I tried a new pattern!! It was the pattern in June’s edition of Love Sewing magazine and as I really love the look of a Bardot neckline I decided to have a try. The Bardot dress.
I’d seen this beautiful dress on google images…..
I loved the contrast of the black and white and the lovely neckline.
I managed to find some fabric from the Market Man’s indoor market stall in Stockton and although not quite what I was looking for decided it would be just right for a statement dress!
I already had the stylish belt….I have quite a few belts hidden in the belt drawer which need some dresses sewing to wear with them! Hmmmm, that’s a new excuse for sewing dresses!
As a work in progress everything seemed fine. The skirt has pleats in it, which were the right size to fit the bodice and it was quite an easy make. The neckline is created with the sleeves and once I had sewn them in I knew they weren’t quite the Bardot neckline I was hoping for. When I tried the dress on, it definitely wasn’t my vision!
And the problem?? My mannequin has no arms!!!! I couldn’t fit the neckline on myself! I had too far too much fabric in the sleeves and the neckline. To try to create the Bardot neck I started pinning the seams of the sleeves where they meet the bodice to take some of the excess fabric away , whilst wearing it! It just wouldn’t go to plan and I knew the dress was going to be a non-wearer if I carried on.
So…….I sewed a small hem around the whole neckline from back zip to back zip and added some very thin elastic. I machine stitched the elastic ends down to avoid any undoing and ta da….. a very wearable dress (without a Bardot neckline!) But, certainly a new and different style for me!
I wore it with black shoes for the garden centre photo shoot , but actually had these gorgeous black and white shoes in mind to wear with the dress.
Here is a close up of the new Sew Deputy Bardot neckline! With a necklace BM once made for me for a Mother’s Day gift. It’s nice to have a dress that it matches perfectly.
I am actually really happy with how it turned out and although I still need to sew a dress with an actual Bardot neckline! I think this one is more suitable for an everyday style for me, but I would like one for holidays or evenings out.
I decided a nice yellow flower or plant would complement the dress so a quick visit to the garden centre seemed a good plan until……….
Yes, once again BM (Blog Manager) decided enough was enough and the taking of photographs gets worse everytime!
Here I am with my lovely co-ordinating plants……but look what is in the background! A group of people!!! Humiliation or what?
BM is obviously not taking well to my themed shoots- but giving me great amusement!
Pattern: The Bardot Dress Simple Sew
Fabric: 1.5 metres of striped 45inch cotton
1 metre of black cotton, thread, 1m of thin elastic
Wonky factor: 4/10 it’s very wonky this time as it is nothing like the pattern but I have to say 9/10 for wearability and I really like it ! It’s completely different to my usual makes.
Amanda 💝
I’ve made this dress a couple of times and I found the sleeve pieces didn’t fit very well – I’m not sure why, but I had a lot of excess. I redrafted them a little to take out the excess but it’s a tricky one to fit and my neckline is probably a little too big. I take a lot of my inspiration from Amber’s blog as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha! Well you look lovely in this dress! Actually love the fact you used black for the bodice and the tulip stripped fabric for the skirt! Sometimes the blog manager is right , lol!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, actually she is ALWAYS right!!!!!
LikeLike
Good save! It always helps to have a bit of lateral thinking skill. It would have been a tragedy not to make this dress work.
However, I’m dying to see you in a little off the shoulder number now.
You are lucky to have BM, even if she does occasionally abandon you to your own devices.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! I know it’s those teenage years!!!
LikeLike
Great save with the neckline! It wouldn’t have occurred to me to do that! The necklace is really pretty too – matches your dress perfectly!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Corrine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, BM strikes again! Love how you’ve saved the neckline – I bet a few wished they’d done that with the dahlia dress that lots struggled with 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh not seen those!! Is it too big as well?? Can’t beat a little bit of elastic!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mine wasn’t too bad but a lot had gaping by issues!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually really like your alternative neckline – a great save! I was actually a little put off by the original neckline as I’ve never managed to pull them off…but now you’ve shared yours, it may be back on my ‘to buy’ list!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe, I just can’t pull them off either!?! Lol and the pattern was perfectly fine,…..just my body!! Haha
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the tulip fabric and it turned out great. This neckline probably a lot more North-of-England-friendly anyhow 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha!! Definitely!!!! Freezing up here today!!!! And rainy!! Brrrrr!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah I thought this was two pieces at first! Very clever. Nice save on the neckline too. I think it looks better this way!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, I think I will get more wear out of it in this country ! Not usually hot enough for bare shoulders!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the tulip fabric and great save on the neckline, the soft gathers are very flattering 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
However you got there, it’s a great dress – very eye-catching! You certainly made it your own and you’ve still got an excuse to make another to try and get the neckline right:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah its a lovely dress even though there were fitting issues. Its got a lovely vintage vibe to it. You look gorgeous! Maybe you should offer BM a raise?✋😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! She likes your idea!!!!!! 👍🏻
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this Amanda! Beautiful tulip fabric! I’ve been waiting to see this pattern made up so will add it to my To Make pile! Your neckline looks great – I think I had similar issues with the Colette Dahlia neckline, I couldn’t get it to stay on my shoulders! Love the belt too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We need to study this!!! Haha, mine stayed on, but had to much fabric in the sleeve bit so just looked very strange and un Bardot like! It’ll be a body fault!!! Lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the contrast and the neckline is nicer than a Bardot one I think!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Beth!
LikeLike
Looks lovely! I love the idea of making a contrast dress. It’s now been added to my list of things to make 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I haven’t made one before but I am very pleased with how it looks ! It would be lovely with the gorgeous co ordinating fabrics you can buy I think.
LikeLike
It looks lovely on, it really suits you! I’ve got some Liberty Alice in Wonderland fabric that might work well as a contrast skirt to a white/cream bodice. Possibilities!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds lovely!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
A well rescued neckline!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Emma Jayne. Have you ever made a Bardot neckline?? Any tips???
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, I haven’t. I imagine it’s like other necklines though… pinch out dart shapes until it doesn’t gape anymore.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So leave the sleeve seams and just do some darts??? Might just try again then!!! It was the sleeves that seamed the biggest problem tho, that’s where the excess fabric was. I wonder if I should try with a more drapey fabric so they would lie flatter. Might have to ponder on this as I really like the style . Thank you x
LikeLike
Ideally take the darts as overlaps from the paper pattern rather than sewn darts in the fabric. I’ve been thinking that once you get a good fit, it’ll be restricting raising arms but and looser and it’ll fall down. Could be a downside to this pretty neckline!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike