I decided to add the ribbon to the cuff of the Michelle Dress prototype. It was already on the waistband, but you can see in the photo below how it balances out the design to have it on the cuff.
The ribbon was a gift from a friend, stashed away a year ago (thank you Doris Pak Kim!) I started the prototype with the green and orange shirt as a sort of "throw away" because it did not think it would look like much.
I tried pairing it with green bodice, and orange bodice and both looked bad to me. When I tried white - BAM!- all of a sudden the bottom looked great. I moved the orange shirt to the lower back.
Everything was looking good (which is always more fun to work with) and then I remembered the distinctive colors of the gift ribbon and I managed to lay my hands on it!!! The ribbon happened to be a perfect match. The colors, the width, perfect.
This is no longer just a prototype, it belongs on someone and out in public making people smile.
I worked all day yesterday and today on the Michelle Pattern, sorting through photos of work in progress, selecting the most helpful ones, and writing instructions.
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Love the colours and the huge pockets. I am a girl who loves dresses with pockets too. Cheers, Michele
ReplyDeleteHi, I saw your Michelle on Refashion Co-Op and really like the dress. What is the size range for your patterns - I'm a very curvy girl? If I understand what you've said, you are in the process of doing a pattern for the Michelle and you will do a post when it is finished. Also, though I love large pockets the pockets are too big. Believe me, I don't need any extra bulk. Will it be easy to see where an adjustment could be made to make the pockets smaller? Personally, I like the ribbon on the sleeves. I usually try to make 3/4 sleeves most of the time. I'm very short in the arms and long sleeves just annoy me.
ReplyDeleteI've just signed up for your blog so I can keep an eye on the Michelle dress. There were other patterns available and they all looked basically the same. Do you have descriptions somewhere where I can note the differences.
Thanks for your time,
Cathy
Hi Cathy,
DeleteLOL, I emailed you back the same day on a "no reply" etsy email address. I apologize for not noticing till now and for the delayed response.
Thank you for writing. I'm curvy too, 175lbs, 5'6", and pear shaped. The dress is one of my favorites.
The sizing is a factor of the starting shirt, if you can find a dress shirt that fits your shoulders, upper arms and bust well (doesn't need to fit hips) you can make any of the patterns. Men's shirts work very well.
The pockets on the dress are inside-out sleeves so difficult to size down. If you gave me and idea of your shape (pear, apple, etc.) and size I could recommend some alternatives, also which patterns might work best for you.
All of the patterns have a signature high-low hem so they do look a bit alike, and there are differences. There is information on the differences between the patterns on the bottom of the opening page for Paganoonoo.com.
Happy upcycling! Michelle Michelle@paganoonoo.com