Happy friday kittens,

I hope you're well! No, no, you're not dreaming, I'm wearing a Pierrot dress... I love this character and his girlfriend Colombine so much that one of these days I'm going to do a Commedia Dell'arte week for you... You know how much I love these collars! What do you call them anyway? Apart from "cols de pierrots"? I've already seen that you had a crush on my Top Shop dress... remember... So I figured there was a good chance this dress would speak to you. And to tell you the truth, I've been a fan of Alison GoldFrapp and her universe for years, and I have a photo that follows me from inspiration files to mood boards. this one... Do you understand better now?

I'm sure not everyone is as... as to say, crazy? To go out in a pierrot dress... But think beyond the end of your nose and imagine this dress in black (or fuchsia pink) and without the tassels... a hair shorter with jean shorts... Transpose... And for those who are even more chilly, I'm giving you a bonus gift of love, the DIY silk pierrot collar... Remember, I owed you one last DIY video with the Bershka team... Well, it's done, and you'll find it at the bottom of the article, with full instructions on how to make your own collar, fixed or removable...

And to catch up and thank you for your loyalty and constant love! You can win the custom sweater... as a competition, tell me a little about your life - I love reading you... what's your fixture, your fashion fantasy... I've delivered mine, Alison Gold Frapp's pierrot collar, but what's yours, Olivia Newton-John's black bustier combi in Grease? Penny Johnson's sun pleat from Dirty Dancing? tell me everything and I'll draw the winner of the sweater on Monday at 12pm... (and I'll post the result straight away, I promise.)

 

To make this straight dress, let's say it's a 38/40 and a 36 loose... but the pattern is very simple and you'll be able to adapt it to your figure without any problem, I promise...

So you'll need..:

  • -Reproduce the pattern to scale 1. You can download the instructions. HERE.
  • - Fabric for the dress here ( 1m50 / 1m40 ) in fleece or cotton, it's up to you,
  • - Silk for the collar ( 16cm / 3m ),
  • - 2 pompoms,
  • - small lace to finish the collar,
  • - elastic ( 3 cm wide ) to elasticate the bottom of your dress (optional),
  • - scissors, pins, sewing machine and iron...

To begin, cut out the 6 parts of your dress ( super easy...) 1 front and one back, the sleeves and the trim - I couldn't have made it simpler fig.2. Start by hemming the sleeves. How do you make a hem? See the video essentials...fig.3. Then pin the back and front (right sides together), starting with the shoulders fig.4. Stitch and open the seam with an iron. Now pin the sleeve to the back and front as shown in fig.5. Then stitch and iron to open the seams fig.6 All right so far, isn't it? Fold right sides together, the dress forms on the reverse, pin and stitch the rest of the dress. fig.7. Open the seams and turn the dress inside out, and that's a good start...fig.8

 

Set the dress aside and take your silk strip. If you're a novice and patient, pin the lace to the edge of your strip fig.1 otherwise go straight on to the next step: machine stitch the strip and lace with a wide zig-zag stitch along the whole length fig.2 and voilà the stitch is discreet and solid fig.3. Next, stitch the gathering threads. Normally, if you've watched the essentials video, you should know what I'm talking about; if not, all these steps are explained in the new video below fig.4. Grab the 2 top or bottom threads, and gently slide the fabric inwards fig.5. Distribute all gathers evenly along the length of your neckline (which will vary slightly depending on your head size - see pattern...) fig.6. Pin your collar to the right side of your dress fig.7. And machine-stitch to secure everything (don't forget to hem the two ends of your collar by hand). Now let's move on to finishing your dress: join the back and front of your trim right sides together fig.8. Stitch open the seams.

 

 

 

Pin the trim to the dress, sandwiching the collar as shown in fig.1. Stitch the trimming to the dress, notching the curves and ironing to clean up the neckline, then secure the trimming to the inside of the dress. Stitch either by machine or by hand to make your stitch invisible (but either way, it'll be covered by your pierrot collar) fig.2. And we could leave it at that fig.3... But that's not knowing me, and now, using a large needle, attach the pom-poms to your dress, thread the wool through the eye (the pieces of wool you'd previously left long...) Once the two threads have been stitched on the reverse side, make knots one on top of the other and turn over...

TA - DA!

 

I kiss you foooorrrrrrt like a castle!

 

The winner is Chloé! Bravo madame!

May 10, 2013