Otherwise known as the dress that almost went to Paris.
I have had this black cotton sateen from Emma One Sock for several years. (Are you noticing a theme with fabrics I buy from EOS? You have to buy them fast or they'll sell out and you'll regret it for the rest of your life, but sometimes I buy more than I can sew. I'm getting better - my time from purchase to finished garment is getting shorter.)
Anyway - I don't remember what I originally intended to do with this fabric. It could literally be made into anything because black cotton sateen is a chameleon fabric. It can be fancy, it can be casual, and black is always in style.
But about a week before I left for Paris, after reading approximately one million articles about "how to dress like a Parisien", I suddenly needed a classic black dress. The little black dress has a long and storied history that many other people have written about and I suspect almost all of us have at least one in our closets.
With only one week to make this dress, I decided to re-make a pattern which I already knew fit - the Itch to Stitch Recoleta, which I can now call a TNT (tried and true). This dress went together just as quickly this time as last time. Within a day of cutting out the fabric, I had most of the dress put together.
Even though I had made the pattern before, sewing it in a stretch sateen was different than sewing it in a linen. Sewing down the facing, in particular, was a little trickier because I had to make sure I wasn't stretching the facing as I sewed it in. There is a little puckering which suggests I wasn't 100% successful, but I think it looks fine when worn.
I styled the dress both dressed up and casual for my photoshoot, but I suspect this dress will get a lot more casual usage in my actual day to day.
And unfortunately, while packing, this dress didn't make the cut! It was going to be hot and humid in Paris and I just wasn't convinced a black cotton dress would be comfortable. Instead it's purple linen twin went.