A New Dress – Aurora

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I’ve had this dress finished for a week waiting to be hemmed – I am very good at not finishing!  But I’m glad I did because I think I really like this dress, it is just a shame winter is round the corner and I won’t get to wear it for a few months. Probably a good thing because I don’t have any suitable shoes to wear with it – what colour shoes do you wear with a summer dress like this – fuschia?!!  
It is reasonably plain as I thought the fabric should do the talking.  The bodice has a scoop neckline and cap sleeves, and the skirt has front tucks and a back vent:

The fabric is a printed silk/linen that is going to be perfect for summer, as it is very lightweight yet still doesn’t require lining.  It is too light to wear now autumn is here, but I plan to make a slip to wear underneath so it is more trans-seasonal.  Don’t hold your breath though!  
I scored the fabric from Global Fabrics late last year.  When I visit I usually spend half an hour (ok, longer than that!) looking around and then go back and grab the rolls I want to purchase.  But this time I couldn’t find the roll because another customer had it at the counter – I hadn’t planned on that!  I watched impatiently from a distance hoping she wouldn’t buy the rest of the roll, and thankfully I managed to score the last 2.4m!
I piped the waistline as I really like the definition that gives:

Here’s my little secret to ensuring inverted tucks meet perfectly in the middle, without those unsightly gaps – from the wrong side tack the fold lines together from the raw edge to just below the stitching line, and leave the tacking in until the garment is assembled.  Here is mine just before the stitches come out:

I tried prickstitching the top of the back vent, rather than topstitching it as I normally do:

It looks really nice and is almost non-detectable on the outside, so is my new favourite method for me-projects!

That’s all to report for this week, I think I’ll move on to something more seasonal now!  What’s on your sewing table, and what shoes would you wear with this dress?

~Sherry

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Designer, Patternmaker, Blogger Of All Things Sewing. Follow as I share projects, patterns, and my favourite tricks of the trade.

51 thoughts on “A New Dress – Aurora”

  1. Gorgeous dress and out of this world fabric – it makes me think of Oscar de la Renta dresses. I am a little guilty of wanting matching shoes for everything, but I still think that can look a little dated plus since I have neither the $ or closet space for that then personally I think skintone peeptoe pumps are amazingly versatile.

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  5. Oh, so elegant! That hem length is so perfect and so current.

    Skin coloured shoes would be versatile. Bright blue or fuschia shoes would be fun. dark brown shoes could work if you ever made that slip and wore it into autumn with a cardi.

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  8. Your dress is gorgeous, bravo! I really like the nude shoes you've paired with it as you said the print really does the talking here! I would try shoes in complimentary colors of the dress to though just to mix things up! I hope you get your slip made so you can wear your dress more!

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  9. That's such an elegant dress. The piping is a beautiful touch. For shoes, you have lots of colours in the print you can use as a guide. A slip would be handy for cooler days.
    I've just finished a sleeveless dress and have started my cooler clothing now. Pjs are done and jeans and gloves are in the pipeline for starters.

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  15. What a lovely dress, and the print and colour is beautiful on you! Suits you to a T! I would definitely wear a dress like this over winter too, with black tights and pumps, and a black cardi.

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  17. A another pretty dress! Thank you for the tips about inverted pleats. I've made a mess of them before. Your solution is simple and brilliant!

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  21. Such a pretty print! I absolutely hate hemming. I have about three different items lying around unfinished simply because I hate hemming so much. I like the tip for matching pleats.

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  25. That's lovely—you get such a great fit. I, too, tend to finish something and then dawdle over the hem. It's not nearly as exciting once you can try the garment on, is it? Is it a commercial pattern, or one you drafted yourself?

    I really like it with the nude shoes, but I think it would be fine (for fall) with a dark shoe—black, brown, eggplant, even navy—lots of things would complement the darker tones behind the fuschia.

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  26. Black shoes. I'd wear it with black shoes, because that is the color I wear with (almost) everything. It is odd to read your post about winter coming on, as we are entering summer in this hemisphere. I've not seen a silk-linen blend in the stores: it sounds heavenly. Of course, in most of the fabric stores around here, if you ask for linen they steer you immediately to the dreaded “linen look” table. Acres and acres of yucky, texturized thick polyester. Sigh. I find better linen selections in the upholstery fabric outlets in High Point, NC than in dressmaking fabric stores.

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  34. Beautiful! And thanks for the tip on matching the darts – I always have angst about this!

    Your shoe choice is great. For summer, I'd probably wear the dress with a natural colored espadrille. For winter you could always pair the dress with a cardi and pick shoes that went with the cardi.

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  35. This dress looks fabulous on you and silk-linen? Sounds wonderful and very cool for warm weather but I've never seen it here in So Cal! Scary you almost lost it and so funny since that's my method of madness shopping style too. I'm with everyone else with the nude/neutral shoe although if the colors are true on my computer, navy might be nice too or silver/gray if not too sparkly. Is the piping baby sized? Love that detail and am already scheming how to use it in my summer dresses–3 on the planning board. I'm new to your blog and absolutely LOVE it–very inspiring and helpful.

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  36. I would definitely wear this dress right into winter especially with the lovely transeasonal weather we are having now. It would look great as Carolyn said with black tights and black shoes or boots or even brown boots and a cardigan or jacket. For summer I think the fuschia would be my first choice but any of the colours in the dress would look fantastic.

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  39. Sherry, thank you for leaving me a comment – I love your blog, I feel I can learn so much & also enjoy your pictures of gorgeous places that are across the other side of the world from me!
    This dress is amazing & I like your self piping at the waist – it's understated but such a classy detail.

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  42. This fabric is to die for. I love that name, Aurora. The nude shoes are pretty, but fuschia would definitely be a blast. I know this sounds strange, but some kind of green would be pretty, like a contrast.

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