulling it all together…
You should be insanely happy! It's beautiful! Fit is perfection and it has pockets. You are a genius.
Wow, is that ever cute!!! Very flattering!
Absolutely love your dress!
I LOVE it! And I still need to get around to making this pattern for myself. I was envisioning leather but I like the dyed corduroy idea too. Aren't you a smarty?!
oooi!! I Really need to make another go at this pattern!!! your second version is just as lovely as your first!
It's stunning. You've definitely improved this pattern, it is an awesome garment, so shapely and perfectly suited to you, so interesting yet also so wearable! I am wishing you some nice chilly early spring weather so that you can wear it a bit this year.
YES, YES, YES – AND pockets; goooooodonya !!! I don't care, whether they call themselves 'Vogue' or 'Emperor of France' or whatever: a little bit of practical sense NEVER goes astray (mho; 1/2 sorry only 😉 !)
LG, Gerlinde with aaall thumbs up for you!
Great looking dress, and love the dyeing tute!
Absolutely gorgeous! I'm not a big fan of colour blocking but your dress is stunning! You are such a creative person. I love your blog.
The blocking from the back is really impressive. Well done Carolyn.
You certainly have the skills to make your dreams a reality with your dye pot skills. It's a gorgeous dress.
Stunning!
Absolutely stunning! And those curved hip bands do seem to be the perfect place for pockets, how odd that they were not part of the original pattern.
Very cool indeed! Can't wait for the other perfectly satisfying one! 🙂
This is stunning. The combination of colours is a delight to the eye. You are so funny to say 'satisfactory'!
You are just a little bit mad aren't you? I mean most of us would just go out and buy 4 different shades of fabric – you take everything to the next level and always with such perfect results. Fab dress.
Lovely dress and the colour blocking looks great.
That dress is making me want to quickly buy the pattern and do some dyeing. Gorgeous
I bought this pattern because of your first review of it! WOW, this is amazing. I wouldn't have thought to dye a fabric to get all the variation of colors–brilliant! I need to get up some courage to attempt this.
Love the dress and the color blocking
This is beautiful! Definitely one of the best handmade dresses I've seen recently ! Really stunning!
Frankie
http://Www.knitwits-owls.blogspot.co .uk
Breathtaking! You are the queen of dye.
Awesome dress. What a clever idea to dye the fabric. I like the way you arranged the shades of blue. I think it works better than the original layout where the bands are sharply contrasting rather than having a colour gradient.
Another sensational creation – what a dress!
Hi, first class work, and praise for the pockets. Working with so many parts, it is not easy to get a result this clean and accurate, well done! You and your blog are pure inspiration. Thank you so much!
This is one pattern I have loved for a while, but not yet ordered. I simply must ask your advice, as you know this pattern:
Is it (or Vogue patterns in general), accurate, tight or generous to the sizes?
I am a standard european size 38 (french 40), and seriously confuse myself over the american sizes, and how to choose. The urge is to double-order to get them all, but I end up buying none.
Thank you so much Oda!
I am a European size 38 when using Burda magazine patterns, and a size 10 in Vogue. And I would describe this particular pattern as an accurate fit, although for my tastes it is slightly boxy, thus my re-fitting as described in the post.
Now having said "boxy", of course everyone, me included, has an individual and personal "ideal fit" to suit their tastes and one person's "fitted" is another person's "too loose" and yet another person's "too tight"!
A good thing about Vogue is that you do get 3-4 nested sizes within the one pattern, to it is pretty easy to grade up or down or between the sizes to fine-tune the fit to suit your own tastes.
Your dress just looks absolutely stunning. Dying the same fabric makes sense and works so well!
OMG this is the most beautiful dress ever, I LOVE all those blue hues together! Amazing job Carolyn 🙂
This dress is amazing! So great work! The combination of colors is so perfect!
Love
Gorgeous, love the colours and how you managed to get them so well co-ordinated.
You certainly did improve this pattern! This is amazing in the different shades of blue and corduroy too is just crazy (in a very good way).
Amahzing 🙂
I gasped audibly when I saw the first photo of this dress–holy cow!!!! This dress is divine and I hope you get lots of wear out of it. =)
That is THE MOST AMAZING DRESS! Wow, it's gorgeous. So beautiful and so flattering too.
I have to say after a year of reading sewing blogs and seeing all kinds of dresses and outfits that this is the best thing I've ever seen. Your sewing is always inspirational to me but this is superb.
That is fabulous! Improvement indeed!
This is awe inspiring! I love the different shades of blue, and I agree that dyeing fabric to get the perfect blend of colors for color blocking is so much more efficient and accurate than trying to find it in a store! I've never seen this pattern before either – those style lines are just out of this world!! So gorgeous! All around!
I love it! Definitely worth your dying process. It's a designer piece, to my mind.
This dress is fantastic. I also like the idea of dyeing a fabric to get different hues…
Beautiful – and genius with the colour dying too. You are so right about the hopelessness of finding four fabrics that would blend and coordinate. Thanks for sharing it with us!
This version is so beautiful! Great job with the dye especially
Wow, amazing dress!
Brilliant. One reason I passed on this dress was the impossibility of fabric hunting – I never even thought of dye! Just one more reason why you are such an inspiration 🙂
Beautiful dress, loving the shades of blue and the choice of corduroy, just gorgeous!
Love it! Looks so chic, like something you'd find in high end designer RTW!
And thanks for sharing your tip on dying. I've been wanting to change the color of a few fabrics but terrified of the process of dying large pieces. Pre-planning with the pattern pieces make so much sense and makes it so much less daunting.
