I'm proud to say that I made this dress! And that's not something I say often about my own projects to be honest. I sew, but I don't think I've ever enjoyed it. Maybe I would if I had a dedicated sewing space, but for me any sewing project ends up taking over my whole living space until it's finished, and as a naturally tidy person who likes everything to be in its place it becomes chaos and it's not something I feel like doing very often. And I think because of this it often shows in my work as I just want to get it over with as quickly as possible!
I bought this fabric from Tomato in Nippori, the fabric district of Tokyo. Donald Duck, Chip, and Dale are my favorites of the classic Disney characters, especially in the old cartoons where they're tormenting each other, so I knew I needed this fabric as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately it was the end of the bolt and a random amount, so I hoarded it away until I could think of something that could make the most of the comic panel design. And I honestly forgot about it until I was looking through my fabric box for any lining fabric for my skirt below, but as soon as I saw it I wanted to make something while I already had my machine out. And I'm so happy with how it came out!
I completely winged the whole thing, and it's total dumb luck that it even worked and fit me properly. Obviously it's irreplaceable as it's from Japan so I don't know why I was so careless with the fabric. but I guess sometimes it works not to overthink it. I knew I wanted a sweetheart neckline bodice with tie straps so I drafted that out, then just cut big rectangles out of what was left for the skirt. The tiny scraps were then patchworked together to become the interfacing, so literally every piece of the fabric was used. And I spent absolutely no time trying it on or fitting it before it was finished. But it worked! Dumb luck! And it's now my favorite dress!
I felt like the bust needed something. I was originally thinking maybe an anchor button for Donald, or an acorn for Chip n Dale, but I already owned these wooden ones which I also picked up in Tomato. I really like the brown and orange color scheme of the fabric, so I thought these better brought that out. Same with the belt, I'm not using it to hide any fitting issues, I just really like how the brown pairs with the print. I'm really pleased with the zipper on the back too - I bought it at the same time as the fabric and always planned for them to go together. It's not an exact match, but close enough and still Disney that I think it works. If you can't go all out on a Disney dress, then when can you??
And this is the much less fun but super practical skirt I originally got my sewing machine out for. I'd never made a circle skirt before which feels like a really weird basic to have missed out on, but I'll probably be making a ton more now I know just how easy it is. Look, it even has pockets!! I put them in both sides, and cut them out around my phone so it fits in all the way which I felt very smart for thinking of. I've been looking for a brown mini skirt to have as a basic that I can wear with anything for ages. I didn't think this was a big ask but I couldn't find anything suitable anywhere until I stumbled across this rusty color checked wool. Sometimes you've just got to do everything yourself, and it's these moments I'm really glad that I can. In the space of two days I knocked up two whole garments that I absolutely love and could never have bought anywhere, and I'm so ridiculously proud of that!
These are both AMAZING 👏🏽 😍
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