FROTH

  

It was lying there folded up, at the front of the remnant table, and it caught my eye. I looked at it, then looked away, then looked back. Wait, was that two pieces of fabric, or one? My eyes were playing tricks on me surely, within the folds of the fabric and the differences of colour each fold showed. I touched it. I unfolded it slightly. Then I unfolded it a lot, and draped it over me. Then I went and found a mirror.

And then I bought it.

I bought this beautiful piece of silk, dyed to grade from a silver beige at the top to a deep dark chocolate at the bottom on a whim, and with a deep need to sew it straight away and perhaps have something beautiful to wear out last night to a dinner party. Elegant. Simple. Stunning I thought. Just the right amount to make a simple shoulder tie dress - so simple to make that it almost feels like cheating to even talk about it. I've made numerous versions of this for my daughter, and a few for myself which I wear a lot. In silk though, this has a very different feel and drape. It feels very grown up. But not so grown up that I couldn't get away with wearing it everyday - which I plan to do. It was worn out on Saturday night and got a lot of great comments. It felt great on, it felt sexy, and comfortable, light and cool, and sophisticated all at once. The silk is soft, and the gradated silk ties worked well against hot shoulders on a balmy night.

And when Tessuti's get more of the black graded to silver colourway, I think I'll be going back and getting some more.

| pattern - front piece of a raglan sleeve dress from Robe Rouge cut out twice and all exposed edges hemmed and a sleeve made for the ties at the top | ties made from same silk, with angled ends, and tied over shoulder | fabric from Tessuti's

 
 

 

Comments

[Shula]

Oh, Christ, they have a store in Melbourne...

[two little buttons]

your dress looks beautiful.
i would love to have a go at making soemthing similar, was pattern from the japanese book you linked too?

[Colette]

Wow...you did sew that up fast... and you made a beautiful and stylishly simple dress from it and it looks gorgeous on you. I hope that this too makes it's way onto the Flickr Tessuti Pool ...thank you for your earlier additions...

What a busy Saturday you must have had! It was so lovely to meet you in person and I'll be sure to keep in touch and let you know when the black graduated silk comes in again.

speak soon
Colette

[Amy]

Very fancy! I think I have a pattern for a dress like this...lurve the idea of the silk...just beautiful :D

[sue]

You look so stylish and stunning in that beautiful dress, no wonder you want some more of that fabric. I think you are the only person I know who has as many freckles as I do, how nice!

[Pascale]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[Mizbonnieparker]

It looks fabulous ! Wish I could find a similar fabric in France...

[jen]

this is just devine....

[Liesl]

What delicious fabric - its such an elegant dress.

[annri]

beautifully done! it looks super on you! i love when impulse meets success so nicely. :)

[kirsten]

that fabric! get out of here. heavenly.
and perfectly suited to an elegantly simple dress. fantastic result!

[Karin]

Wow. I love it. You indeed look very sexy, feminine, lovely. Great pattern for this fabric. My compliments!

[Christina]

I love it! Love the wonderful fabric and the sweet and simple design of the top shows it off perfectly. :)

[Bianca]

Gorgeous, just gorgeous.

[Kristen]

Love the simple design teamed with gorgeous fabric. Looks great!

[Cass Ward]

Wow it looks gorgeous

[Kate]

Stunning! Beautiul work, as always.

[Thetwowindmills.wordpress.com]

Absolutely gorgeous! It looks great on you.

[Jen]

love the color and style of the dress!

[theresa/t does wool]

well Al...it is sensual,relaxed and gorgeous~~~

[Julie]

What a gorgeous dress. It looks exactly how you describe it. And I too have the same skin, freckles included.

[Monika Aebischer]

Al, this is stunning... I once had a silk little number like this and I can still remember how it felt worn directly on the skin... Couldn't get away with this style though... gotta have a way to hide them necessary bra straps... But my wedding gown last year was lined with silk satin (with the satin part against the skin), and there is nothing, absolutely nothing more comfortable in summer than pure silk...

[michelle]

That is really beautiful Al. The silk transforms that simple shape and gives it so much more definition. Love it!

[Colette]

Hi Alison,

Don't know if the girls from Surry Hills have rung to let you know that the grey colourway of the silk ombre is in store now? Thought I'd let you know just in case.

cheers
Colette

[Leigh]

Hi there,

I was looking up the book 'Robe Rouge' when i realised it was Chinese... is it easy to follow or does it require advanced dressmaking skills to understand the patterns? I'd be interested in getting it but if i'm not going to be able to understand it, it's a bit of a waste of shipping etc as I'm in the UK.

Many thanks,

Leigh