This is the Charm Patterns Lamour dress. Inspired by Tanya's version, I ordered the Lamour pattern back in May of last year. I had plans to make a summer version out of a retro or novelty printed cotton, but I never found the right fabric.
And before I knew it, it was the end of this summer and I still hadn't done more than make a toile of the bodice and adjust the pattern pieces.
By this summer, however, I knew I didn't want to make a cute summer version. I wanted a sexy, fancy, going out dress. Will I ever get a chance to wear it? Who knows! But that's what I wanted, so that's what I made.
Per the instructions, I started by making the bodice lining out of this beautiful cotton sateen I had lying around from another project.
While I worked on that, I ordered this absolutely stunning peacock colored ribbed silk from Renaissance Fabrics. The threads are black in one direction and a bright teal in the other. It is impossible to capture how lovely it looks in motion.
Rather than using a fusible interfacing with this silk, I interlined the entire thing with a black silk organza. I cut the silk and organza separately and then hand-basted them together with white thread inside the seam allowance.
Because the pattern has so many options (there are 18 combinations per the pattern booklet), the instructions read a bit like a choose your own adventure book. I chose poorly a couple times and had to backtrack, but in the end construction was pretty straightforward.
You sew the bodice lining, insert the boning (I used zip ties), then sew the outer bodice and attach the straps before combining the two so the boning is sandwiched in-between.
Once the bodice is joined together, you construct the skirt. Most of the skirt is a standard pencil skirt, but the side ruffle is done with some clever facing, folding, and pleating. I almost didn't get mine pleated into the provided space because the ribbed silk is so thick.
The skirt doesn't need to be hemmed because of the facing, so the final step is to put in the zipper. I ignored the instructions and opted instead to hand-pick the zipper per some instructions in Threads magazine.
I love those tiny little stiches on either side of the zipper - and look at how well the waist seam matches up! The front of this dress is very fancy, but I think the back is incredibly sexy.
