B is for Border Prints

I am super excited that I managed to get at least one summer dress out of summer this year!  Not that we really had a summer here in Scotland, but that's besides the point.  The best part?  I got to use some delicious border print fabric that I got during our Crafters' Ceilidh meet-up last January!!

My mind automatically associates border prints with 1950's dresses.  So that's exactly what I made.  I used Simplicity 4209 which was a gift from a lovely reader and fellow seamstress.  I just love the gathered skirt and the drape of the neckline.

My border print fabric is a medium-weight dressmaking cotton--so it's a little heavy for the draped neckline but holds the skirt gathers beautifully.  This border print was fantastic in that half of the fabric was pure white and the other half was the border print--making it super easy to make a dress out of it.  While white isn't a colour I usually choose, I was sold on the bright teal tulips with brown accents.

The dress closes with a full bodice length zipper down the back.  I followed the directions and inserted a lapped zipper which I am pretty chuffed with.

Oh--I just love this hairdo!  This was part of my Dixiebelle's Vintage Hair and Beauty Parlour treat to myself.  Ariana, my lovely hairstylist, put it up into the most beautiful 50's inspired hairdo.  I even like how it looks in the curlers :)

Here is a photo of Ariana and I! Can't you see how pleased I am with my new 'do?  So much fun to properly celebrate a new dress!

We found a golden patch of flowers and thought that was perfect for the tulip inspired 50's dress!  YAY! Super happy to be back sewing again, especially since the last garments I made were for the mammoth graduation project.  Sometimes it takes awhile to get back into the swing after such a big project but this was the perfect summer sewing interlude!