Dodo Bar Or has only been in business as a designer for less than two years, but in my book already established herself as the queen of kaftans. I think living in the Middle East is rubbing off on me - A couple years back I wouldn't necessarily have seen myself shopping for colourful tassel trim (tip: the curtain/upholstery section is where it's at), but such is the evolution of appreciation. The Christina dress is not the only thing I'm loving from Dodo, she also does lovely things with variations of the Palestinian & Jordanian Keffiyeh print..
Tutorials take a lot of time & effort to create, and I choose to make mine available for free. If you enjoy this guide, you can support me with a donation that feels right for you, here.
TOOLS:
2m (I worked with a full 150 cm width cotton mix) | Scissors | Thread & Sewing machine | Pins | Tassel trim (I used about 3 m) | Not in the image, but two buttonsI. Started by cutting out a quarter circle skirt. My waist is 70 cm, and I needed an extra 26 cm for the overlap, so I did my math based on a waistline of 96 cm. For a quarter skirt that resulted in an inner radius of 60 cm. My skirt length was 85 cm:
II. Then trimmed the corners at the hem of the skirt to create more of a 90 degree-ish angle with the waistline.
III. Next I cut out my top pieces:
.. And pinned the shoulders and sides together, right sides of the pieces facing..
.. And after sewing those seams I realized that I had skipped my sleeves. This is the type of thing that happens when you sew jetlagged. So had to set my sleeves the more difficult way.
But made it nevertheless.
IV. Next I cut an about 5 cm wide waistband and added that to the waistline. I was then ready to attach the top to the skirt.
.. Once done I had the dress constructed.
V. Then it was just a matter of finishing the raw edges, which I did with a simple zig-zag and single fold, secured with a straight stitch. I then wrapped the dress around myself, marked the spots where the buttons needed to go to keep the dress in place, and added those. I used the seams of the waistband to make the button holes, just opened up the stitch a bit in the right spot and reinforced both sides of the opening.
.. A closer look at the hem:
.. And the sleeves:
VI. Last step was to just add my tassel. I pinned it in place starting from the waistline and down the hem. Repeated the same process for the sleeves.
I also made a quick 8 cm wide belt where I added tassel at the ends, to bring the whole thing together.
xo,
Julia
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteLovely blog you have here. Just wanna ask which machine you use for your projects? xx
Hi there! I currently have a super basic machine, Janome RE1312. When I moved to Dubai I found it very difficult to find the machine I wanted (Janome HD3000), and I ended up getting a temporary one. But now it's been over a year and I'm still stuck with it:D Another basic one I've owned in the past is Janome My Style 100. In my opinion, unless you're into quilting, you can do a lot with a basic machine!
DeleteWoh, so cool is your blog, so beautiful is this dress! I really want to make it but it's currently pretty much hard to find this kind of tassel trim here... Can you tell me where did you find yours? Thx!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I got this one at this crazy fabric warehouse in Chicago, in the upholstery section:) I recommend checking out stores specializing in furniture fabrics for interesting tassel trim options!
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