Lace Dress Project & Canada Day

HAPPY CANADA DAY! In celebration of Canada's 148th birthday today, I thought I would turn this post into a bit of a festive one by throwing some red into it.

I actually started this project last year but after many sewing mistakes, I decided to stop. After about a year of getting some self-confidence back in my sewing ability, I finally got the motivation to complete it. Even after sewing so many things, you would think I can avoid silly mistakes like sewing into a layer of fabric I didn't want. The amount of seam ripping I do is unimaginable.

This dress is total freehand. I traced the shapes out with clothes I already had and because I don't have a dress form, I just kept trying it on and off until it fit me just right. The white lace and the lining material are cotton. The bodice lining is recycled from a tshirt I no longer wore. It was perfect because the shirt was already fitted and I only had to attach it to the lace and slice it in half to put the zipper in. The lining is stretchy but the lace wasn't, so I needed to use a zipper.

Oh my goodness, the zipper gave me such a hard time. At first I put it in and when I zipped it up, the fabric on both sides didn't line up. Then I had to undo it and sew it in again but it didn't zip up. I thought it broke because part of the zipper teeth looked bent so I went out to buy a new one and once I got home, the original zipper worked again... and then I was too lazy to return the new zipper so there goes $4 down the drain.
Originally, the dress was just meant to be a cap sleeved style but after taking a set of pictures, the sleeves didn't really look good because they made my shoulders look really wide and disproportionate. I attribute that to freehanding and poor measurements! I didn't have any fabric to spare so a sleeveless style was the best solution. Good thing they were easy to remove or else I'd have to take apart and resew a lot.

The photos taken here are from two different occasions. The first one had close ups I liked more while the second one had full body shots I liked more.


I'm off to celebrate with some food and fireworks with friends now. Happy Canada Day!

Gathering Fabric Tutorial: Gather fabric fast (Youtube)
Invisible Zipper Tutorial: How to sew an invisible zipper (Youtube)