It’s not like this dress really has anything to do with boats, though I guess the dark blue-grey color paired with white sandals could pass as somewhat nautical in style. It’s mostly just that I debuted this dress on a fabulous day on a fabulous boat.
From sketch…..
…. to dress.
The dress started its life in the draping class I took last semester, as my project for the knit assignment. When working with knits, it’s common to take advantage of the stretch and make styles without darts for shaping. That, of course, makes it a lot easier to make fit nicely, since the material can just stretch to where it needs to be. Some other things I wanted to take advantage of, is the fact that knit doesn’t ravel. With the cotton jersey I used, I could just leave all edges but the armholes raw, which (in addition to just serging this dress together) makes this dress really fast and easy to sew! Jersey also drapes nicely, so I went for a fairly full skirt, and a big cowl for some extra drape.
I guess it’s kind of funny to have a big cowl on a sleeveless dress, but I am so happy with the result. Since it was a gorgeous day, I rolled the cowl to minimize it, but I look forward to playing around with it; big and loose, pinned to one side, pulled down over the shoulders…. What a fun dress!
After making the dress, I dyed it since the unbleached color was a little uninspiring. I used iDye in the color Gun Metal, which I bought completely because the packaging is quite gorgeous (how can that name not be a reference to the apple imperium though? I find it pretty humorous. I guess now I’ve declared for the world that I dye.). The dyeing itself was very easy and un-messy in a washing machine, and it dyed a lot more fabric than other brands I’ve used. The color ended up nice and even, but (and this is a big “but” depending on your dyeing attitude) it wasn’t quite the color I was expecting. The little chart on the website was actually a lot closer to the final result than the packaging.
Regardless, after getting over the initial damper of a slightly more blue, and less grey, color than expected, I am really happy with this dress.
indigorchid 
So happy to have one just like it! (You’re the best Birgs) :) Can’t wait to buy a belt to go with it…BTW…each time I wear it, many a compliments come my(or your) way! Thank you again for such a thoughtful gift.
This is a beautiful dress, and lovely photos!
Very nice. I think the coulor is just perfect (especially for wearing near water). Fabulous boat too!
Cuuute! I love the sketch too. And what a great boat!!
Well, I love the color! And you totally look like a super-model in the first picture! Great design, I really like the neck with the no-sleeves. Will you post pictures when you “play around with the neck”, as you put it? I´d like to see the variation possibilities.
Absolutely! I’ll try to remember to take pictures whenever I wear it, and then I can document it all later on!