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In My Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room Dress

My Youtube video associated with this blog post

 I am very pleased to present my Tiki Room dress. The Dress Shop brand from Disney has a 1950's-inspired sundress in this fabric. I do like it, but I don't wear sleeveless dresses. So, I thought I would make my own in a slightly different style. I still wanted a vintage dress, with a tropical vibe as was popular mid century. After much deliberation, I decided on Butterick 5880. It's a reprint of a 1951 pattern.

I was so anxious to begin this dress. I don't know why exactly. It's not like I'm heading to Disney any time soon. But sometimes I just “get a bee in my bonnet”, as they say. And I can't do anything else until I scratch that itch. So I thoroughly cleaned my sewing studio, AKA the corner of my bedroom, and set to work.

For my first run, I used a 101 Dalmatians bed sheet from the thrift store. It's old and worn, but it was less than $2 and it's a big piece of fabric. For my mock-ups, I don't finish seams nicely or press them open. Sometimes, I don't bother with the lining. They are always sloppy in general. This one is no exception. But it fit and let me know that I had picked the correct size. I started on the final version almost immediately.

Really, it's a simple dress, underneath the skirt swag. It's just a straight skirt and the bodice.

Each piece was cut out in the lining and in the fashion fabric. The front draped piece was cut out twice in the fashion fabric. It is a fabric hag, that much is certain. But I am so glad I didn't use the lining for the underside, as it would have been very visible and distracting to me. The skirt drape is stitched and then turned right side out and understitched all around the edge. Then, it's pleated and sewn to form the hip drape. Finally, that whole front piece is stitched to the side panels.

The bodice is very simple, with cut-on sleeves. (I very much appreciated not sewing sleeves). I love the cute notches sewn in the neckline. It adds a lot of interest to what would otherwise be a very plain bodice. The construction is clever, with a bit a hand sewing to finish up the lining inside. In fact, it's fully lined, which makes it scream luxury. It zips up the side with an invisible zipper. Not my best work there, but it works.

This fabric is just so fresh, colorful, and cheerful. I'm not normally drawn to green, but I'm obsessed with this fabric.

For these photos, I'm wearing my reproduction Splendette jewelry. The gorgeous “Iris Pink” bangles have beautiful carved flowers, and the earrings and necklace match them perfectly. In the future, I would love to buy blue, yellow, or red Splendette jewelry to pair with this dress. This print has so many colors, it's hard to choose!

I wouldn't recommend this pattern to absolute beginners. The full lining, all the hand finishing, installing the zipper in all those layers, and the pleats of the skirt drape all make this pattern a little fiddly. But the instructions were mostly easy to understand. I did look up a YouTube tutorial for one step. Perhaps I'd rate it 3 out of 5 for difficulty.

Yours in hard work, creativity, and a dash of pixie dust,

Sarah

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