Show and Tell: Purple Peasant Dress

If you've taken a peek at the Show and Tell tab up top you might have noticed that I sort of have a thing for peasant dresses.  I love them!  They're cute, they're pretty, and best of all...they're super comfy.

Here's one I made ages ago, but have yet to wear.

I don't have a pattern to show you because it's one of those ones where I just took the best bits of a couple that I liked.  I think it's a Vogue blouse bodice and neckline, some other sleeves with a ruffle added, and then lengthened to a dress, with a ruffle added to the bottom hem.

It's made with a very light weight georgette type fabric.  I just love the big paisley pattern so much.

And what's really fun, is that if I feel like being a little flirty I can bring the neckline down around my shoulders because it's elasticized.

It's just so pretty, but where the heck am I going to wear it???? Anyone having a garden party? Maybe I could drop by in my pretty dress.

Show and Tell: The Peasant Dress

If you've ever visited my Etsy Shop then you may have figured out that I adore peasant dresses and tops.

I think they're a great look for all shapes and sizes, they're easy to make, and you can make them look sweet and innocent or sultry and sexy all with the flip of the neckline.

Here are three that I've made that are currently in my wardrobe:

This one is in a pretty printed polyester fabric.  It's very lightweight with just the tiniest crinkle factor to it.  I think this one is very sweet, very prairie girl~

Argh, Blogger is driving me crazy, it keeps rotating my photos~

This one is a little more risque only because it's made from a very stretchy knit that has a bubbly elastic quality sewn right into the fabric....and it's a little short.  Once again I shocked myself when I saw my own picture!  How come it never looks this short in the mirror???



close up of the fabric

And now.. hubba hubba.  See, just drop the neckline down onto your shoulders and you get a whole new vibe.  This is a crinkle cotton with lace sewn right onto the fabric, how convenient.



Also rotated...turn your head toward the left and you'll get a better idea~


I don't have a pattern to share with you for these because I just sort of "Frankenstein" different patterns together and make changes depending on the fabric.  If my fabric is narrow, than the dress is more close fitting.  If I have loads of fabric then it's looser and maybe a little longer.  Sometimes I use a drawstring in the neckline, sometimes I use elastic.  The sleeves are always different lengths, usually depending on the amount of fabric, the weight, and the pattern.  I really just play it by ear.  Sometimes I even add a ruffle. lace jabot, or some other embellishment.

Even Oprah rocks the peasant top so it must be OK to wear it!

Source

I've added several new linky parties to the tab up top so make sure to check them out.  And if you're a follower you might want to check out the Follow My Friends tab while you're up there....you could be featured!

Also, I've started up a linky party on Mondays, so make sure to come back and share your projects next week~

Show and Tell: Just a couple of things I made this week

AH!  It's already Tuesday.  I had Monday off from work and now my week is a little topsy turvey.  I thought I had another day to get myself organized, but it looks like time has run out.  So, this week I'll just show you a couple of little projects that I whipped up for myself the other day.

Another peasant dress:

I'm having a bad hair day so I had to cut my head off~

This was the inspiration:



Sorry, I can't remember the source of this image.



And it's a variation of this top that I made for my shop:

My closet is half full of peasant dresses and tops so it's not like I needed another one but I really do believe that the style is perfect for almost anyone.  I love, love, love the fabric.  It's hard to tell from the picture but there's a beautiful sheen to it and it's nice medium weight that lets it fall just right.  It sounds silly but you sewers out there will understand when I say that I wait for the fabric to tell me what it's going to be.  And this was just screaming peasant dress to me.

Wooden Beads Necklace:

I picked up these beads at the Salvation Army Thrift Store for a whopping 25 cents before Christmas.  All I did was string them onto a pretty ribbon but I find beauty in the simplistic.  I can get all artsy on you and talk about the juxtaposition of hard and soft, lightness and darkness, etc.  But the truth is that I thought the beads were nice enough on their own and didn't need a whole lot of anything else.  Plus I'm beginning to dream of far off hot places for vacation and this fits in with the island vibe that's going on in my head right now.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think~