Handmade Cynthia Rowley 1607 Dress in Vintage Dotted Swiss


The fiance and I are headed back to California in a couple short weeks and I am SO. HAPPY. One of my life long best friends is getting married and I'm counting down the days until Dan and I will be surrounded by friends and family and the joy of a union of two wonderful people. While we're home, we're also having engagement photos taken by Marie of Permanent Glimpse Photography. I already knew I was going to wear the rayon dress I made in this post, but the other outfits I put together just weren't quite right. When I discovered some vintage dotted swiss in my fabric stash, I was pretty excited to combine it with Simplicity 1607, by Cynthia Rowley. And by time I'd finished it, I knew it would be perfect for our little love-bird photo session. 




I had made this dress previously and it turned out about, ohhhhh two and a half sizes too small. I shed a few tears for the vintage fabric I'd used to make it, and then angrily packed the pattern away. This time, I was determined to make sure it fit. I also knew I didn't have the time or patience to deal with the complicated (albeit, awesome) criss cross straps, so I made some major alterations to the top 1/3rd of the pattern and forged on. 


It is fully lined with 100% cotton muslin and enlarge by about 1 1/2" everywhere. 


And it fits beautifully. Thank goodness. The dotted swiss was, admittedly, a bit of a pain to work with. It just kept shifting, and fraying and I think it has a bit of polyester in it because my iron didn't seem to like it very much. Anyway, I did my best to finish the seams so that they wouldn't all unravel, and I'm overall very pleased with how it came out. I can't wait to wear it for pictures!


So, here's to successful summer projects, and only a handful of days separating me from warm California nights with some of my favorite people on the planet. Cheers! You can see the amazing photos Marie took for our engagement photos here

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