I finally finished my Dottie Angel dress a few weeks ago. I had this idea to make it out of slightly thicker cotton and that presented some difficulties for me in the sewing project. It was actually easier to make with the thinner cotton I used for my daughter’s dress. A link to the post about that dress is here.  Originally I thought I could get more year-round wear with a thicker cotton, but it turned out this particular fabric is rather hot considering the heat waves we have been having. Also when I worked on the collar and the pockets I had a bit of trouble turning the fabric and lining it up right with the binding tape. As a result I may go back soon and redo one pocket for instance. For now I am leaving it the way it is as I really need to focus on my priorities since I am having another foot surgery next Friday.

The trouble with the pocket presented itself despite basting the binding tape to the pocket by hand prior to sewing with the machine. A friend who is a dressmaker said next time to sew it with the machine instead of basting, just with very large stitching, then sew the smaller ones as usual and I suppose then to pull out the larger stitches afterwards. What occurred was a small piece of fabric escaped the binding so I have a small hole where my pocket should be closed and intact. I even tried zig-zagging a small section there but it still continued to sneak out of the binding tape. Patience!!! Live and learn. Well I am not the world’s best at sewing but the more I get a chance to do it the more I learn.

Also with the neckline the fabric didn’t fold as easily due to being thicker, which meant there were spots where the binding tape showed more under the edge of the collar than it should have. I will just live with this and next time make a dress just like this one only with thinner fabric. I really like the pattern on the fabric of my dress. It has little bicycles and a cat on each bike. I found it when I was in Denver after my daughter gave me a gift certificate to Fancy Tiger Crafts. The navy fabric on the bottom I found in the garment district of NYC and it has little symbols in white of the four cardinal directions. I thought that went great with the bikes.

I made the medium-sized dress and it came out just a tad longer than I thought it would be. That is fine yet for some reason the shoulders are rather large on me, so as a result the dress tends to fall off my shoulder occasionally. I may try to take it in a bit in the back but this is also something I will tackle later on. So far I have chosen to wear either a sports bra under it or a tank top.

I really like the dress. I want to make a chocolate brown one with floral pockets and I have some really nice floral Liberty of London fabric I could use for the bottom piece and the pockets. I am totally crazy about floral prints. For some reason it doesn’t seem to be acceptable to wear floral prints in finance or bookkeeping roles. Therefore when I am able to go back to work I want to have a dress or two made from Dottie Angel patterns that has predominately solid fabric, or a tiny non-floral print, with the florals on the pockets and bottom piece. This way I can wear my flowers but keep it professional. Does anyone else have this struggle with office attire? If so please feel free to leave me comments of how you navigate around it.

Tiff Fussell, the designer of the Dottie Angel dress now has three other patterns. One is for children, the other two are for women’s dresses, or “frocks” as she refers to them. Of course I want to make them all. I will have to wait until after my foot heals so I can stand on my two feet and cut the patterns! Anyway I am excited that she is making more patterns. One is a wrap and slip dress pattern, the other is a dress, top and skirt pattern. The children’s pattern is for a dress and tunic.

Well I hope you are enjoying the remainder of summer. I have been getting out when I can to go for a kayak in the Hudson River where they have it for free in NYC, or a bike ride, walk, whatever I can to keep active before my surgery. Then it will be another long haul, like last time with my right foot, before I can go on any subways or buses, or go running at the gym. I will be so glad to get this behind me though!!

I have several post planned for the next few weeks so hopefully while I am recuperating I can come up with even more.

Closeup of fabric

All written material and photos by Marilyn Lavender except Simplicity Pattern picture. © Marilyn Lavender, 2016.  “All rights reserved.”

Simplicity Pattern picture attached to the link for their source.

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Dottie Angel Dress I Made for my Daughter

Aprons with Vintage Linens and “Granny Chic”