The Little Black Work Dress

Its kinda windy out today.

Hey look, its another Vogue 8701! This one I made out of black rayon/wool gabardine from FabricMart. I made one modification from my previous plaid version, which was to take an extra dart at the neckline. I think I could honestly take this in a bit in the sides as gabardine has more give to it than silk dupioni. It has a wonderful drape and depth of color, though, which I love. And its perfect for a chilly office setting without being too hot when you have to drive home, except maybe during July and August.

I think I was giving the stray cat the stink eye, not sure.

 I just recently got this super cute bow hairband that I love to pieces. And this is a self made belt and vintage brooch.

This is me swishing from side to side. Like I said, its a great swishy fabric.

Here you kinda get a peek of the zipper. Its a vintage metal zipper I stole from my MIL stash and put in with a hand pick stitch.  And because of the way my waist is, the belt rides up above the dress waistline a bit.

Incidentally, it looks just fine un belted.

Side view. Side note: The shoes are Jeffrey Campbell. Two years and they are still my favorites.

So some stats:

Fabric: rayon/wool gabardine $5yd (bought during a super sale), 3 yards.  Bemberg rayon lining, I fussed with it and got it out of 2.5 yards (60" wide), $16 a yard. So $47 dollars.
Notions: Zipper and lace hem tape, both inherited from other people's stashes. 0 dollars
Time: If I hadn't put the sleeves in backwards, cut to finish would have been 8 hours (hand picked zipper, hand sewn invisible hem). But that added on an extra 2 hours. I started this last month and fussed with it off an on. 10 hours over about four weeks.

Favor For a Friend

Native American Turquoise and Silver Squash Blossom Necklace

I have a friend that has  fallen on some hard times.  She recently lost medical insurance and had to have a major surgery, so is selling off some of her jewelry to pay for bills.  We're the kind of friends that share jewelry and borrow each other's clothes, and so I know that this piece is the real deal. Its been appraised for a lot more than she's asking.

If you know anyone that would like to buy this necklace, or you can't just live without it (I'd buy it, but I don't have the money right now, that whole HVAC issue and all).  You can buy it here.