This is the photo I chose:
I wanted to capture the dressed-up Easter feeling of the photo above. I particularly wanted something that had an interesting sleeve detail (check out those puffed sleeves in my childhood photo!), something light pink and something I could wear with lovely white gloves.
McCall 5676 from 1944 fit the bill perfectly:
I used version A as my guide and did it up without the lace trim and without pockets. I was originally going to do version B's sleeves but ended up going with A (to use some of the fabric details).
I've been eyeing the broderie anglaise at the local fabric shop for awhile. It's so beautiful and I love fabric with a border. I was, however, concerned that it was so sheer. I also don't tend to wear pastels, so I wasn't sure how it would work but when Mena announced the theme for this week, I decided to go for it!
It was really fun trying to piece it all together and to use bits of the broderie anglaise for different elements of the dress.
I used the scallop of the broderie anglaise for the hem and the sleeves of the dress. This was very nice as it meant I didn't have to hem either of them!! Of course the downside was matching up the pattern and also figuring out how much length I needed for the dress and translating that into how I made up the skirt (i.e. taking up more into the waist in front than in the back for my bum which affects the length of the dress!)
I also made self-covered buttons with the three-leaf clover design that was in the border of the fabric. I really like how they came out!
Happy almost Easter everyone!
