Colette Patterns Chantilly

Have you ever wanted to make an entire closetful of one pattern? That's how I feel about the Chantilly. I LOVE THIS DRESS. I can't believe the pattern sat unopened in my drawer for an entire year. I was intimidated by the amount of hand-sewing and it just looked really complicated. Well, it's not. Once I got over my irrational fears, it came together easily.

I made a couple changes, nothing major. The instructions had you gather the bodice and the lining separately, then sew the bodice and lining to the neckline yoke as one. Trying to gather both evenly was really unwieldy, so I pulled out the threads and just did them together, like so:

 
Also, instead of using my lining fabric for the inside of the yoke, I used my shell fabric in case any wanted to peek out. I used pale blue pongee, which I like because it's soft and sews well (not slippery!) but doesn't get static cling when you wear it with tights.

I didn't have any invisible zippers and didn't want to buy one because I have an entire drawer full of zippers, so I did a lapped zipper. The closest color I had was gray, which was fine because I used gray thread throughout, and it's hidden anyway.

I finished my hem with striped hem tape from the magical estate sale! I think it adds a nice touch.

The last modification I made was to not topstitch the bodice on the shell fabric (I did on the lining). I am TERRIBLE at topstitiching and I knew I would pretty much ruin it. I cut a size 8, and no, I did not do a muslin. I've made a couple other Colette Patterns before and I've always solidly worn their 8. I think my absolute favorite thing about this dress is that I didn't have to do a full bust adjustment!  I think it's the first dress I've ever made without modifications where the bust seam didn't end up cutting squarely across my boobs.

Here's a few photos of the finished dress! I can tell this dress is going to become a solid addition to my wardrobe, well, because I wore it the day after I made it and remembered to take pictures.

That one medallion ended up a little unfortunately-placed, no? Whoops. Bullseye!

I thoroughly enjoyed sewing this dress. There were never any frustrating moments and I absolutely love how it turned out. It's the perfect spring transition dress, and it was just the thing to snap me out of my winter funk. And in true Amy style, I already have another almost done...