Zooey Deschanel's Dress : "She & Hem"

Dear Zooey Deschanel, We're gonna make your dress! Here's how :

First, get all celebrity crushy and collect as many photos of different angles of Zooey in this dress as we can possibly find on the internet. This random directory I found was pretty helpful. The first photo I found of this dress was the above which had been colorized. But I really love that vibrant green, even though the actual dress is blue.

Next I collage the best views with a simplified sketch, which I make in Illustrator.

I started with a pre-made bodice pattern I had already for the general shape and size, and edited it to fit the shapes of the bodice pieces in my illustration. I like to fit the tissue paper pieces to the dress form to make sure my shapes are drawn & measured correctly.

This is a process of many edits ;•)

Here are all the bodice pieces pinned to the form, mostly ready to go.

All completed pattern pieces are laid out.
And I made my first pattern envelope to store them all in!

All the pieces have been laid out on the fabric and cut out.
(I ended up not using the pocket for this first-time prototype).

There are 3 layers of bodice that get a bunch of darts in them. I think next time around I'd like to come up with a way to simplify this step, and reduce the amount of bodice thickness.

Here's the inner-most part of the bodice with the gathered edge, sandwiching the shoulder straps. The gather is made very loose because if it's too tight, it alters the shape of the bodice in ways we do not desire :•)

Now the skirt gets attached to the bodice. I like using pleats. It gives a slimmer waist effect, and allows you to more easily cinch the bodice to the skirt perfectly.

Almost done! The zipper and then the hem are the last steps.


And here's "She & Hem" completed!

She can be custom-ordered here.

Zooey Envy

I've been listening to a lot of She & Him lately { Zooey Deschanel + M. Ward }. It's one of my favorite soundtracks for sewing projects. They have a fun upbeat 1960s girl band sound. It's inspiring, as Ms. Deschanel's adorable attire choices embody many of the style aspects I strive for in my work. This is something I hadn't realized until I was recently reminded by the lovely Christina Bowles at Fern Frisbie. Thanks Christina!

So I went into minimal obsession mode searching for Zooey dresses, collecting Zooey photos and watching Zooey videos to see her wearing all those cute outfits.

I love this satin + lace champaigny lavender dress.

It's modest but the lace adds quite a sexy angle to it.

What a cute swim suit! I love the hip-bow + lace.
Might be best on a sunning babe than a very active swimmer though.

Green with envy!
Add to "to-sew" list: Check.

My research method usually consists of lots and lots of image research, and then some pattern browsing to see which ones can be pieced together to create new things. But the most helpful step in construction assessment is making simple sketches like this one. Zooey's little green dress caught my eye indeed. The busty layers are interesting and attractive yet modest, and the little bows are a nice playful detail. I suddenly want this green dress! { and to grow my hair and bangs out a little bit! }

Ahhh, sketching what I can one day create is how I compensate for not being home sewing in my little corner for the majority of my time while I'm day-jobbing as a web designer. *sigh*