Red Silk Dress

My goal was to finish this dress by my birthday, which I did. The fabric acquisition has a story: I found this fabric on the sale table at Joann's in Federal Way (a 30 minute drive). It was $9 a yard, which I don't usually spend at the sale table so I passed. The haunting commenced. I dragged Matt with me, went back and bought it. I discovered that I had not purchased enough (after all these years, you would think I could read a pattern) so asked my husband to drive back with me to buy more. We took a chance, first, and checked at Southcenter (a 15 minute drive). To my surprise, the same fabric was on the sale table! I don't know why I didn't check before we went back to Federal Way.

The pattern is Simplicity 5758. I combined two views, taking the shorter, round-neck version and substituting the inserted belt for the round-the-dress belt. The inserted belt is a chunk taken off a wrap skirt I bought at a vintage store in a surprise bag.

I am very pleased with the dress; it looked fantastic on my birthday, along with my Burberry purse (garage sale, $3) and Burberry print pashmina (London street fair).