Last of the Palms

The last tropical palm print fabric for the year I expect, thank goodness I finished this dress just in time to wear it before summer truly turns to fall! This project was plagued with little issues. I had been putting off working with the fabric, as it is the most lovely thicker rayon crepe that met my hesitations with edges that indeed frayed easily, and the fabric seemed to move around like sentient sludge once I'd cut the pieces out. Threatening to stretch and contort to shapes wholly unlike those of my pattern pieces, I tamed it only by binding all the edged in rayon seam binding...until I ran out of white rayon seam binding.

So I ordered more and they only had a creamy ivory color so I decided that would have to do! This darn dress refused to be finished! I rushed on the hem and I expect I'll re-stitch it next summer before I wear the dress again. The dress pattern is, as usual, drafted from my usual 2 dart bodice block. This time I moved the fullness from the two side darts into a gathered section on one side for some asymmetric draping. To further accent the asymmetry, I added a loop and sash like drape to the opposite side from the gathering onto the skirt at the waist seam. Something a little different, even if most of this extra detail gets lost in the fun palm print.Oh, and I remembered to add in some little shoulder pads for once too, gotta love a strong shoulder ;)

I didn't mention my hair color last post, as it seems all I do is comment on my own hair color these days in my posts! It is indeed a very dark navy-ish plum for now. The dye (brand: n'rage, purple plum) is actually staying put more than I thought it would and is fading really slowly so it remains quite dark. I had this color for a long time in college so it feels very "me" to have it again. I tried dying a pair of gloves to match my hair but they will have to get another round of dye as they turned out bright purple instead of this darker shade. I dyed my hands purple too for a while doing that, oops!

I hope you all had a good, or at least safe, weekend. So much going on with fires on one US coast and hurricanes on the other, I feel extra privileged to live in the middle of the country where usually only the occasional tornado makes itself a nuisance. Stay safe out there everybody!

Dress: Made by me
Shoes: Amazon
Belt, Handbag, Earrings, & Bracelet: Vintage