The Marfa Dress for Andi

For Dapper Day, my friend Andi said she wanted me to make her The Marfa Dress, a pattern I designed and drafted in my pattern making class. It features six darts at the neckline, cap sleeves, and a full skirt. It looked sensational on her! She borrowed the hat from me, a great find from Poppycock Vintage. 

I started with a sloper made to Andi's measurements, and we worked on the fit of that first. She has sloping shoulders and a broad back (I later figured out), and it took me a bit to sort out how to fit her. I'm not used to fitting anyone but me! Then I did the design work on sloper to make it a Marfa, and we did another test muslin just to check that nothing got out of whack. All told, we did 3 muslins. I am so pleased with the result! 

I don't sew for others often as I find it rather stressful, but this was such a fun project to work on. Andi is one of those great friends that listens to me gab on about sewing all the time, and I knew she would enjoy the process just as much as the finished product. That took a lot of the burden off of me. It was also so marvelous to hear her exclamations of joy. A dress that fits properly, without any fussing or covering up wonky bits! She was delighted, and I with her.

The fabric is a lovely textured rayon crepe from Hart's Fabric in Santa Cruz, CA. It sews up just beautifully and feels so nice to wear (my Marfa is made out of the same material in green). The bodice is lined in a  rayon as well, in a deep royal blue and hand-stitched down. The hem is also hand stitched.  It closes with a lapped zipper. 

A smashing success, if I do say so myself! Want to see more of the Marfa dress?

• See my Marfa Dress in green
• Look at original design sketches
• Learn how I created the darts at the neckline

Just one more Dapper Day post to go! My dress, sewn from a 1958 pattern.