Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Ruboff experiment

Thanks for all of the wonderful comments on the baby gifts! It's very rewarding to be able to make items that you know the recipients can use, isn't it?

I'm struggling to keep up with my post a day promise to myself for this week, but I have a short one ready. I've had a dress in my closet that I've loved and worn for ten years... but started to look a little sad.

It's a light cotton dosa shirt dress that I bought at a sample sale. It's been with me everywhere, to Europe, Hawaii, the LA County fair. It's faded in weird places now and the fabric is a little threadbare.

I thought this would be a perfect dress to do a ruboff of (making a pattern off of a real garment). Of course, being the shortcut queen, I made one out of tissue paper (versus muslin) and here's the result:

The fabric is Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton in Sludge, which is a great woven light cotton fabric. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the fabric is almost iridescent and is woven with purple and yellow thread to make the greeny color.

It's not quite the same, I didn't feel like making a real collar and it looks very uniform-y, but it's SO comfy, just like the original. So I think it's a half-success, I'm happy with the functionality, needs some work on the way it looks. Maybe a happier color would help things out... hmmm....

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love what you did... I also like that neckline better than the collar. i wonder if brightly colored buttons (orange? red? purple?) would help with the "uniform-y" look? i also think that would look great in linen :-).

I wish I had a dress that was as everyday-comfy as yours in my closet!

Bea

Courtney said...

Nice work!
I know that the original doesn't have one either, but maybe a pretty brightly colored belt would lessen the uniformness and add the shot of color you are looking for. It's a beautiful dress though, lovely work.

Sarah said...

Adorable! I like it a lot without the collar (but then I'm not a huge collar fan to begin with). I could see it in a cute print fabric, too, or plain with a little embroidery somewhere.

Anonymous said...

i mari, i love your recreation! i'm just thinking that i'd like to make something like that to wear to work in the early fall.

and i adore KF's cotton. they are just so beautifully soft. i use that to line my yellow dress and will definitely use them again.

i want to make that big bag from lotta for my sister as her diaper bag as well, but maybe modify to be a bit smaller.

it's always v. inspiring to read about your sewing adventure!

goosefairy said...

I like the no-collar look. Try making it in something brighter and see how you feel about it. The dress itself is very simple, elegant and fits you well. I like it.

Anonymous said...

I like the fit of this dress and maybe a few more trips through the laundry will soften it so it looks less "uniformy." I love shot cotton, but it sometimes looses its impact at a distance. Maybe you could try a simple line of hand top stitching around the neckline in one of the colors of the weave, or even a complimentary hue. Nice blog, hope you make it one a day for a bit!

Anonymous said...

I have been reading your blog for sometime now. I have inherited a sewing machine. You sew beautifully. What would you suggest as a good sewing book for a beginner and a good project to start with. I am the mother of a six year old daughter and almost nine year old son. I knit as well.
Please let me know via the blog

yaiAnn said...

Ooooh,so how did you do the rub off? This inquiring mind wants to know! =)

Stephanie said...

I really like this as is. If you want to spruce it up a little, maybe you could wear it with some colorful earrings and/or shoes?