One Pattern, Seven Bloggers - Inspiration

I have a very exciting project to tell you about today.

A little while ago Sam contacted me and another 5 bloggers asking if we wanted to take part in a fun little project called "one pattern, seven bloggers". The idea is that all seven of us will sew up the same pattern in a way that suits our needs and style, sharing the process and the seven probably very different dresses at the end.

Here are the seven bloggers involved in the project:
Sam: http://hand-quilter.blogspot.com/
Marie: http://asewingodyssey.blogspot.com/
Reana Louise: http://curvespatternsandpins.blogspot.com/
Kat: http://petticoatsandpeplums.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://the-paperdoll.blogspot.com/
Amy: http://sewingthroughthemotions.blogspot.com/
and Me

We will be making up this Burdastyle pattern, posting on the same topics in relation to the project on Wednesdays until the 1st of June, when we will reveal our finished dresses.

Exciting!

And so, onto my first post - the theme for which is "inspiration".

As I've mentioned before, generally when clothes making in Melbourne it's easier to go to the fabric store with a vague idea in mind and look for inspiration in the fabric, as it's often very tricky to find exactly the fabric that you have in your imagination. So for this project I wandered over to The Fabric Store and took a look at what fabrics they have that could work with this dress.

For my inspiration post I though I'd share with you some fabrics that I saw that I think would work for this pattern.

 

First up, a lovely bright royal blue cotton with a lovely drape. Simple but would be stunning

  

What about this great geometric print? This is a Marc Jacobs wool viscose blend.

 

An obvious choice for the dress I think, a cute flower print, but I can't go past Rayon whenever I see it, and this is a cotton rayon blend

  

Plaids are always fun, this is a cotton, lycra and nylon blend.

  

What about something completely different; this double-layered Helmut lang cotton nylon blend has a bit more of a "suiting" style but still has a fairly good drape.

Or similar, this wool suiting was a little thicker but would probably just about work. Alternatively, the gathers in the skirt could be converted into pleats or box pleats with this thicker fabric.

 

For something indulgent how about this stunning silk print? Underlined it would make such a nice light floaty dress. The photo just doesn't do it justice, it's one of those fabrics you have to feel it to believe it.

I was thinking about ways to alter this pattern, and two obvious things struck me as things that could be done but would still keep the "feel" of the pattern. The first is altering the skirt. As I mentioned above, you could change the gathers into pleats, or change it to an A line skirt. The second is altering the neckline, here are some examples off the top of my head of how could could change the neckline of this dress:

So, there's my inspiration.I think I know which one i'm going to choose to make, but I'm going to save telling you until a later post. I will tell you two things though - the first is that I plan to make this a winter suitable dress. Well Melbourne winter anyway, which really just means being able to layer with it and wear tights. The second is that the dress will definitely end up with pockets!

But tell me; which would you make?

PS: Don't forget to check out the other 6 "inspiration" themed posts:
Amy: http://sewingthroughthemotions.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-pattern-seven-bloggers-my.html
Sam: http://hand-quilter.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-pattern-seven-bloggers-1.html

Marie: http://asewingodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-pattern-seven-bloggers-1.html

Reana Louise:  http://curvespatternsandpins.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-pattern-seven-bloggers.html

Kat: http://petticoatsandpeplums.blogspot.com/2011/05/1-pattern-seven-bloggers.html

Jen: http://the-paperdoll.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-pattern-seven-bloggers.html