Last year, I mistakenly deleted my entire blog minus one post. I was completely crushed when the realization first sunk in. Years of work and memories and images and information gathered had gone into those posts and they had all been erased from the web in one quick swoop.
However, I quickly realized that shedding tears over a lost blog was incredibly silly.
It is just a blog.
After all, each post was nothing more than a few words and some images. Losing them didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. I still had the ability to write new words; better words. I could still share my thoughts and ideas and encouragement, and this time, I could learn from my past mistakes and take better pictures or share new knowledge learned from other talented makers and friends.
All-in-all, my saddness over my lost blog posts lasted a total of five minutes. I was determined to use this unexpected word-cleanse as a clean slate to move forward in the new directions Untitled Thoughts was already leaning towards taking.
However, one post I desperately missed was my review of the beautiful Hughes Dress by Friday Pattern Company! This was the dress that set me down the path of really cultivating my own personal style (something I have struggled to find for years), so today I am re-writing and re-sharing those images here.
I can't remember when the pattern testing for this dress began, but it must have still been warm outside considering I am not wearing any layers in the photos. I was super excited when I saw the tester call come through as I LOVE working with Chelsea and her designs are really customizable!
I wound up making quite a few changes to the base of the Hughes dress to really make it my own.
THE BODICE
I wound changing the U-shaped neck into a V-neck, mainly because I was REALLY into V-necks last year. Whether a high or low V-neck, I find them to be the most flattering on my own body. Every now and again I will toss in a square neck or a rounded neck, but they have to hit at just the right place.
THE SLEEVES
I have pretty broad shoulders, so I tend to avoid almost all forms of a sleeve unless I know it is going to be loose and airy. And because my friends tend to describe me as whimsical, like a fairy prancing through a field (it's 1000% accurate TBH) I changed the original sleeve up to become a flutter sleeve.
To create the flutter sleeve, I just cut out a semi-circle of fabric with a slight concave curve to it so that it looked like a crescent moon. I then hemmed the convex portion of my moon, attached it to the top of armhole, and finished it off with some bias binding!
THE SKIRT & TIES
The last alteration I did to this dress to make it mon style parisien parfait (trying to put my French Lessons to good use!) was adding more volume to each and every skirt panel. I added 3" to the bottom of each side of each skirt panel (minus the center front panel where no extra flare was needed). That's a lot of extra swing, but I am really happy I added it because this fabric was begging to float around in the cool fall breeze!
And the last minor alteration I threw onto this dress was doubling the length of the back ties. I just love a good long tie! It makes for perfect bows and wrappign around your entire body!
There you have it! The Hughes dress is definitely a closet staple and has seen a ton of use this winter as she pairs beautifully with my recyled polka-dotted tights and thrifted oxfords!
Also, I totally still have this bundle of Goldenrod dried and sitting on my coffee table!