Satin for Valentine’s Day

Last year I made a red dress for Valentine’s Day, but this year I was inspired by a dress I saw from H&M to make a fancy satin number in ivory.

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I was almost tempted to buy the H&M dress so I could study the front wrap detail, but I waited so long that it sold out. Then I happened upon a vintage pattern which had a very similar front wrap…

…and then I found some nice quality poly satin from this Etsy store (currently she still has some in stock).

So I launched right into my experimental take on the H&M dress. I cut the skirt to a midi length and altered the sleeves into long balloon sleeves below the sleeve cap.

Sewing the satin was easier than expected — It was a great medium weight and not the cheap kind that gets damaged too easily. I used a size 10 needle and reduced the tension on my machine a bit. As I wasn’t sure how the dress would turn out, I also serged the seam allowances instead of bothering with finer finishes like French seams; and this also went very smoothly.

Then came the challenge after I inserted the sleeves for the first time — they were too tight! I had done my usual narrow shoulder adjustment to the front and back of the dress so the center front and back would not gape, but combined with the high, narrow sleeve cap of this pattern, I could barely move my arms around.

Fortunately I had bought extra fabric in case I ran into any issues. I considered widening the sleeve/lowering the sleeve cap (I found some great instructions here) or changing them to roomy puff sleeves; but I finally decided to create a split sleeve for a unique twist on the dress I was copying. I divided the pattern piece in two down the middle and added seam allowances, and then proceeded as before.

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I like the additional drama of the sleeve, plus I have all the freedom of movement I could want now. I was a bit lazy and finished the sleeve ends with elastic instead of cuffs, but I might go back and add cuffs later.

Here’s a view of the back (I lengthened the pattern ties by several inches so I could make a nice big bow) and another styling of the dress as I’ll probably wear it this weekend, with tall boots and a faux fur coat I made a few years ago.

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And here’s a closeup of the wrap front – this is the detail from the H&M dress that I most wanted to nail! I got the same look by wrapping both ties across each other in front instead of pulling one tie through a side seam hole as directed by the pattern I used.

Happy Valentine’s Day!