Fiiiiinally right?! heh Well, I’m as happy as can be that this dress is finally completed. It’s been 2 years in the making and is my first finished object in 2013.

Colette’s Macaron dress was the primary reason that I wanted to learn how to sew. I had seen the dress on Gertie’s blog and it’s what prompted me to then check out Colette’s blog since I wanted to make one of my very own even though at the time I didn’t even know how to sew. (I inadvertently picked the same colors as Gertie did too for my first macaron. heh) I took a few basic sewing classes and launched into making the Macaron dress in a purple cotton with black contrast sections. It’s not comfortable to wear and the fit wasn’t quite right. But this is the one dress that has started it all for me.

The Macaron Redux dress began as a sketch in my notebook back in March of 2011 for a pretty, feminine dress with a peplum using Colette’s Macaron bodice, as the base of course.

I had come up with a few different color/fabric options, none of which 100% matched my dress as it stands now. But version C would have been the closest.

This dress has come a very long way to get it to completion. But now that it’s finished, it seems fitting that I’ve put lots of my knowledge into this one dress; it has taught me what to do (and not do) in garment construction.

Before delving into all of the photos, I’d just like to say “Thanks!” I really appreciate all of the cheers, support, and love you’ve given me as I’ve worked on this dress throughout all of the starts and stops during the last 2 years.

So, here we go….

I went and took photos at my mom’s house on Sunday morning. It was quite chilly and drab outside so her house seemed like the best (warm) solution for this time of year.

My hair has fallen a bit from the night prior when Felix and I went out to eat. He ended up taking me a very nice French restaurant; it was scrumptious.

Did you spy my shoes?!

I have matching shoes! heh I normally don’t like to be so matchy-matchy, but I have a reason… These shoes originally had a satin black bow on them. But the first and only time I wore these shoes out one of the bows was attacked by a sweet golden retriever who has a *thing* for shoes.

It rendered the shoes unwearable. Not wanting to buy new shoes, I made-do & mended these ones. While I was fixing them up anyhow, I figured the new bows might as well match my dress. :)

Peplum Detail:

Peplum Back Detail:

Here I am without the peplum, but a black silk belt.

I’m half-sitting on the couch here… hence the hippy hips. :)

Here’s a lovely detail shot of the bodice:

My rhinestone necklace was thifted for a fatty $7, it’s one of my faves for a dressy occasion.

Bodice Back detail:

Back bodice in mega detail, it shows the applique seams and darts quite clearly:

That art deco lamp needs to come home with me….

My mom has such a lovely, old Victorian home which is filled to the brim with pretty wood furniture and McCoy pottery.

I bought this lipstick (& nail polish) to match my bodice. It’s the first time I’ve ever done this but I thought it fitting (& fun) that I make myself up extra nice to coordinate with my dress.

And this post wouldn’t be complete without my “photographer” husband, Felix. (He’s really not a photographer but a front-end developer.)

He knows what happens when I wear lipstick… you can tell exactly what he was thinking as I did this! heh

I didn’t feel the need to recap all of the small details that went into this dress on the insides, since I felt like I had done all of that already with the progress posts.

But I will mention how I did all of this…

I decided that I wanted to make this dress using couture sewing techniques and to try and make it as nice as I could possibly do. I wanted to challenge myself and try my hand at new-to-me techniques. Since I’m too impatient to test such techniques on scrap fabric I go full-force and try things out on actual projects instead.

Before cutting out any fabric, I went and read through all of my sewing books and made notes of all of the tips & techniques that I thought I could apply to this dress, or what seemed applicable to me at the time.

This is a page of my notebook where I noted all of the things that I thought could be included on the dress, including page numbers and all. I didn’t do all of these things since I had realized that some didn’t apply (like a waist stay), but I did do a fair amount of them in the end.

I love learning new techniques and applying them to my projects makes things all the more fun and exciting. I think it’s one of the main reasons why I never have found sewing boring… there is always more fun things to learn if you want to.

A few of you noted that my basting looked so nice and even… which I have to admit that I don’t agree (but thanks!) I only bring this up because I can vividly remember when I tried to invisibly slip-stitch the open end of a waistband down to the inside of a skirt.

I showed my handiwork to my mom, being very proud of what I had done, and she was nice about mentioning that it wasn’t so invisible to her. She made me realize that if I kept at it, using some basic hand sewing stitches, that I could get much nicer (and more professional-looking) garments as a result. With each of my sewing projects I generally incorporate hand stitching whether it be on the waistband, hem, (or both). And I continue to think my hand stitching is lacking, but it’s getting better.

All of my long-winded-ness here is really just me saying to you guys, go for it! :) Try out a new-to-you technique on your next project and see what happens. Chances are you’ll love the results and will want to try out some more new ones.

Now that I’ve completed this dress I feel nice and refreshed, ready to tackle new challenges and do something new. So…. if there’s something you’ve seen me do on this dress that you’re curious to know more about, please leave me your questions in the comments. I’m all about sharing the knowledge with you guys. :)

Cheers & hope you had a lovely weekend!

In: Sewing