Yet another versatile basic…pin dots! Poppie Cotton has a lovely quilting cotton basic called Country Confetti, and with some new Bright colors coming in, I had the opportunity to make a dress with one of them. Of course I had to pick the forget-me-not color… a lovely light periwinkle sprinkled with tiny pastel dots. Perfect to make a dress with some details!

I have a long love for this pattern. In my early sewing days, it was one of the first more complicated patterns I tried, and also one that I actually took more pains with… and appreciated the result. It made me begin to realize that taking more pains with the process was actually worth it, and more than that: even could be fun!

I don't have that first dress any more, and I did make it again with vintage semi-sheer fabric years later, with lovely results. BUT the pattern doesn't have a  front opening, so I haven't been able to wear it for a long time. So with this remake, I altered it to have a front opening.

My very first version was made from a thrifted periwinkle sheet, with an embroidered border that I made into a belt. I re-channeled that same look with this periwinkle version, by making a floral belt that I embellished with 2 strands of floral lace overlapped and sewn down with seed beads. 

Instead of using the roll back collar on the pattern, I recut the front bodice to not only open in the front, but also trimmed off the collar part and made it a V neck so I could use some of my vintage collars. 

It is indeed a late '40s or early '50s pattern, but doesn't it have a Titanic or teens era feel?

It's quite a unique construction, since the front skirt (in two horizontally pleated pieces) wraps around to the back darts, so there are no side seams in the skirt. And I just love the back details!

I also skipped the cuffs on this make, because I wanted a light summer feel. AND since I'm using a vintage collar, I can swap it out for different looks if I want.

This fabric is perfect for this application, since to the eye it reads like a solid, but it is more interesting with all the tiny dots than a plain solid fabric. I have used it before for a background fabric on a quilt, and also a backing. It just works well for everything!

backing on my puff quilt

background for my 2 stars a day quilt

I'm super pleased with how it turned out! It's one of my favorite makes this year so far.