I am starting to question if I have anything against sleeves... All of my Orla hacks to date have been sleeveless. I really don't! I love sleeves! I blame the insane heat that Calgary has been through in the past few weeks for all the sleeveless Orlas that are coming your way. It has been so hot that I haven't sewn as much as I want to because turning on the iron seems like the worst form of torture.
Sure, this Orla is sleeveless, but I think the similarities between this version and the other one I posted
earlier stop here. On this version I have changed the neckline to a slightly curved v-neck both at the front and the back. I have added a waistband to separate the bodice from the skirt, which now has 4 box pleats instead of gathers. Oh yes, I forgot about another similarity, this Orla also has
pockets. Because pockets rock.
I made this dress out of absolutely stunning
ivory and gold rayon brocade from
Harts Fabric, which they kindy provided to me free of charge for Orla Affair tutorials. I can't thank them enough!!! This was my first time sewing with fabric from Harts Fabrics, to date I have only drooled over their website without placing an order (shipping charges to Canada and exchange rate suck!). I am so impressed with the quality of the fabrics I've received (I have another one that will be making appearance for Orla Affair later in the month) and I am not saying this because they were gifted to me. The fabrics are seriously amazing!
I fell in love with this brocade when I saw it online, but it is even more beautiful in person. The outside of the fabric has gorgeous texture and beautiful gold metallic pattern to it. Whereas the inside is so soft! It almost didn't need lining, and I actually left my skirt unlined. You can barely feel the metallic thread in this fabric on the inside.
If you are using this or similar fabric, I do recommend finishing the seam allowances before sewing it. The fabric frays really easily! So I serged every single seam allowance before putting the dress together.
The bodice of the dress is lined with rayon bemberg lining, which makes it more stable and gives this dress a very luxurious feel.
It's Calgary Stampede time here and of course being a cowgil through and through I HAD to wear the dress with my cowboy boots! I just love the juxtaposition of rough cowboy boots with gorgeous girly dress. If you would like to know more about these boots and what they mean to me, head on over to
Elise Epp's blog for a guest post I did a while back.
Little Skye decided to make an appearance in the photos! She loves these outings when we just hang out while I take photos. She usually runs around and sniffs all the interesting stuff, but when she is done she comes back and hangs out with me. She is so special!
I have to say that I accidentally copied
Allie J.'s idea of adding a waistband! Have you seen her version? If you haven't, you must. It is simply stunning, as usual. Allie uses a slightly different method of adding a waistband and hers is even easier!
Anyways, I wrote a
detailed tutorial on pattern modifications I made for this dress. If you would like to see how I drafted the pockets you can find a tutorial on that
here. And of course I will be back with another tutorial on how I sewed it together.
Love,
Anya
