13 DRESSES : DRESS 2

Dress 2 pattern, originally uploaded by the workroom.

Dress 2 – ‘V’ Style
Fabric – Yellow Maze fabric from the Alhambra Collection by Art Gallery Quilts

This book was the first Japanese dress book that I ever bought. I don’t remember what the translated title was at the time, but I did a google translation and came up with, “A nice one-piece straight stitch, much more! From 26 different styles”. The ISBN is 4-309-28055-2. There are 26 dresses in this book, each identified by a letter in the alphabet.

Many of the other Japanese dress books seem to come with a sheet with all the patterns, but this one doesn’t have that. The instructions in the back of the book show measurements (in cm) for every dimension of pattern pieces, so this adds another layer of work. The other thing is that it only shows measurements for one size. Perhaps the book discusses how to adjust the sizing, I’ll never know. Luckily, I fit into the one size they illustrate.

The dress is super simple, so it wasn’t difficult to figure out the construction. Plus, the schematics are detailed and well illustrated. The pattern calls for putting in a lining on the skirt, which I didn’t do. It also suggests putting the top together, then putting the skirt together and then attaching them to each other. I changed that and put the front pieces together, then the back pieces together and then attached the two halves to each other. The key detail of the dress is the fact that the button holes are offset from where the buttons are placed, creating a ripple. The little vintage buttons were a gift from my friend Jen and they perfectly match the blue grey dot in the fabric print.

It’s day two of my three day long weekend. I’m planning on trying out a new ice cream recipe using some fresh Ontario strawberries I bought yesterday!