greeneleafe.com blog

Wool Crepe Shift Dress

Featured in the photograph above is  my latest take on the shift dress silhoutte in wool crepe.  The body of the dress is constructed of two layers of wool crepe in a beige-taupe color.  The shape of the dress is reminiscent of a flower bud shape.  The dress is wide at top and narrower at base/hem.  The shape of the dress is achieved using box-pleats on each side panel.  I have added a self-fabric rose at the neckline using cartridge pleats to continue the flower theme.  

Back view of Wool Crepe Shift Dress

The photograph above is a detail of the back neckline of the dress which features a trifoliate applique that continues the flower theme of the dress established in the overall shape of the dress and the flower at the front of the dress.

Hem of Wool Crepe Shift Dress

The photograph above shows a detail of the hem.  Notice how the side panels add depth and volume to the simple shift silhoutte.

Since temperatures have become noticeably chillier I have been playing with wool fabrics.

A traditional English style wool plaid caught my eye recently.  It is 100% wool – what they label 140’s or 150’s.  I brought it home and put it through a delicate cold wash and dry cycle.  Afterwards I subjected the fabric to a nice long pressing using the highst heat setting on my cute little iron I purchased at a five and dime for $10.   I took a few quick snapshots without making any effort to style the photograph.

Plaid Wool Sheath Dress

Closeup of Plaid Wool Sheath Dress

Back View of Plaid Wool Sheath Dress

Interested buyers may contact me using the comment link at the end of my post.  Thank you!!!!

 The last few weeks have been hectic for me.  To tie up lose ends, I wound up completing a total of five different variations of the white voile underdress.  The first three versions are discussed in my post titled Rectangular Godets.  The last two variations again focused on different treatments of the neckline.  One variation features appliqued flowers in self-fabric and the last variation uses raw edge ruffles.

I wanted to share my experiment using Dotted Swiss Cotton Voile.  This fabric is fairly expensive for a cotton.  Despite the price tag, the grain was not even.  Initially, I couldn’t tell if this was a result of poor manufacturing or incorrect cutting at the fabric store.  The fabric is extremely sheer, soft and limp.

Dotted Swiss Voile Shift Dress

I crafted it into a double layered a-line shift with a rounded neckline adorned with a self-fabric flower.  To round out the dress and give a few more wearing options, I created a self-fabric belt to wear looped around the waist or as a scarf around the head.  I have layered a white cotton voile underdress with rectangular godets underneath the dotted swiss voile dress to give it more body and substance.

I know the temperatures have been falling so this dress may not be suitable for wear right now.  But if anyone is interested in purchasing this dress or one made to a similar pattern contact me using the comment link at bottom of post.  Thank you!!!

Update October 30 2009:

Alternative Neckline Treatment

The above photograph shows the dress with an alternative neckline treatment.

At this point I have completed three different versions of a white cotton voile underdress.  All three underdresses share a simple shift silhoutte.  Only the treatment of the neckline and hemline differ in the three samples.  The first design wound up having a tiny notched neckline and one godet incorporated into the two side seams to slightly increase the fullness of the hemline.  The second design had a simple rounded neckline and rectangular godets.  I really like the effect of the recgtangular “godets” in the second design for the white voile underdress.  I carried this feature over into the third design but modified the rounded neckline by adding a ruffled peter pan collar.

In terms of design elements, the rectangular godets feel a lot nicer to me.  There are no sharp elements in the design to poke the wearer.  The regular godets (which have a triangular shape) are just too poky for me.  I also like the ruffled peter pan collar.  It adds a bit of romantic fun. 

The goal in developing the underdress was to modify the look and feel of a tunic which had high side slits and a very deeply notched neckline.  I decided to use white cotton voile since I had enough fabric in hand to experiment.  I decided to double layer the fabric to provide opacity as well as a little substance to the underdress.  In cutting the pattern, I tried to avoid wastage of material.  I folded the fabric into four and I cut the pattern on the grain, parallel to the selvage.  I was able to accomplish my goal of not having any wasted fabric by using rectangular godets and reincorporating as ruffles etc the stray bits of fabric left over from cutting the neckline and armsyce. 

 Overall the silhoutte of the underdress really needed the addition of the godets to give it an elegant drape.  Otherwise it would have been very narrow.   The use of ruffles further embellished the design so that when worn with the tunic there is extra interest at both neckline and hemline.