So this is the same dress as yesterday (SimplicityVogue 5121), but was made earlier … this was the trial run:
Does anyone have a favorite source for inexpensive, brightly-colored buttons? My local fabric stores tend toward the bejeweled and the overly-representative (cats, soccer balls, etc.) I was hoping to find turquoise buttons but I like the yellow more now that I see it in the photo:
The zipper. Semi-related question, if anyone knows: when you’re altering a bodice to allow for more … padding … in the waistish region, occasionally I feel like the sides of the bodice slope down a bit more than they ought. Anyone have a link to a good tutorial? My cursory investigations have only gotten me so far.
This collar was made before I read Kathleen’s instructions. See the difference? See that roll in the wrong direction? It’s terrible. (Luckily it’s at the back of my neck so I don’t see it very often.) I would take it off and redo it … but … (looks off into the middle distance, whistles).
Sleeve finished with bias tape, as per usual:
The back view:
This is my absolute favorite kind of fabric for a trial run. First, it was cheap. (I think maybe under $3/yard? Might have been a dollar-a-yard wonder, even.) It’s also a nice mid-weight poplin, so I don’t have to worry about fabric being too lightweight and floaty or too stiff and unyielding. And most importantly, it is SO BUSY that I could have created & mended a giant triangular tear in the front of the bodice and you wouldn’t even notice from further than a foot away. Cheap and busy are probably the most important criteria for “wearable muslin” first drafts with new patterns, in my opinion. I mean, there’s a center-back seam in that picture right above, and not only did I not try to match the pattern, I’m not sure if it would have made any difference if I had …
A Dress A Day 
cheap and busy. good advice.
expensive and at a standstill is more my line at the moment.
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Yes, where have all the buttons gone? I live in a small city, and the few stores that stock them have extremely limited selections. Guess I need to stock up when I get my next Big City fix.
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My favorite source for buttons is Create For Less. They have hundreds (maybe thousands) of buttons, most Dill brand which I love, and you can search by color and size. Also, shipping takes only about 3 days but that might depend on where you are located. I’m in Oklahoma.
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Have you checked out Exclusive Buttons in El Cerrito yet? Such an amazing place.
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not yet! I see a road trip in my future …
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TONS of vintage buttons. Her husband ran the store until he died, and she took over. RACKS of vintage buttons on their original cards. I could not believe it. I’m out here on the east coast, and there’s nothing comparable.
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I tend to buy my favourite buttons at Button Button here in Vancouver, BC. I know they do some mail orders, since I’ve been in the store when people have called in to order, but I don’t know how that works, since their website has a very limited number of pictures. But they have everything, it seems. Plastic, wood, metal, shell, ceramic, glass, leather. New buttons, vintage ones, and in every colour.
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What text have you hidden in the images about some city and 4500 something. BTW I love the dress. The pattern looks as if drawn with crayons.
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The Button Emporium in Portland OR (buttonemporium.com) has lots of wonderful buttons. They can also order JHB buttons (https://www.buttons.com/) in any quantity and style, and they do mail-order.
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Buttonemporium.com in Portland, Oregon. The actual store is well worth a visit if you get to Portland.
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Britex is having an on-line sale on plastic buttons! I try to stay out of the physical location cause I end up with way more than I need, but on-line might be safe!
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LOL, yesterday it was Vogue 5121 and today it’s a Simplicity?
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Ha, good catch! I’ll fix. 🙂
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Sorry Ladies, I am afraid my grandmother hoarded all the available buttons. Not only did she have a 6 drawer dresser packed with cards, she had 7 (yes, seven!) 5 gallon water bottles filled with loose buttons. I have no idea where she acquired all these buttons. We lived with them when we were children and the buttons were all ready there. I have not purchased a single button in over 30 years. No, we are not selling…. My sis had someone go through them and the only ones left are some MOP and lots of basic colored ones in various sizes.
Cute dress, BTW. I like the color mix.
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I LOVE the buttons you used.
That was my first thought when I saw it – wow, what an inspired choice, the yellow buttons really make the dress.
I’m really enjoying your 100 dresses, thankyou. I cannot imagine how long it took you to launder, iron and put dresses on and off your dress form. Did you do it all at once?!
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I LOVE the buttons you used.
That was my first thought when I saw it – wow, what an inspired choice, the yellow buttons really make the dress.
I’m really enjoying your 100 dresses, thankyou. I cannot imagine how long it might take to launder, iron and put 100 dresses on and off your dress form. Did you do it all at once?!
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Just finished reading “Secret of lives of dresses” and I really loved it. I’m so glad you didn’t end it in the place I was SO mad, but it was perfect tension. I hope you make it a series.
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