Where’s the party?

My friend had the book The Party Dress: How to Sew the Best Dress in the Room sitting on her dresser and I couldn’t help but pick it up. The cover dress was lovely enough but inside? Oh the dresses! I’m kind of a sucker for those frilly, poofy, ultra feminine get-ups and Mary Adams is the queen of making them. The spun sugar delicacy of all those ruffles just sucks me in every time and I can’t help but ogle them. I mean, really, check this beauty out…

Of course, I have no where to wear it, but the point (at least for me) is really just to oooh and ahhh over dresses that are this frilly. But Adams includes numerous variations on a theme in the book and there is inspiration galore. I love this version, which is totally wearable…

And the fact that she calls it an apron dress makes me even happier with it. I think I’d have to do it with a bit less in the petticoat department and probably a tad longer, but I’m seriously considering something similar. The Party Dress comes with a pattern and well-written sewing instructions, but with some experience, skills and the inspiration from her lovely pictures, it’ll be easy to manipulate the basic style into something much more interesting.

Check it out at Powell’s or Amazon.