The Bombshell Dress

The triumphant traveler returns! I am home from Costa Rica, refreshed and eager to share my Bombshell Dress with you. I was practically sewing up until the flight, handstitching the hem a few hours before we left. It certainly adds to the excitement of the trip, working on a special project up until the last minute. For this one, I feel like a 1950s Alfred Shaheen model!

Isn't the setting just beautiful? And if you will allow me to compliment myself for a moment, isn't the dress just beautiful?! I am so pleased with how this one turned out. In between this dress and my Brocade Wiggle Dress, I am ready for some fancy dates. Perhaps I should add this photo to my online dating profile. Kapow!

Or maybe this one? The caption can read "lounging on a tree in Costa Rica, in my handmade masterpiece." The men will love it.

I just couldn't help getting caught up in the moment of the scenery and the dress! It was the perfect combination.

Back to the sewing, though. We talked a lot about construction details in my last post, but there were just a few things I hadn't yet gotten to. Namely, the waist stay and the zipper guard. 

The waist stay is a ribbon at your waist, just a little smaller than the dress itself, connecting at the back with a hook and eye. It helps to keep the dress in place, so it stays up, despite being strapless. It's also extremely useful to get into, because you can hook the waist stay before zipping it up. 

The zipper guard is another ribbon, placed between the lining and the zipper teeth to keep your zipper from catching when you zip it up. It's an ingenious little detail, and creates a really lovely inside finish. 

I find now I am quite keen on "destination sewing" (is that a thing?). The fabric for this project came from a family vacation from Hawaii a few years back, and now with my first outing in the finished garment in Costa Rica, I have such magical memories that I will think of every time I put it on. 

As they say in Costa Rica, "Pura Vida"!