The Hallettsville Dress for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for many things today, and sewing is certainly one of them. It's such a marvelous craft.

My latest finish project is my first dress design! I can hardly believe that I drafted it all myself! I call it "The Hallettsville Dress", after the little Texas town where I spent the day with family stuffing myself with turkey and kolaches.

I love a shirtwaist dress and knew I wanted to start there with my first pattern design. This one has a lot of potential for adding collars and varying the skirt, too. It fits me almost perfectly, except for a wee bit of pulling at the bust I can easily amend with my next version. I can already tell it's one of those dresses I'll be washing constantly from so much wear. 

Sketches and Muslin Making

My original sketch had the button placket extending all the way down. I decided I'd like buttons only on the bodice, so I added an invisible side zip. I'm really happy with the look of the button placket on the top only.

My first muslin was almost perfect, except for a few tweaks I needed to make at the shoulder area. I took it in 1/4" only at the neckline side. Here I am in pattern making class, just over the moon at my first finished pattern! 

I used mismatched buttons that I had leftover from other finished garments on the muslin, and I actually really liked it. I think it would be fun to do a solid Hallettsville dress with different patterned buttons. 

The Hunt for the Perfect Buttons

I started out with fabric-covered buttons, but I just wasn't satisfied with it. They were getting completely lost, and with the piping right next to it, I felt like I needed something that would stand out a little more. Can you spot the buttons?!

So I ended up hunting all over town for the perfect green button, and finally found some last night. So I did a quick swap! Much better, don't you think?

I also ended up making my own piping, which I had never done before. I followed a tutorial from Colette Patterns and found it fairly simple to do! 

If you're here in the states, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!