Miss Celie

Purple Fridays: Simplicity 2568

In Baltimore, we wear purple for our American football team the Baltimore Ravens on Fridays. Why? Well, they mostly play on Sunday and Purple Fridays are a way to show pride and support in the team. Did I mention my house is right behind the old Memorial Stadium?

Every Friday of football season is PURPLE FRIDAY!!!! Proudly wear your purple to work or school to support the Ravens! — Ravenstown

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I get called out on my lack of purple during football season. It’s really almost embarrassing in my particular office. I promised myself this was the year I’d have my Purple Friday dress. And, just like it was meant to be, Mood Fabrics sent me this aubergine double twill as a sample of the fall season. And, as you can see, fall is here. Someone should rake these leaves *cough*.

Yes, double twill cotton. The material is 100 percent cotton and very dense. It would make a great jacket, or a mod like dress with structure (oh, you know, like this one…). I’ve never sewn or seen anything like this before. But, it pre-washed well (and lightened a bit in color) and sews in the awesome way that natural fibers do.

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I was unsure what to make with the material and decided to paw through my pattern stash. I stumbled across Simplicity 2568 and declared View B “perfect”. I was really worried this dress would be shapeless on me. But, I think it’s flattering and the fabric is perfect!

Because the material is prone to fraying, I did serge every single piece.

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I went with black and golden brass zippers to stay with the Baltimore Ravens theme.

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The pockets sew into the side seam. So, if you are grading the skirt out at all, make sure you make the same alteration to the pocket. Ask me how I know…

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Yo! First time with an exposed zipper! The great thing about this material is it was able to support a pretty substantial zipper.

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Because of the stiffer hand, I didn’t need interfacing in the collar like the pattern suggested. It also doesn’t wrinkle much despite being 100 percent cotton.

I love this dress! I got a dozen compliments the first time I wore it to the office. Because it’s cotton I can wear it during the summer. But, because it’s a nice dense cotton, it’s also fall appropriate.

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I do not play. Purple dress. Purple eye shadow. Purple glasses.

So, there’s my first Purple Friday Dress. I have a second one planned (about three garments from now) in an amazing stretch wool I got last weekend at Mood.

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Go Ravens!

The material for this dress was purchased from Mood Fabrics using an allowance provided to me by the Mood Sewing Network

47 comments

  1. Love the dress!! As a native Marylander (PG County) I support the Ravens, but I’m a Redskins FAN!! I am however, a purple person, so the dress gets two thumbs up!! I’ve wondered about the fit of those ‘retro’ dresses too…Looks great on you!

  3. Love the styling. Purple is my favorite color so I guess I could get behind such a practice (not much of a “fan” sort of person). LOVE the earrings! I have something similar but blue and green from Mexico.

  4. My neighbor (a hardcore K-State fan) needs a dress just like this. 😉 I really like this color, and the shape is more flattering that I would expect from looking at the line drawing. I wonder how this pattern would look on my no-waisted self….

    • I think it’s the hips that pose a bit of a problem in this style.The waist definition is limited. But, it should skim the hips… which it is barely managing on me!

      • Well, if it skims my waist, it shouldn’t have any problem skimming my hips! 😛

  5. Love it! I never would have looked at that pattern and thought it would make such a great dress.

    I was going to include a snarky comment about your black and gold/Pittsburgh Steelers zippers, but we don’t really have the record this year to do too much smack talk. 😉

    • HAHAHAHA!! Last weekend on the way back from NYC, my BF and I stopped at his friend’s house to watch the Steelers game. I was admantly opposed! Turns out he was out of region at Rutgers so he was streaming it from a British Sky TV feed. The commentators had British and Scottish accents. It was totally disconcerting!

  6. This is too cute! I love that pattern, but I feel like it wouldn’t look as good on me as it does on you.

  8. Love the dress! The color is fantastic and I really like the collar. The exposed zippers are nice touch.

  11. Oh, isn’t the tunnel neckline fun to wear? And easy to sew, as a bonus … I like this concentrated grape purple against your dark skin. You look so fresh and rested wearing this lovely new dress.

  13. I already commented once but my computer gobbled it up.
    I said I love your dress, it is super flattering and way better than run-of-the-mill Ravens wear. And I looooove driving through downtown on my daily commute and seeing all the Ravens spirit, especially when they shine the purple lights on buildings. I get called out on my non-purple Fridays, too, so I need to get busy. GREAT DRESS!

  15. i kind of have to hate you, because i am a steelers girl, but i kind of can’t, because i love that dress.

    i’m getting deja vu. have i tried to hate you over the ravens before?

  19. Love the dress!!! You have inspired me to find mine, because I do have that pattern somewhere in my sewing room.

  20. Beautiful!! And in my favorite color! Though, as a New Yorker I can’t like the Ravens. Good think I like blue, too ;p

  23. Beautiful dress! I had a suspicion this purple was going to be your October fabric, and I couldn’t wait to see what you were going to do with it. Fabulous.

  26. That dress is freakin’ awesome! You have done a beautiful job– the exposed zipper details are the perfect touch. And you are totally rockin’ this look. LOVE!

  27. You look fantastic, and it is very flattering. I would never have looked twice at that pattern. I love a good funnel neck.

  30. Love the dress. I would never have thought of using such a heavy fabric for this dress but you definitely make it work girl!

  33. Perfect dress! I would have never thought to use a cotton twill on this. It must have a little more drape than regular twills I’m guessing. It looks great!

  34. Great looking dress! It definitely fits you perfectly..thanks for linking back to your fabric.

  35. I love it!! It looks chic but comfy and no Raven fan can complain that you don’t have spirit!
    So have you gone all out and have flags on your car now?

  39. Awesome dress. I never would have given that pattern a second glance based on the envelope pic. I’m so glad you blog!

  41. I’m way late on this but this is SO CUTE. I love those zippered pockets. I may need you to bring this on Sunday so I can try it on. I’m not convinced I can wear that shape but it looks really cute on you so maybe.

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