New black dress ...

Last weekend the community chorus I sing in had two concerts. Well, two performances of the same concert. I was a little perturbed because I was asked to sing alto (I usually sing tenor) since we were short on altos and heavy on tenors. I really can't hit above the B, so some of the pieces were just outside my range. But most of them were ok, I guess. Some Mozart, lots of Latin, then a total change-up into an arrangement of Shenandoah.

I wanted to have a long black dress for the concert. I've been making do in others with a suit I have, but I really wanted a dress. So, naturally, I decided to make one. I selected a very easy pattern, Simplicity 6866, very loose-fitting, quick to make. This pattern is interesting in that the back is a low v-cut (see sketch from pattern back). A little different, but very simple construction. Then I picked panne velvet.

First of all, I didn't get enough fabric. Well, actually, I got enough, but not in one piece. So, I went ahead and cut the front and the back in different directions. Not a good plan. The fabric is hard to work with, and working with pieces against the nap, it was worse. I had planned to make a jacket to match, but I was so frustrated by the fabric, I decided to make the jacket out of something else.

I had the dress made up and ready to hem by Saturday. Unfortunately, the fabric had warped all out of shape. I wound up having to cut it off to get an even hem. I wanted it long; it turned out just above ankle length on me, so it was okay. Since I didn't have to be at the concert until 5:30, I figured I'd have time to make the jacket. That included going to the store, picking out a fabric, bringing it home, cutting out the jacket and then sewing it up. Simple, right. Plenty of time.

I was lucky to find a black embossed lace with a scalloped edge on both selvages. I used the same pattern (New Look 6270) that I used with my brown party dress. I was able to cut out the jacket front and back and the sleeves so that I didn't have to hem them. In about 3 hours, I made the jacket and hemmed the dress and made it to the concert by 6 (which worked out ok after all).

As you can see from the picture, what resulted was a simple black, sleeveless long dress and a rather nice short jacket. Together they made a very attractive outfit, finished in just the nick of time!