I never did like the idea of sitting on newspapers. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants.

If my first pair of Sew Dolly Clackett dresses were a bright and breezy floral tribute to romance and family, then this dress is the cynical cousin who just can’t seem to find love. If the thought of a stream of June weddings without a steady plus-one to bring along has you repeatedly looking at your cat and shaking your head in disgust, this is the dress for you.

Newsprint Dress 8

I’ve had this quilting cotton in my stash for a few years, just waiting to make up a fluffy dress. It’s one of the most unique prints I’ve ever seen.

Newsprint Dress 1

As you can see, this print is both directional and geometric so the finished garment needed to be designed to accommodate accordingly. I didn’t want to break up the print too much, so I used the By Hand London Anna dress bodice (once again).  I used three widths of fabric for the skirt and pleated it along the print lines, then trimming off the excess at the back, about 4 inches on each side so it would fit the bodice at the waistline. I figured that if I really was using newsprint rather than fabric I would pleat instead of gathering. I tried large box pleats first, but didn’t like them. Modern vintage-look dresses seem to avoid the asymmetry of having the pleats go all the same direction, so pleating it the way I did seems a little extra retro to me.

Newsprint Dress 3

It twirls so nicely.

Newsprint Dress 5

I don’t have a lot to say about dress construction, since it’s so similar to my other Sew Dolly Clackett dress, so I’ll share a story instead. A few years ago I was working for a small local nursing home. We needed to add a nurse to the staff, so a help-wanted ad was put in the newspaper. This was before the recession hit; there weren’t any applicants. I wasn’t in charge of putting the ads in, but the person who was in charge talked it over with a few of us. We brainstormed which led to all kinds of silliness. It was decided that a help wanted ad that read like a used car ad wouldn’t be a good idea. What nurse wants to respond to something that says: “looking for used nurse, high mileage okay, must be extra clean.” A personal ad, though, has potential. You can imagine the look on the Administrator’s face when a month later she got a bill for an ad of which only the first part was listed: “Lonely RN looking for another RN to share…” Someone got hired shortly after the ad ran.

Newsprint Dress 7

I wore this last night for “Cosmic” bowling. It glows quite nicely under a black light. Turns out that bowling while wearing a petticoat is not difficult at all, and it garners plenty of random compliments from strangers.

Stash busting stats: 23/50 projects. 49 yards.

Comments

12 responses to “I never did like the idea of sitting on newspapers. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants.”

  1. aem2 Avatar

    Everything about this post is terrific. That dress is lovely, and the pleats are beautifully done.

  2. Loretta Orsborn Avatar
    Loretta Orsborn

    I like this dress, everything about it is unexpected and interesting…..You are pretty amazing! You look like you had fun with this one……Would be good if you are without a book and had to set for a while….:-)

  3. kristonlion Avatar

    cool print! you should have taken a black light picture! I bet you looked amazing!

  4. Lynn Avatar

    How cute! But now you have to put up with everyone following you around trying to read your dress. 😉

  5. Peter Avatar

    Love it! So cute and fun!

  6. Dana Avatar

    Looks great! I can’t believe how well the pleating turned out.

  7. emsewcrazy Avatar

    I LOVE IT! Fabulous!

  8. prttynpnk Avatar

    O love that you threw in a movie quote title for true Clackettiness!

    1. Cari Homemaker Avatar

      Ha. Ha. I knew if anyone was going to notice the movie quote/know where it is from, it would be you.

  9. Kimmie K Avatar
    Kimmie K

    I know that story! : )

  10. liza jane Avatar

    Awesome! You look fantastic in this dress! And I love the idea of bowling in a petticoat 🙂

  11. sewinggoddess Avatar

    Love the print! and what a lovely dress you made out of it:)

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