Games and Cocktail Dresses

Mid-Century (as in 20th century) fashions and textile prints covered a range of different styles and colors, reflective of the times. Those fashions and prints have become very popular again, for their timeless and still modern styles. This week's Spoonflower Fabric of the Week contest was for prints fit for a Mid-Century cocktail dress. The contest prints will also have a possible use: fabric for a vintage cocktail dress pattern for a production of How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. I am not big on floral patterns, so I decided to go a different route for my entry.

I knew I wanted to do either an abstract or geometric pattern, but wasn't sure what to exactly do. I instantly thought of classic board games, some of which I loved to play (and still play). My entry, Click Clang Crash! Purple, was inspired by Kerplunk!, but works for many games that involve sticks, discs, or marbles.

Click Clang Crash! Purple, swatch 8" x 8" view shown. Click image to see print in yardage.

This print is also in another colorway. Each colorway has the print on two different backgrounds. The other colorway is a bit softer, but still has some bright colors.

Click Clang Crash! Dark Grey, fat quarter 21" x 18" view shown. Click image to see print in yardage.

I decided to do a couple more prints inspired by games. One is a larger print made up of circles and forms a sort of woven look pattern. I used the circle shapes from Parcheesi as inspiration for Game Circles.

Game Circles Purple, fat quarter 21" x 18" view shown. Click image to see print in yardage.

Game Circles Dark Grey, fat quarter 21" x 18" view shown. Click image to see print in yardage.

Game Dots uses Connect Four as an inspiration. I used more than two colors for the print, to give more interest. There is one "winner" in the repeat, hidden amongst the dots.

Game Dots Salmon, fat quarter 21" x 18" view shown. Click image to see print in yardage.

Game Dots Silver, fat quarter 21" x 18" view shown. Click image to see print in yardage.

Voting for the Mid-Century Cocktail Dress Print contest ends tomorrow, Wednesday, evening. You can vote for your favorite entries here until then. Be sure to check out all the fantastic entries in this week's contest.

Sew Simple Dress: Now & Later

Simplicity has a new line of patterns named Sew Simple that include a pattern for one item. I like the idea, since the patterns are cheap, and I don't have to mess with patterns for something I don't like. (I hate getting a pattern for one item I really like and not liking the rest of the included patterns). I tend to like dresses with a '60s feel, and fell for this dress because it looked comfortable and cute:

You can find the pattern here at Simplicity's website. My only concern with the dress, was that it appeared a little short for my liking. I thought it would be okay since dresses tend to be long on me, and I decided not to shorten this dress for my height (more on that later).

Next was finding the right fabric. The pattern called for cottons, silky fabrics, and lightweight linens. I knew I wanted a cotton, but was debating between a solid or print. Then I found THE fabric in the cotton/quiting section:

Swirly, stained glass perfection in various purples, greys, and black and white. I think the print was also available other colorways (I don't remember though!), but I had to get the purple. Here is a closer look at the fabric:

Like I said, geometric perfection on fabric. The dress sewed up fast and easy. It was great not hand sewing anything (I tend to top stitch hems rather than do it by hand unless I need to for the fabric type). The band didn't need to be interfaced, which was also another (small) plus. I made one mistake by sewing an armband at 3/4" instead of 5/8" (oops!) and had to seam rip it and deal with some small holes in the printed fabric.

The biggest surprise came when I went to try on the dress. It was very comfortable, and somehow didn't make me look huge even though it's a loose style, but it hit right below my knees! I thought the envelope illustration made it look longer than the model picture, but when I held the pattern up to me, it seemed that it would hit mid thigh when finished. I chopped 2" off the hem so it would hit right above my knees, still longer than pictured. I'm very okay with it being longer than pictured, because I was a little concerned with it being too short.

Right now it feels very much like fall (first day!), but it's supposed to heat up a tad later next week. So, for now when it's a bit warmer, I'll wear the dress with some cute flip flops:

Here's a closer look at the flip flops. They have bows!

Later, when it cools down a bit, I'll wear it with tights and my grey knee high boots:

I'll layer it more when it really cools down with a long sleeve top and maybe a sweater cardigan. This dress was a breeze to sew, and it will be fun to wear! I will be doing another post soon, for a knitting project perfect for fall (and winter) weather.