Home My makesDresses My Christmas party dress! Francoise dress by Tilly and the Buttons

My Christmas party dress! Francoise dress by Tilly and the Buttons

by Ladulsatina
10 comments
My Christmas party dress! Francoise dress by Tilly and the Buttons

In the middle of November Tilly and the Buttons launched the #SewingFrancoise contest, her brand new pattern. I liked the sixties model and it would have been a new challenge… I had never sewed a dress with raglan sleeves and added a collar. So, why not trying to make it? 🙂

I chose to make a party dress and so I looked for themed fabrics. I chose a deep blue cotton with graphic flowers jaquard that takes gold aspect depending on how the light is on. It’s a made in Italy haute-couture fabric comes from the Vivienne Westwood’s collections. I was quite hesitant for the collar, but in the end I chose to make it with a golden corduroy fabric from a very famous italian cotton mill and I used a piping with golden metallic beads to embellish it. All bought on Supercut website.

ladulsatina Francoise Dress Tilly and the Buttons

I was in a hurry…I made everything at the last minute, so I didn’t have time to realise a test and I cut the fabric directly. I shortened the dress by 5 cm and this time I made it tighter on the back with the help of Filippo to eliminate a little defect (a fit problem that I have had also with the previous dresses). I made the sleeves tighter by 1 cm in each side and cut the sides of the skirt to reduce the flared effect a little bit. I turned the collar in a Peter Pan collar.

ladulsatina Francoise Dress Tilly and the Buttons

The dress is very simple to sew, the instructions are really clear as usual and thanks to the overlocking machine I’ve just given me for Christmas 🙂 🙂 🙂 I managed to finish off the inside in a proper way.

Instead realise the collar adding the piping and sew it on the dress was quite difficult…the result is not really precise neither on the front nor on the back (probably I made something wrong because it doesn’t get the zip opening precisely). This tutorial was very useful to add the piping: http://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2014/12/how-to-sew-piping-into-seam.html

ladulsatina francoise dress Tilly and the Buttons

ladulsatina Francoise Dress Tilly and the Buttons

ladulsatina Francoise Dress Tilly and the Buttons

I added also a hook to have the zip opening closed in a better way.

ladulsatina Francoise Dress Tilly and the Buttons

It is not really a everyday dress, but it could be a nice dress for a special occasion or for the New Year’s Eve…what do you think?

ladulsatina Francoise Dress Tilly and the Buttons

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10 comments

Sasha 14 Dicembre 2014 - 18:26

Belissimo – ti sta da Dio! adoro i tessuti e l’effeto che la loro combinazione fa! molto bello il piping – quando Martine mi ha inviato un sample di quel bias con palline lì per lì nessun campanello mi è suonato in testa – adesso che vedo come l’hai usato tu WOW!

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LaDulsaTina 16 Dicembre 2014 - 13:01

Grazie mille Sasha!! A me il campanellino è suonato perché il campione di piping è arrivato insieme a questi tessuti…stavo giusto cercando qualcosa per impreziosire il colletto ed è capitato al momento giusto!! Ho fatto una prova di abbinamento ed era perfetto! 😉 anch’io però non ci avevo pensato dal sito. Ad aver avuto più tempo l’avrei applicato anche in maniera un po’ più precisa…brutta bestia la fretta!! 😉

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Cerian 14 Dicembre 2014 - 18:58

Love it! The fabric is gorgeous 🙂 I’ve got this pattern but haven’t made it yet – I still need to buy fabric for it!

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LaDulsaTina 16 Dicembre 2014 - 13:02

Thank you Cerian!! 🙂 so can’t wait to see your Francoise version! Let me know 😉

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Tatiana 14 Dicembre 2014 - 19:30

This is an amazing dress, Martina! I absolutely love the graphic blue fabric and the gold collar!
I bought this pattern, but I am still looking for the right fabric. I plan to make an everyday dress with wool suiting fabric or with stretch twill fabric.
Does your fabric have stretch? I am looking for fabric with stretch per Tilly recommendations. If your fabric does not have stretch, how did you find the fit in the shoulders/upper arms? Is your fabric medium weight?
Could you post a picture or tutorial how to narrow the raglan sleeves? I was going to ask the same question about your Mathilde blouse, which I also love. I think narrower sleeves look much better for this blouse.
Good luck in the competition!

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LaDulsaTina 16 Dicembre 2014 - 13:05

Thank you so much Tatiana! 🙂 The blue cotton doesn’t have stretch and yes, it’s a fabric medium weight. I wore the dress upsidedown and made the modifications by pinning the fabric while I was wearing it. Filippo, my boyfriend, helped me because it is impossible to make it by your own, especially for the back modifications (and I don’t have a dressmaker’s dummy). Then I traced the alterations with a chalk, basted them and tried the dress again to check if everything was ok. The neckline and shoulders were ok, I only made the sleeves more tight from the low part of the shoulders to the cuff (by about 1 cm for each side of the sleeve… I always make mirror modifications so the dress keeps its right shape). I think you can narrow the sleeves without external help by making some tests (pin, baste and try the dress until you find the right fit. I know it’s a long and boring thing, but it works in my very little experience). Anyone knows a better and faster way? So I can try it next time 🙂

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Aida 16 Dicembre 2014 - 21:11

Your dress is gorgeous, love the fabric choise and the pipping, you have done a wonderful job. I don’t know how to insert piping and intend to do that in one of my future projects, probably in my next Francoise.

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LaDulsaTina 16 Dicembre 2014 - 23:04

Thank you Aida!! 🙂 Tilly’s tutorial for piping is clear and helped me a lot. You need to pay attention, but in the end it’s not so difficult. Let me know 🙂

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Nat'cha 10 Novembre 2015 - 11:03

I discovered this morning your blog through your fall Leini Dress.
I like almost all your achievements !!! I think you have a lot of taste in choosing your fabric and your models.
What class !

PS : My mother, a great fan of Italy, will go this summer and as she hopes to bring some fabric, would you be kind enough to give us some fabric stores addresses?

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LaDulsaTina 1 Dicembre 2015 - 20:07

Hello Nat’cha! Thank you so much! 🙂
I’ve just posted a list of my favorite fabric shops in Milan: https://www.ladulsatina.com/fabric-shopping-in-milan/
For shops in other cities have a look at Silvia’s list: http://sewingprincess.com/sewingprincess/fabric-stores-in-italy/

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