Just AMAZING !
This is brilliant! I love the different blues & the fit looks so good too. You & Morgan (crab & bee's) recent makes are making me want to buy some Rebecca Taylor designs!
So perfect! I have been trying to resist buying this pattern since your last dress, but this one is pushing me over the edge. Love everything about it!
Wow, Carolyn! You have blown me away. Your dress is exquisite. What a masterful combinations of colors you dyed, plus adding the pockets and shaping the dress. Beautiful.
OMG, seriously love this. Of course you are on a high.
Oh yes! and with pockets. I think it looks great and the shapes are all so flattering. Jo x
Oh my goodness! It's so jaw dropping gorgeous! I'm in awe of this creation.
I'm in awe of everything you make!!!
I really love that dress! The color blocking is fantastic. Really clever
I love the colors you picked!
I am always a sucker for blue but I love the way you put them together!
This dress is awesome,I'm putting it on my "need to make" list.In this part of the world we're heading for winter so this is exactly what I needed.thanx so much!
You've been making some interesting things while I've been óffline'. I have this pattern, but can't quite decide what fabrics would work and really wonder about how to make the usual adjustments on this jigsaw.
Fantastic colours- looks amazing.
Carolyn, this is simply smashing! I would never have thought of buying fabric in bulk and dying it. Such a fab idea! And ninja pockets for the win!
Ooh so many comments… another winner. It is really gorgeous.
Gorgeous dress! I've always been afraid of dying fabric but when I see your result, it really encourage me to try!
When I saw the pattern I crackled my nose up. When I saw your dress, wow! Great job! You have definitely improved the pattern. Wonderful.
Stunning dress, and thanks for the info on your dye process!
Carolyn that's incredible! I love your choice of where to place brights and darks. Lovely use for corduroy. Did you sing Moody Blues songs while you created?
That is one cool dress!
This one is awesome. The blues are just gorgeous!
This is such a fun pattern to see and sew, like a jigsaw puzzle…
Summer is still in full swing here, but I have started on this dress for winter as well, but in grey, black and green.
This is GORGEOUS! Stunning execution of a great pattern!
this dress is just stunning! you've done a fantastic job to get the right colors in the right places… seriously love this! so smart to dye the fabric yourself, i'd love to do something color blocked but it's so hard to find fabrics that work together! this has to be one of the most inspiring things i've seen in a long time.
wooooow!
and all the work you put on it!
applause!
Oh. my. goodness. Carolyn, this is so fantastic I don't even know where to begin! Your dyed colors are incredible. You really are a master of over-dying fabrics. You get the best results. And the dress is just spectacular. You are right to be pleased with the make. It's awesome!
Utterly fantastic use of colour! You knocked this one out of the park!
Absolutely ingenious! Awesome dress, fantastic combination of colors and perfect fit!
Can I send you my address and when you are done with this dress, you can just ship it over here?
🙂
This is stunning. That is all.
Would you mind me featuring any of your projects on SSB? I credit, link to your post and let you know when featured.
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Sassy, yes, and thank you so much for asking, I am thrilled that you like them 🙂
This is the coolest dress on the planet! I so admire your sense of color, contrast, and balance. This is a truly outstanding garment! Creative Hormone Rush
Thank you so much for all the lovely comments! 🙂
Such a great dress! The pattern is so cool and I love that you hand-dyed your fabrics to the perfect tone!
Wow, Carolyn. You are truly talented. This is beyond amazing!
Soooo beautiful Carolyn!
I'm sooo in love with that pattern. I bought it after seeing it here on your blog in browns a while back. I haven't made it up yet. But you've just shown me how to get some fabrics to all work together in the same dress. Thanks!
I've also been a bit put off by not being sure how to make it shorter in the midriff. I'm sooo short-backed, typically having to take out a good 2 inches between the waist and shoulders, and a bit less from the front accounting for an FBA I also need. I'm wondering if you have any suggestions as to how to apply that to this dress? Sound doable?
thanks tropicalthreads 🙂 I'm not a fitting expert, but maybe you could make up a muslin and see how it fits on you? I think it would be possible to remove height from some of the bodice pieces, the two easiest pieces would be the two horizontal waist bands; the middle front band and the middle back band; and the lower band; and also through the Back piece, Also, you could remove some height through the upper front and upper band, but this would be a bit more difficult.
Good luck and I hope it goes well 🙂
Thanks 🙂 Sounds like there are actually a lot of pieces I could take an itty bit out while still keeping the look right. Yes, sadly because I loathe muslins, I think if I want to make this it will need one. I was also pondering the idea of a top out of it. But another close look suggests the top and bands would be nice, but the skirt piecing would be lost, might be better with a more standarg peplum.
So many possibilities!
Late comment, I know, but this dress is just so beautiful! I have felt stymied by how to do effective colorblocking the couple of times I've considered it, because I too feel that it works best if the fabrics are the same type and weight. Dyeing is the obvious answer (though I'm sure it's not as easy as you make it look).
Great dress, Carolyn! This looks like it was quite a bit of work. The colourblocking is great and you've got great shapes created all around your body. So awesome!
Amaying! I love your dyeing experiments, and this dress tuned out just perfect. Well done!
Wow! This dress is amazing, you look stunning. The colours are awesome. This pattern is going on my to do list!!
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This dress is absolutely stunning! Your version looks so much better than the one on the pattern envelope and has prompted me to track down this pattern, like NOW! Dying your fabric to get the different, harmonising tones was a brilliant idea – it worked so well. 😀