Honey Dahlia Autumn Dress (Selfish Sewing Week Fall 2014, a week late)

Besides the sewing done for the shop, craft markets and clients, it's been quite a while since the last time I've sewn a piece of clothing for myself.

I had been wanting to design and sew something more appropriate for Singapore weather, but was too busy with another project (stay tuned for this next week in November! Oops, I saw the date wrongly.. My bad!) to start on it.  Also, I got the dates for the Selfish Sewing Week mixed up! I thought it started this week Monday! By the time I realized it, it was already the last day of this online community event.

But hey, that can't stop me from participating in it, albeit 1 week late... To keep to the theme of Fall, I decided to self-draft and sew an autumn dress instead. Perfect for me to wear to my Tokyo trip next week!

The fabric that I used here was actually intended for another drafting project I had in mind. But I thought the material (a stretchy cotton blend fabric, I believe) was suitable for the transitional season (weather is just getting a little chilly there, still on the warm side) and the mustardy honey color was perfect for fall.

I drafted the bodice based on a top I have, but I altered the neckline and length. The skirt with pockets and mini curved side slits was drafted from scratch. Before sewing the pieces, I screen-printed my dahlia design onto part of the bodice and 1 of the sleeves.

The bodice was lined and I added buttons and button holes to the slits so that they can close up and create a slight balloon shape silhouette. The buttons are a variation to my handmade "Beady-eyed" acrylic resin buttons which can be found on my Etsy shop.

Handmade this necklace too!

Pattern: Self-drafted
Fabric: Stretch cotton blend, screen-printed with my own dahlia design
Notions: My handmade acrylic resin buttons (variation of my Beady-eyed buttons)