I’ve posted so much about knitting lately, I think it’s time to mention that I didn’t give up on sewing. It’s just that I’ve started one of those projects where you run from one problem to the next – Mrs Depew Vintage’s 1940 wrap blouse seemed fun and cute, but hasn’t been anything like that so far. Honestly, I’m so frustrated with it that I can’t even look at it right now. That’s why I decided to finish up a project that has been lying around in my room since the beginning of the year. I just needed to set in the zipper again and add bias tape to the hemline of the skirt to be finished, but until the first sunrays decided to show their face in this corner of the world I really didn’t feel like tackling such a spring-like project.
I believe I originally wanted to do something completely different when I picked up this fabric. I picked up about 3m because it was on sale. Around Christmas I got it into my head that I needed to do something fun without buying a new pattern. I came up with what I recently learnt is called a “frankenpattern”. The top is made from Burda 7034, which I originally used in this autumn-themed dress. The gathered skirt pieces are from Burda Young 7556 and make me wish I didn’t completely ruin the awesome polka dot dress I originally made from it years ago. The “spend no money” part went out of the window (as it was to be expected) as soon as I came up with the idea that the smallish print needed some boldly coloured accents in the form of yellow bias tape. Originally I only wanted to add it at the neckline and the sleeves, but my Dad suggested it’d look better if I used it on the skirt hemline, too (and, even if he won’t believe it, I actually listen to him sometimes). It definitely was a good idea, but I’ve done more interesting things in my life than sew on nearly 6m of bias tape.
I gotta be honest, though, right now I’m just not feeling this dress. I’m not exactly sure why. The 50s silhouette used to be such a favourite of mine, but lately I’ve been more interested in different, less girly shapes. Another reason might be the fabric itself, which is adorable on its on, but such a stark contrast to my dark hair and skin. I try to stay away from white in general because I don’t know how to style it with my dark complecion – there are inexplicably two white knitted hats that waste away in my closet and that is totally sad. Same goes for light blue, which makes my skin look sickly even though I adore the colour, but that is less of a problem here because the use of bias tape made yellow the more dominant colour in the print.
Lately I’ve been reading up a lot about colour types It started with “Mein Kleiderschrank und ich” (German obviously) series when the beswingtes Fräulein rethought her colour palette, and led me over to Michou Loves Vintage’s colour consultation post (German again, sorry) describing the different colour types. I even made the system of seasons test at Colour Me Beautiful and found out that I’m an autumn type. Oh well. How fascinating! While I generally prefer bold reds and blues as well as pretty much all shades of pink and violet, I guess it’s true that I look good in autumn colours, as demonstrated by my Falling Leaves dress. Frankly, reading all this made me feel mostly insecure (quick poll, have you ever read about fashion rules and felt something else than insecurity? Tell me, so that I may worship at the altar of your awesomeness). That it was a pain in the ass taking pictures of me in my new dress because either the dress looked blindingly white or my face was shrouded in darkness or both for good measure didn’t help much. (If someone who knows about photography could give me a tip on how to solve this puzzling problem, I’d be ever so grateful.) I mean, all these posts were very informative and interesting, but it’d be even more interesting to know how to incorporate colours that aren’t automatically your “type” into your wardrobe? Or do I have to just stop with the whites and light blues? Seems unfair. I like white and light blue and I want to look good wearing them! Internet, instead of telling me what I shouldn’t wear, get to work on that tutorial!
But enough about the confusing world of fashion rules. There’s two things I’d rather think about, namely a) how happy I am about my new haircut and b) how much fun twirling is in this dress.
18 responses to “A Dress for the First Days of Spring”
I had a similar problem with photos on a very sunny day and I found the solution – you and the photographer must be in the shade, and the background must be without any sunlight. I tried partial sun/shade and the result was always not too good, parts of me were too bright or two dark.
