The "Home Sewing Is Easy" Novelty Print Dress

After last week's discussion of novelty-print dresses, I decided to give the whole thing a try. I'd been working up a muslin of Simplicity 2444, and figured this would be the perfect chance to try it out in an inexpensive fabric.

Once I had the bodice sewn up, I was struck with design inspiration for the back.

I had seen this detail on a Bettie Page dress and thought it would help break up the print a bit. It was very easy to do, and I plan to outline the construction in another post.

Can I please pat myself on the back for matching up the print across the invisible zipper? That's the pull dangling over the blonde lady's face.

Print placement is obviously important, and I almost ran out of fabric fussing over the layout, even though I had 5 yards. I knew I wanted to get the "Home Sewing Is Easy" banner on the bodice, but not in a weird place.

The print isn't quite as overwhelming as I anticipated, but it surely clashes with my hair! A belt worked well to balance the print (it's from Modcloth, and I'm obsessed with it). With so much going on, the only thing to do was to pair it with a tasteful nude pump and call it a day.

I have more to say about this dress's construction, which I'll have to get to in another post. Back to writing pattern instructions for the book!