A Fraught and Pleated Dress

The fabric for this project has a rather fraught history. Back in March 2012, with my parents' 50th wedding anniversary do coming up in August, I lined up a date for it and splurged on the polyester silk print fabric you see pictured above to make a dress for the event. But by the time August rolled around the man I'd asked to come to the dinner with me was no longer part of my life and I was unemployed and hadn't the heart or the energy to make the dress, so I just wore something else to the anniversary celebration. The fabric lay in a drawer for over six years as I had nowhere else that I could have worn it. Then, this year, with my nephew engaged to be married in Alberta in August, I decided to make the dress up with the idea that if I could somehow afford to go to his wedding, I could wear it.

I chose a pattern for this fabric back in 2012, but I've learned a lot about how to dress myself in the intervening six years and I no longer thought that pattern would be all that flattering. I chose a new design, which was Vogue Pattern's V1353. I loved the pleated, fit and flare effect, and the fabric and lining requirements amounted to almost exactly the amount of the print I had. The only (2018) expense for this dress was the pattern, as I had a zipper and thread on hand.

The pattern went together pretty well. My one regret is how I did the running stitch along the hem. It looks okay, but I can't help wishing I'd gone with another, more distinctive, embroidery stitch.

Here's the finished dress. I made some modifications for fit as I always do: it's a size 16 above the waist, and a size 14 below that. I added four inches of length to the bodice as my chest takes up so much fabric vertically, and then shortened the skirt by three inches to keep the dress at the "just above the knee" length. I thought the pattern worked well with this particular fabric, which has an semi-abstract moth-like design. With the pleats breaking up the print in this way, I get the feeling that I'm seeing this moth-like pattern out of many hexagonal lens or corneas as a moth would. So meta!

But although I finished this dress in July, I didn't get to go my nephew's wedding in August as I had no way to raise the money it would cost. I don't know where I'll wear this dress now as my life hardly ever features any special occasions to which I could wear a silk dress. I'll just have to hope that an occasion will arise at some point. This fabric has certainly waited long enough for its moment to shine.