Elsa Schiaparelli, eat your heart out.
We have scrimps, pineapples, bananas, cherries, strawberries, cocktails, olives and flowers as well as several lobsters on our dress.
The old school hat, autographed by your school friends is an optional accessory.
Technical details
Pattern: BurdaStyle 06-2013 120
Size: 36-44, I made a 40 for Felicity.
Fabric: Ikea curtaining cotton. I think Felicity might have inherited my liking for Ikea furnishing fabric.
Changes I made
FBA for fit. I’ve not done an FBA on a bodice without a waist seam before so I wasn’t certain how to lose the extra width from the waist down. I left it in, figuring that more ease around the hips and skirt wouldn’t be a problem. Its not, except that I didn’t realign the pockets or add extra width in to them, so they don’t line up with the darts. On this fabric, it’s hardly noticeable.
**Edited to add: I should have looked on Pattern Review! Dilly of Dibulous had the same alteration to make and she sensibly cut the pattern at the waistline.**
No interfacing. I like the soft finish that interlining with self fabric or cotton gives, so that’s what I used here for the collar and neck band. I didn’t interline the front facing, and probably should have for button sewing on durability.
And talking about buttons… there was some indecision about this. So why not use them all?
She does retro well doesn’t she?
He Cooks... She Sews! 
She looks adorable and I love that fabric.
What a fun dress – it looks great!
It’s cute. Love the old school hat too.
That is such fun fabric, I’ve been eyeing up that shirt dress pattern too so it’s good to see it made up, looks like a winner.
Hahaha lovely. Love the fabric and especially the mixed up buttons!
That is such a cool dress with the Converse. I liked this dress in June Burda – you’ve inspired me to crack on..
What a fabulous dress! I have some navy fabric with red lobsters on it that I plan to make into a dress this season after seeing one made up on someone’s blog last year. I love that you use Ikea fabrics; I quite like them too but last time I went in there I had my 10 year old son with me and he wasn’t interested in loitering near fabrics. Sigh.
what funfabric and like the colourful buttons. Classic pattern too
I love your dress-it looks great on you. A fun dress!
This dress is actually doing adorable!! Love the print and you’ve managed to overcome it with the colored buttons, Oh, Lady … It’s sublime!
I’m interested in using sew-in rather than fusible interfacing/lining, but I can’t seem to find much information on it for everyday sewing (as opposed to couture). Could you recommend any tutorials or books?
Your daughter looks so cute. I used to wear a lot of vintage at her age. I wonder if I could still get away with a lobster dress 🙂
Michelle Patterns has a useful short post about sew-in interfacing . There are probably lots of others too. For me, the main thing is using fabric that is compatible with the outer fabric. I haven’t had any failures yet, so I can’t advise you on what to avoid!
Thank you, I’ll have a look at Michelle Patterns. And I need to just dive in and see what happens 🙂
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