Maybe the dress doesn’t fit the city, and worn at the seaside or at the lake would do the job, it looks like a relaxed Summer weekend dress. *^v^*
New haircut is always a good thing, had one myself last Monday and I feel great. ^^
Joanna
http://www.friendsheep.com/
That’s an interesting point – I don’t think we tried both standing in the shadow. I’ll try that next time, thanks!
So true! The dress just seemed out of place and that was why I was feeling very uncomfortable while having the pictures taken (not a good thing at all if you want decent results).
Isn’t it awesome? I feel so much better with my new hair!
One more thing came to my mind about the light in the photos – there’s a difference between Winter sun and Spring/Summer sun. Winter sun is “colder” in shade, more white, and you can have nice photos in full sun (like mine from that post: http://www.friendsheep.com/2014/02/cukierkowe-morze.html). Spring/Summer sun is warmer, more yellow in tones, and the photos often look too bright, the colours and the skin are not natural. That’s why it’s better now to take photos of dresses in the shade. At least that’s what came from my experience. *^v^*
The dress is really cute and I love your new haistyle! It really suits you 🙂
I’ve done a LOT of those online tests to find out my colour type in the past but they all told me something different. I found it really hard to analyse my skin and hair colour. But the posts from Michou Loves Vintage were really helpful. Now I’m like 90% sure I’m a summer ;). Thanks for the link!
You’re so lucky, that you can pull of yellow and orange. I think very few people can and I’m always a little jealous of them ;).
Thank you! 🙂 I feel so much better right now with the shorter hair!
I’m glad the links were helpful to you, I can totally see you as a summer type! 🙂 I really should wear more yellow and orange, for some reason I have very little garments in these colours.
I love the dress, and hope you learn too as well. I’m also an Autumn palette struggling with yellow (posted on it only yesterday!). I think the key to choosing outside of ‘type’ is to wear it away from your face. A teal cardigan/hat/shawl (which can be Autumn) might pull it together for you?
Thank you! I really think I will change my mind in summer – or maybe in different surroundings, as brahdelt pointed out above. It’s a good idea to experiment with differently coloured accessories, thanks!
Your dad clearly has an excellent eye for detail because I think the yellow hem trim looks perfect! Your dress really looks beautiful and you look so happy in it! 🙂 New hairstyles are so great, aren’t they? I think it’s such a quick and easy way to make yourself feel fresh and ready for spring!
He totally does! He picked out the ideal buttons this weekend for another knitted sweater. I would’ve looked for ages, but he goes straight for the perfect ones.
Thank you! It was such a lovely sunny day too.
Yes, the shorter hair is such a relief! It really feels like winter is over now … and I’m ready for summer!
Wow! Your dad sounds amazing! I can’t wait to see the new jumper – you are such a speedy knitter!
He is, but he makes sure to act super cranky when I drag him to knitting or sewing stores for a second pair of eyes to help me find stuff. 😉 Oh dear, actually not at all, I just have a huge backlog of unphotographed and unblogges FOs. I finished this one at the beginning of the year, should probably have mentioned that somewhere. 😀
[…] wanted to make a dress with a circle skirt with this, but as I’ve written in my last sewing post, circle skirt dresses and I have come to a difficult point in our relationship: we’re bored […]
[…] suited the pattern better, and I’ve mentioned my love-hate-relationship with white in general before. As you can see, I tried to add some colour to it with leftover yarn from my Birds Eye hat, but I […]
[…] item: Spring dress I’m still sort of on the fence when it comes to this […]
[…] But seriously, I have the most awesome friends. =) I took this as an opportunity to dress up in one of my selfmade dresses […]
[…] Dress: First Days of Spring […]
[…] bias tape was a leftover from my Spring Dress – I had been very generous with my purchase back then. At first I was afraid it would look […]
[…] me to sew a Christmas dress for a couple of years now. You have a dress for autumn and for spring, why not one for Christmas, she’d ask. Finally, I ran out of arguments when I made my […]