Laurel, version two : the Pantone dress!

I am in love with this Colette Laurel pattern.

This time around, I was inspired by a J Crew shift and then this vintage shift:

photo courtesy Red Velvet Shoe Vintage

For this version, I decided to use a cotton sateen from Elliot Berman Textiles. While I love the sheen of the finish, I don't know that I'd describe it as a sateen. It's very lightweight, almost like a voile. It has a beautiful silky drape and the colors were exactly what I was looking for to enter this version into the Pantone Color Contest at Pattern Review.

While it's hard to capture the true colors with a camera, trust me, this print has the perfect  Nectarine, Poppy Red, Tender Shoots and African Violet. Just that combination sounds delicious, doesn't it? Now, the other thing that REALLY attracted me to this fabric is how I could bring it back to black, which I wear a lot of.
There is something bold about the black added to this palette of floral colors just anchors it all together.

This delicate fabric required a lining. I chose a red bemberg rayon ( love, love, love) which slinks and silks right along with the dress fabric.

I used french seams to finish the dress, and did hand sewn hems. I tried a new finish on the arms scythe, which I learned from a couture sewing book. I chose this method since I did not line my sleeves, which  left the raw edges of the seams exposed.

The sleeve seam is trimmed down to  a 1/4 inch, leaving the dress portion of the arm scythe as the full 5/8/" seam. (ha! do you use your jeans as a pincushion, too?)

The 5/8" dress fabric is then folded around the 1/4" trimmed sleeve fabric and hand sewn in place to cover the entire seam. it creates a nice delicate finish without having to fiddle with bias binding.

And finally, ( I know, Lori,  that this was not your favorite option according to your text last night!) I added a delicate beading trim to the neckline.I think it gives it  just a bit of sassiness without detracting from the print.

So, here's my dress!

 And I am in love with this online sewing community. After making my first Laurel, and having some concerns with it shifting toward my back, some of you gave some me  suggestions about how to resolve that.

It made sense to me that the shoulder seams should be shifted forward, so that's exactly what I did. By about a 1/2 inch.

It didn't make as much sense to me the physics behind raising the back neckline. But I trusted you all and I did just that. Raised the back neckline by almost 2 " and lowered the front neckline about an inch.
Doing both of these adjustments worked like magic on the fit.

And with the coat?

I could wear both of these pieces a hundred different ways.

Now, is this the most flattering style for me? Probably not, but I have to admit I am crazy about the ease of this dress for summer. I can't imagine it getting any breezier for work or weekends.

Please check out the gallery of participant entries at Pattern Review Pantone Color Contest and choose your favorite starting May 3rd!