JULIETTE DRESS x SEWPONY
Today I'm sharing my Juliette Dress for the Dressed in Sewpony Sewing Contest!
Sewpony's vintage inspired patterns have been in my must-sew list for a while, but my pint-size dumpling, Mars, is still a few months away from fitting the Sewpony size range. Well, I'm a big fan of bartering as is my pal and babe photographer, Morgan, so we worked up a trade...and I seriously lucked out with these gorgeous shots of her sweet and spunky daughter in her new Juliette.
Choosing which Sewpony pattern to make was tough, but I eventually settled on owner Suz's newest, the Juliette Dress and Top. I love the shift dress silhouette and darling options like collars, ruffles, and buttons that combine for a garment reminiscent of girls A-line dresses from the 1960's.
There are four sleeve options--sleeveless, short, three quarter, and long. I had this image of the collar neatly overlapping the shoulder so I chose a sleeveless dress to really highlight that big peter pan collar. Which brings me to...
I'm probably most proud of the ruffled peter pan collar I created for this dress. The Juliette comes with options for a plain neck, ruffle, and faux button placket, as well as a peter pan collar add-on in the Sewpony Facebook group. And I loved all of them! So to have my cake and eat it too, I worked up a new collar that combined the peter pan add-on and a small ruffle. It was actually a pretty easy modification; the only change I made to the peter pan collar was removing ¾" from the front and back sides of the collar to account for the added ruffle so the collar ends would still meet in the same place on the neckline.
When I asked Morgan what details she'd like in her daughter's dress she told me, "buttons, and no cats". Check and check! These blush flower buttons were the perfect compliment to the floral ruffled collar and look so smart against that Cloud 9 organic cotton in Cirrus Amber. Its a small detail but it makes the dress extra special.
Lastly for the collar, and one of my favorite things about this pattern, is the bias bound neck and tie back. Bias binding is a great finishing technique and one I like to use a lot. It looks great, its clean on the inside, and it can be used as a creative detail. Wouldn't it be neat in a third contrasting fabric? The Juliette can be made with a tie back or button closure, but I'm partial to the tie back. Its a simple extension of the bias binding already used on the neckline and requires no extra notions, plus the bow just amps up the sweetness factor. Win-win!
A big thumbs up for Sewpony for including pockets in the Juliette. I'm always a fan of pockets, (in fact as I was making this dress Joey asked me, "Did it come with pockets? You probably would've added them anyways...") and used them to sneak in some more of that vintage floral from the collar.
How cute is this?? I think all girls deserve pockets.
You know those projects you're so pleased with you can't help but open up the closet and just stare at it every time you walk by? That's this dress. I love the vintage inspired style and ease of construction, and this pattern is so versatile there's no end to what you can do with it. I don't know if I can wait to make one for Mars; I might just have to work up a couple and stash them away until she's bigger!
Thank you, Sewpony for another gorgeous pattern and hosting such a fantastic contest!
photos by Morgan Slade Photography
