I finished this dress awhile ago but I wanted to wait until it was warm enough to debut it, since the bodice is so fantastic! Ever since I saw the inspiration dress on aclotheshorse.co.uk, I was so taken with the original use of vintage fabric and the mix of texture in the other parts of the dress that I had to find a way to do it for myself! Rebecca of A Clothes Horse bought her dress from Rusty Cuts on Etsy; apparently the shop owner scours thrift stores for unusual vintage pieces of fabric and then uses them for the bodices of her unique dresses. I thought I’d have to spend time looking myself until I remembered this piece of fabric that I had seen in my Grandma’s treasure trove: a rectangle of crepe de chine (possibly) with intricate embroidered pictures of Snow White, her Prince, and the seven dwarfs! What I loved too was that the design seemed to be pre-Disney movie, since the colors are not the blue and yellow that we find standard Snow White now. I should have taken a photo of it before I cut into it but I was too excited to see how it would work, but the design ran down both sides of the rectangle. So I was creative with my placing of the bodice pieces, appliqued one dwarf onto the back, and was able to fit 95% of the design on my bodice, most importantly all the characters! I used a pink velvet for the skirt, of which my Grandma bought the entire bolt!, with a mauve satin lining. I also shortened the bodice pattern pieces by a few inches (usually I’m lengthening the bodice) so that I could add a blue waistband.
And the finished result? I absolutely love it! I can’t wait to show my embroiderer, Steven, to see what he thinks of the vintage design. I got so many compliments at church, even from visitors. I’m so incredibly happy with the way it turned out.
