I’ve made a new dress for autumn! (sneaky peeked in my Fashionary here) More accurately, I made this about a month ago and have been awaiting a day I can actually wear it without unladylike perspiration marring the photograph. (ew)
It is a Metalicus sort of a dress.
Oh, OK; it is pretty much an almost exact copy of one from their summer range. (pictured at right)
Well, I saw, and I was helpless to resist. I just had to have. (shrug)
I used a cotton knit jersey with a charcoal and black stripe from Fabulous Fabrics, and drafted my own pattern with the help of a tank top. The skirt is just a slightly shaped to-the-waist and then flared A-line design. I bought 2m of 150cm width fabric, but found that 1.2m was plenty to cut out this dress shape using the layout pictured below.
Don’t worry, the leftover 80cm has been put to good use already, undergoing a rapid transformation into a three-quarter sleeved, scoop-necked Tshirt. This using my now go-to Tshirt pattern, the one formerly known as Burdastyle 06/2011, 120 (altered completely until beyond recognition, but still one must give credit, non?)
I edged the neckline and armhole/sleeve edges of both the dress and the Tshirt with a folded band, the type that you see on just about all Metalicus pieces,which is why I have it stuck in my head as The Metalicus Finish, lol.
Please note; the Absolute Perfection in Stripe-Matching. I pinned the junction of each and every stripe to achieve this. No, I am not exaggerating.
The red pen below is pointing to a bodice side seam. Can you even see it? (said with an unseemly lack of humility)
This is the kind of thing not noticeable to a, er, normal person (read: someone who does not sew), but is the ultimate in self-satisfaction for those of us who have ever sewn stripes together. Stretchy jersey stripes, I might add. (insert deep and disgracefully un-humble sigh)
The lower hem is overlocked, folded under once, and finished with a straight stitch. I hemmed my dress exactly the right length to work perfectly over one of my favourite actual Metalicus pieces, this frill-edged white petticoat.
Now OK; do I feel bad about outright copying a dress like this? I do, a bit. You see while I like to make my own clothes nowadays, I have a lot of respect for Metalicus. I used to buy their clothes. And actually I will own up now that in a small transgression of my pledge I did indeed buy a few pairs of Metalicus winter tights at their New Year’s sale, eep! But they were such fantabulous colours!! (the colours made me do it, your Honour…) and anyhow, tights can be classed as underwear, right??
I am OK with supporting Metalicus, since it is an Australian company, with the clothing traditionally made here in Australia. I am of course a big supporter of ethical fashion which includes buying locally made stuff wherever possible. So I wish to see Metalicus successfully continuing on this path and not succumb to the evil lure of the profits that come with overseas manufacturing.
It was during this visit to Metalicus I noticed that a few “made in China” pieces were making an insidious and very unwelcome appearance in the range. I did feel sad about this and wondered briefly (and probably foolishly) if my boycotting of RTW had contributed in even some minuscule part. And copying a dress from the store, even just one, for me, is also part and parcel of taking away business from what is a legitimate Australian business. So I did feel a bit guilty. But if Metalicus is going to go to the dark side and send their manufacturing overseas, taking away Australian jobs, then while I am very sad about that it does at least make it a heck of a lot easier for me to stay away from RTW.
btw I did check my tights before I bought them, and they are indeedy of the Made in Australia variety.
So I’m resting easy on that purchase.
Sort of.
