Feria Dress

(week five of Project Run and Play)



When we were in Spain a few years ago (don't get too jealous- it's pretty much the only exciting thing we've done) we were lucky to be there during Feria. I was in love with the fun dresses and colors and that the whole city shuts down for a week long party. I've wanted an excuse to make Ansley a dress and Halloween seemed perfect.



I made a girl's version with a cap sleeve (instead of sleeveless) and the ruffles starting at the low waist rather than at hip level like women's dresses.



The top is made from a swimsuit/dance knit. I actually drafted a sloper(!) using ikatbag's excellent tutorial. I didn't add any seam allowances to the sloper b/c I was using knit. I used one of Ansley's cap sleeve tees to eyeball the sleeves. I was going to use the back sloper for the back but I didn't do a very good job with that one/didn't know what to do with the darts that are on the sloper b/c I didn't want darts on the dress. I used the top of my back sloper for the back and followed the shape of the existing shirt.



A quick google search lead me to some inspiration pictures. I also read about circular ruffles, which lead me to The Rooster and the Hen's circular ruffle tutorial. I hand cut at least sixty circles (I quit counting after a while) to make the nine tiers of ruffles. (and every time I think "hand cut" I want a steak ha). I love how they look!! The ruffle fabric is a shiny knit from the Halloween section of Joann. I don't love how flimsy/prone to snagging it is but Ansley loved the color and I wanted knit so I wouldn't have to hem every circlee. The ruffles are sewn to a half circle skirt using this tutorial to make sure my math was okay before cutting the fabric. The skirt portion is made of a poly satin fabric. I was going to make it knit so I wouldn't have to hem it but I didn't buy enough fabric the first time around. When I went back it was gone. This probably worked out better b/c the skirt isn't as heavy.



I made the flower clip using Brynde's tutorial at the Ribbon Retreat Blog.



And some more pictures:









PS our front door is blue now.



Bye.





Linked here. :)