Mone-misu? Tir-etta?

This dress wasn’t in my original summer plan, but it was a nice quick make. I cut it out and sewed most of the bodice together on Sunday, sewed the neckline and armholes on Monday, made and attached the skirt on Wednesday, and hemmed it yesterday. It’s also nice and comfortable–the fabric is some rayon knit from Mood that I bought specifically for this project. Not so great for the stashbusting, but at least I used it quickly!

This week’s Indie Pattern Month contest on The Monthly Stitch is Franken-patterning, so that was part of my inspiration.  The top is based on the Colette Monetta dress, and the bottom is based on the Cake Tiramisu dress, though I modified both parts. For the Monetta top, I squared off the neckline and added seams down the center of both the front and back of the outside pieces. Since I wasn’t doing the collar, but I still wanted to line the top, I also had to tweak the clean finish directions a bit–I did that around the neckline, and the lower half of the armholes, but I had to hand-stitch the top of the armholes closed. For the skirt, I cut both halves on the fold instead of seaming it down the middle like the original pattern. It’s a pretty plain and simple dress overall, but I think it’ll be a good one to play with accessories. Especially since the color is much brighter and cheerier than the average neutral solid knit dress!

So if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know I’m a fan of secretly geeky clothes. Now that I’ve got you thinking this is just a normal knit dress, it’s time to ruin the illusion by revealing that this is also going to be a part of one of my DragonCon costumes! I still have a couple components to make for that, but I’ll give you a clue: Think Disney bookworm who’s fond of teacups.

I’m having trouble with the picture insert, so you can find the picture here. So did I get the gist of it? The idea is to make as many costume bits that can be worn as everyday clothes as possible, so I’m not spending my entire summer sewing things that I’m only going to wear once. And Belle was my favorite when I was a kid–she loved books, she was a fellow brownI’m having trouble inserting the picture, so click here.-eyed girl, and she wasn’t afraid to use her head to help her get out of sticky situations. And whack at the wolves with a big stick, even if she wasn’t very good at it. What’s not to love?
I still need to make a top, apron, and hair bow for this, but I think this dress is a pretty good start.

Speaking of DragonCon, I’ve recently made the difficult decision to set the Tauriel costume aside. It’s been going so slowly, and I’ve been racking my brains unsuccessfully for 3 months to come up with a good way to sew that armor bodice without making the vinyl tear apart the second I put it on, since I never was able to find a closure for it. Given how much I still need to make for multiple costumes, even though they’re more everyday-clothes, and that I’m also going to need to help my best friend with some of hers, it just doesn’t make sense to continue when I have a perfectly good Eowyn costume that only needs a blonde wig. Besides, as surprisingly much as I enjoyed Tauriel in the latest Hobbit movie, Eowyn is still cooler. And, you know, actually in the books.