Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The Iron maxi dress...




I'm laughing as I write - I have never encountered such difficult, tough, iron-strong fabric! No needle would pierce it. Not a ballpoint, microtex, universal, or jersey needle. I ended up sewing this with a denim needle! Yes, it's an ITY knit. But it's extremely close-woven and hard as nails...

I just love this dress. The print is beautiful and has all my colors and a bit of a bohemian vibe. I made it way back in January as a muslin for my MOB dress. And now that year-end is upon us, I thought I should write about it.


It was so hard to sew that I used a more forgiving black rayon knit for the neck binding. My attempts to use the ITY just spat at me. And no hems! By the time I got to the hem point of construction, I gave up and gave in. I just cut the hem and sleeves where I wanted them.


When I took these pics this morning, I had just gotten home from a visit with my dentist. So I'm wearing earrings and, wow, my glasses, both for the first time here on my blog! I have nice jewelry, and I used to load up every day. But being home so much, and with such sensitive skin, I've fallen out of the habit. I think that, in the new year, I'll do something about that!



 More pics...



On other fronts, holiday projects continue. I love all the things on my dining room table awaiting some wrapping and notes. Hope you have such wonderful things going on in your space as well.

Bye for now! Coco

13 comments:

  1. Well you look lovely with or without the extra. Love the dress colors on you. So perfect and what a nice backdrop too. Your pie safe and art work are great! Local artist on the primatives/folkart paintings?

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    1. Thanks, Theresa. And you knew it's a pie safe! I bought it for $25 at an auction up in the mountains in Virginia, when I lived in Lexington. It had a million coats of paint on it - a labor of love to refinish it. It's oak and lotus wood. Those primitives - favorites. One is from Haiti, the other from Santo Domingo. I have another one that's not in the pic that's from Nicaragua. The flattened style is so interesting. I have a photo of a colorful town that I'm going to try to convert to a primitive one of these days, using my drawing tablet...

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    2. Lotus wood - ha! what a typo. Locust wood :-)

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  2. My first thought was the fabric was knit but was painted. Interesting that the design is woven. Must be woven from metal threads! LOL. Whatever it is made from, I hope it's comfortable to wear, as it looks great! I also find your glasses very attractive. Maxi dresses are one of my favorite styles and you wear them well. Merry Christmas!

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    1. Thanks so much. As you thought, it's a knit, an ITY, which to my knowledge, is always printed. But the knit weave is very very small. Merry Christmas to you!

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  3. I love this dress, and I was thinking how beautiful you looked even before I read any of your words;) Just lovely!

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    1. Thank you, Angela - and Merry Christmas to you and all your family!

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  4. I love that fabric! Shame it was such a pain to sew.

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    1. Thanks, Vireya. Well, it was a challenge that had to be met - I love the print.

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  5. I feel your pain... I have just made a maxi dress from a thrifted piece of a John Kaldor {my fave} knit and had the same resistance to penetration problem. I still haven't solved the neck band problem. Can't give up tho.

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    1. Oh boy! stick with it. The rayon knit binding worked really well for me. But I still felt lucky when I finally got it on there.

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  6. So funny :-) This was the first time I've worn it, as I had to take in the front bodice after my surgery. Now I want to wear it all the time!

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  7. I too have jewellery but hardly ever wear it...? Another lovely dress that suits you perfectly

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I love it that you came by...and thank you for your comments! Coco