Saturday, August 07, 2010

From Enid to Ikea

I love, love, LOVE Ikea fabric :)
I found an off-cut in the remnant bin of my local Ikea, measuring 1.05m, for $7.50 and thought that it would make a really cool skirt. When I laid it out at home, it looked like I might be able to just squeeze a dress out of it instead, so, out came my trusty Enid Gilchrist books and one bodice and one skirt pattern later, I have my new Enid/Ikea dress :)
I used the patterns from my copy of 'Junior Teens and Smaller Women' ... the sleeveless bodice from the basic dress pattern on page 30, and the softly pleated skirt from page 16. The bodice was cut on the bias, because I knew that it would be a snug fit, and I figured that cutting it this way would give me more room to move, and the skirt was just made from the remaining fabric cut on the straight of grain. (It used a lot more fabric in the bodice this way, but it was so worth it)
Now I think that either dress and skirt waists used to be worn higher, or my waist is in the wrong place (:D) ... so, I added a small 'waistband' to lengthen the bodice to make the dress feel like it was sitting on my waist :)
I love Ikea ... and I love Enid ... and I love my new dress :)

9 comments:

Rebecca said...

Adorable dress! Great fabric choice.

Anonymous said...

Pretty! What a great dress and an amazing resource book!

Fairevergreen said...

Very cute dress. I've been working on a shirtwaist dress for my daughter, and the waistline was too high on that, as well. Fortunately, I had enough fabric to re-cut the bodice, but I thought about trying your solution. Glad to see it works out so well.

Have you considered cross-posting to the ikeahacker website?

Andrea said...

Gorgeous! I love the fabric, and I love the dress! And the way you combined two patterns to make it.

Anonymous said...

Um, that dress is AWESOME!!! So jealous of those skills!

Anonymous said...

Great fabric choice. I have the same experience with waistlines; good to know it isn't just me!

tigergirl said...

I have three of Enid Gilchrist's books - "Basic Fashions", "Seventy Styles" and ?? (can't remember the name of the other one but it isn't the one you've got). I've only recently acquired them but I can't wait to make some dresses. Yours looks great.

The Long & Winding Bobbin said...

what a cute dress! the fabric is perfect!

quietandsmalladventures said...

that's sooo cute!!! i love the black trim with the pattern!