As the final week of Project Run & Play season six comes to a close I am happy to say I finished my signature look. It’s been a busy week and both my sewing machine and serger have been acting up. My serger decided to stop playing altogether so that was awesome. But I have been thinking of this look for a few weeks and I was determined to finish.
The inspiration came from this picture:
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| I cannot find the original source for this pic. Anyone? **Update – Thanks to a reader it’s an Andre Courreges dress** |
I was searching pinterest about a month ago for a quick scallop recipe and amongst all of the recipes was this “scallop” bodice. I loved it immediately and knew I wanted to do a version for Bean.
When I think of my style these days it’s mostly solids with a bit of print here and there for accent. Especially for Bean. I like to be able to mix and match a lot of her pieces and as long as there aren’t too many patterns that seems to work well. This was WAY out of my comfort zone, but I knew she’d love it (and she still does) so it was totally worth it.
I’ve had this lovely whale print from Birch Fabrics for a while and I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with it. As soon as I saw the scallops I decided I wanted to have a solid top and this whale fabric for the bottom. I liked the idea of a solid scalloped bodice above an under the sea patterned fabric and thus came the Scallops By The Sea dress. It would be a great way to showcase this boyish fabric, but still allow the overall look to be girly with a peter pan collar and puffed, banded sleeves.
I drafted the pattern and then while I was putting the whole thing together I found a cool way to get the scallops really rounded and then have the peter pan collar all sewn between the lining before flipping it right side out to complete the bodice. Then I attached the bodice to the skirt pieces and finally added the sleeves and sewed the side seams. I took a few pictures so the scallops may appear here again very soon along with an explanation of the technique.
**Update the post with scallop tips can be found here**
This may be my favorite dress that I’ve made for Bean. It is very close to the inspiration picture, but I was able to draft it completely from scratch and add in a few fun elements (like the piping) to add a little youth to it.
The grey fabric is a faux cashmere (polyester I think) suiting that is soft with a little stretch. I found it on clearance for a great price and love it combined with this print. I plan to make a Goodship dress by Circus Wear using it too, which I’m very excited about.
Now it wouldn’t be signature style without adding something knitted and ridiculous here would it? As I mentioned above, I like things that are simple and understated, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to combine them to take it over the top here and there.
This shrug was made after seeing this lovely shrug on ravelry. I sized it (WAY) down for Bean and love the way it turned out.
Paired with this sweet dress I think it gives her a bit of sass. Is it ridiculous? Yes. I mean, it’s a cowl with short sleeves so your neck will stay VERY warm while your arms don’t need any coverage? Right.
For an adult, I could definitely see wearing this to an indoor winter function, but alas, Bean’s schedule is a bit light on the indoor winter functions this year. And it might be a little over the top for play group, hehe.
**update: I’ve entered this dress in the Sew Off auditions!
**update: This was featured on Shaffer Sisters!
As usual, linking up to: 
The scallops are such a great compliment to the whale fabric. Nice job.
I love that dress! You chose such great fabric for it and I love the cowl shirt. Nothings ridiculous on a toddler! ๐
this is so adorable! I love the grey and blue and hope you do offer a tutorial!
Such a classic look. Love it! I second the request for the peter pan/scallops tutorial :O)
Love the scallops! So cute!
The scallops are really cool. BUt all I can think about when I see the whales are is that hippo skirt that no one knows what happened to. It's funy that you have a zipper because when I put in that zipper last night, I was thinking you don't do zippers in your stuff very often! Probably because they are such a pain!
I love the dress and it looks adorable on your darling daughter. The scallops are perfect!
What a great take on the original! Very cute!
sweet sleeves and scallop detail ๐
I love the dress! The whale fabric is so pretty and whimsical! I would love a more detailed explanation on the scallops. They are very well done!
We'd love to hear any 'tricks of the trade' you could share about smooth scallops!! They are such a sweet addition to the dress….
That is adorable! Wonderful job!
Love the scallops! Great job getting them even and smooth.
Donna @onceuponasewingmachine.com
Beautiful design and fabric choice! Great work!
how super cute
Wonderful sewing/knitting project! I came here from sundae scoop (I <3 naptime) and from today I'm following you!
Come visiting me if you like ๐
MammaNene from SergerPepper.blogspot.it
Beautiful ..Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week; I hope youโll join us again!
Cheers,
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick
http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com
..
Oh my goodness! That dress is so adorable, and the shrug makes it even cuter! I love it! Thanks for sharing @ Submarine Sunday!
T'onna
A Goodship dress in this fabric will be PERFECT!
The scallops are awesome, and the whole outfit brings out the gorgeous color in Bean's eyes. Great job!
Few things make me happier than peter pan collars… adorable!
We featured you on our blog. Thanks for sewing along! http://shaffer-sisters.blogspot.com/2013/02/prp-sew-along-winter-2013.html
With Love,
Jo
I can honestly say there's nothing I don't like about this dress. I love the fabric. I love the colors. I love the scallops. You did such a good job finishing this. Some day I will do a Peter Pan collar. What a beautiful little girl!