yay another one done!!
ceylon by colette patterns
made with 100% lightweight cotton pin dot shirting from fabric.com; i also handmade the piping. the pattern is sized 0-18, i cut mine in a straight size 4 but ended up taking quite a bit in at the waist as i like my dresses to be pretty fitted.
as with all colette patterns, the instructions were very clear with pictures for every step. the only thing i noticed was that the order you sew everything together jumped around a lot. it wasn’t really cohesive, but everything did work out in the end so no complaints here!
i only made a few alterations to the pattern – i piped the waistline, underbust, and sleeve hem. the hem is hand catch-stitched down with some soft lace. oh, and i definitely read the instructions wrong & sewed the main pieces together as sandwich, as opposed to overlapping & topstitching. miraculously, everything matched up in the end and still fit.
sewing in all those buttonholes – 16 total! – really wasn’t too bad. of course, my machine makes beautiful one-step buttonholes, so mostly i was just sitting there impatiently waiting while the machine did all the work 🙂
some detail shots:
the piping doesn’t match up in this picture but i promise it does in real life
SO MANY COVERED BUTTONS
i bought a small lot of buttons etsy for a song, but forgot (or i guess decided i didn’t “need”) the tool to cover them. they *are* coverable without the tool, it’s just a huge pain in the azz. i sewed a running stitch around each fabric circle & pulled it tight over the button head, then pushed in the back of the button with the handle of a butter knife. my fingertips are STILL sore, but at least my buttons look good!
love the hem :3
i trimmed all the facing with strips of bias binding. very neat! the rest of the dress is just serged & pressed open.
conclusion?
I LOVE THIS DRESS
LLADYBIRD 
Your dress looks absolutely gorgeous! I love the contrasting piping, and that’s such a neat finish on the facings. Now I want to make one!
you are hot
That is absolutely gorgeous!! I bought some of that same pindot from fabric.com and have been thinking of making a dress with it.
Your dress is beautiful on the inside and out. Great job. Also, I think I bought the same or a similar fabric during a $1.95 sale on Fabric.com. The Ceylon pattern hasn’t really appealed to me before. I hadn’t seen it in fabrics like I liked, but seeing yours really makes me want to go buy the pattern. 🙂
This dress is so adorable I can’t stand it ❤
Girl I’m impressed. It’s LOVELY. And lovely on you!
Gasp! That was my reaction when I saw this on Colette Patterns forum just now. Sooooo gorgeous.
It’s absolutely beautiful – one of the most stunning dresses I’ve seen for ages. Fantastic job. Love your shoes too, where are they from?! x
thank you! aw you’re gonna make me blush 🙂
believe it or not, the shoes are from target – $22!
Fantastic dress. It looks wonderful on you. You did a great job.
I really love this dress! I went to Collette’s website to look for the pattern and have to say you should do their advertising. Their version of this dress was not cute! The model did not look happy to be in the dress. I would have never looked twice had it not been for your blog!
gorgeous!
I’ve just ordered the pattern too. It’s lovely.
Hi, I recently purchased the Ceylon dress pattern and came across your version of the Ceylon dress at the http://www.colettepatterns.com website and I have to say compared to the original version, your dress looks absolutely fabulous!! Couture style!! I myself haven’t sewn for a good few years now since high school, so I’m really rusty and wanted to get back into the swing of things.
Anyway, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions: When you bound your raw edges and seams with bias binding, did you do this before sewing the pieces of fabric together or after you’d constructed the dress? Also what book (or website) would you advise to read that would teach these methods of finishing garments? Many thanks, Tanya.
aw, thank you!
to answer you questions: i added the bias binding to the facing before attaching them to any other piece. i don’t have my pattern with me so i’m not 100%, but i believe the instructions do call for you to finish that edge before inserting the facing into the dress. as far as a book/website to recommend, well, there are a lot! i’m a big fan of gertie’s blog for better sewing and the sewing bible by alison smith. if you can stand to wait, colette patterns has a sewing book to be released in mid-november. really pumped about that one!
i hope this helps 🙂
You really did a wonderful job. The facings look very neat indeed.
I just have to gush over your version of this dress! I’m about to finally get to mine and all I have to say is your self covered buttons and piping look AMAZING!!