Crafty Corner: “Briar Rose” Dress | Part One

If anything good has come of this madness sweeping the world these days, and the subsequent “stay home” orders of one sort or another...it’s that people now have more time to do those “fun little extra” things they’ve always wanted (or been meaning) to do, but never had the time before. Many people are seeing this as an opportunity to be creative, and do something positive and beautiful (or at least enjoyable) during these crazy times.

Today, I’m going to share with you one of my pet projects, which up until recently, I’ve only been able (or motivated) to work on once a week, at best: A pink dress embellished with Irish crochet lace motifs. But first, a little history....

Back in ’03, my mother bought me a copy of Irish Crochet (originally published as Priscilla Irish Crochet Book in 1909) as a graduation present, and ever since, I’ve had a dream to make up some of the beautiful motifs within its pages.

It should come as no surprise that I chose the “Wild Rose Design” as the project of choice when I finally decided to fulfill that dream. 😊

Over the years since then, I’ve dabbled with various projects in the book, but never really finished anything (surprise, surprise :-P). After a few false starts in 2017-18, I began working up the various components of the Wild Rose, along with a dainty beading-lace to use as trim. Mind you, the directions are a bit vague in places, and my rose-petals ended up with a big gap between the first and last. Additionally, I wasn’t satisfied with the look of the half-open roses and rosebuds in the original, so I’ve developed my own method of working them, which I’ll share in a separate post.

My plan (Lord willing) is to sew these motifs and trims onto a seven-paneled princess seam dress, with a V neckline and bishop-sleeves, to wear in the Spring and possibly early Summer. I had hoped to have it ready for the annual Square Dance Festival during Boatnik this year...but what with the madness going on in the world, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was canceled along with everything else. ☹

On the plus side, that would give me a whole ’nuther year to get it ready... which is good, considering I ended up needing almost 500 leaflets for the skirt alone, if I’m doing my math right.... O.O

This is not the actual dress, BTW—just an old, old mock-up I had kicking around (which will probably end up as lining for the dress), and the sleeve mock-up I made to see if I’d like the puffy bishop-sleeve look (which I do). I just laid these out to get a feel for how the motifs would look on a garment, and to help finalize the designs.

I’m in the process of re-drafting my own pattern, as I seem to have stupidly tossed my original. *Facepalm* Thankfully, I still have my princess-seam bodice pattern, so I can use it as a starting point. Needed tweaking, anyhow, as I made it when I was about five pounds heavier, LOL.

Now you see why I need
so many leaflets, LOL

Each skirt panel will have the design shown at left, only with two of each size of rose, ending with a rosebud at the top.
(Note: All the leaves and vines will be green in the finished product; I just had white ones on hand when I took these pix. And there will be stems connecting the leaves and blossoms to the vines.)

For the sleeves, I plan to use two of this grouping (right), suspended in a fine mesh to make armbands. I’m debating whether to make the mesh white, green, or pink, and whether or not to cut away the fabric under the armband.

CU of armband design

I promise I rotated this in PaintShop.
WHY YOU NO ALIGN PROPERLY?!

These pictures show the two options I was debating on for the bodice embellishment. Personally, I prefer the laced look (will be using a thinner cord; this was just what I had on hand), although the first design is quite dainty and reminds me of traditional German or Scandinavian costumes. Hmmm....
(For the record, the right-hand side of the bodice in the second picture shows the final embellishment design, which of course will be mirrored on the finished dress.) Eventually, there will be more of this pretty little lace trim along all the princess-seams, and at the hem, in addition to the neck, waist, and bodice trimming pictured here. I may put some on the cuffs of the sleeves, unless I choose to elasticate them instead.

This photo (taken several weeks after the others) shows the different options for the vines: Emerald-green, Green Variegated, and Sage-green, with the new Small Leaves in Sage Green. I thought I had a nice honey-brown in the size I’ve been using (#30 crochet thread, for the curious)...but nope! And of course I can’t go thrifting for new thread right now, so...green it is! —of one sort or another....

I’m really looking forward to having this gorgeous frock in my wardrobe. It’s been a long time since I had a pink dress, plus I love the idea of using the creative talents God has given me to make something beautiful.

Now if I could just get over my irrational aversion to finalizing my pattern and cutting out the fabric....

Your opinion matters! Should I make the armband mesh white, green, or pink? Should I cut away the fabric under it or leave it solid underneath?

Which bodice embellishment design do you like better: Decorative lacing, or tiny roses?

Which vine color do you like best: Emerald-green, Green Variegated, or Sage-green?

Cast your votes in the comments!

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

stay safe,

and be well!

~ℛ~