diy: swing dress sew along finished dress party!

Today is the day, sew-alongers! I am so, so excited that we've officially completed this sew-along together. It was such a fantastic experience for me, and I loved that I was able to work on a project with others and get to know many of you just a bit better through our collective sewing. I do hope you had fun with this, if you participated, and you're pleased with your final dress! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to contribute your dress to the link list (which will be open indefinitely, so don't worry if you're not done with your version yet!). So without further ado, here is my version:

are you ready to celebrate? alas, I forgot to pick up a party hat last time I was out...

The only downside with these photos is that they weren't taken at the romantic, waterside location I had envisioned in my head since I bought this fabric. Alas, my resident photographer (aka Sailor Husband) was unavailable, so it was just me and my trusty tripod. Seeing these pictures, I'm really glad that I refit the pattern during the sew-along; I feel like the fit is more spot-on than the previous versions.

for the curious, the shoes are the Remix Rita heels; a Christmas gift from my in-laws.

more pictures here.

Instead of a button or brooch at the neckline, I decided to make a fabric flower from the book I reviewed last week. Isn't it fun? I thought it would be a rather whimsical little addition to the frock and add a bit of texture to the neckline. Plus it's very 40s to use all the last bits of scraps to make a smart accessory, right? (The BurdaStyle website has a link to download this flower pattern if you're interested.) The only problem is that the lightweight silk is a bit floppy, so I think I might add a bit of fabric starch to stiffen the petals a bit.

details: fabric flower made from scraps of leftover silk. how very 1940s to use all the scraps!

details: vintage white ceramic belt buckle embellishing the self-fabric belt.

I think that pretty much rounds this up. I don't really have much else to say about this dress since I've already rambled on in the sewing posts (which if you missed any, they'll all be archived here). Thank you again to everyone who participated in this sew-along--and be sure to add a link to your finished dress below!

Note: Due to an ongoing spam problem with the link widget I originally used in this post, I unfortunately had to disable it. Please visit the Flickr group to see some of the finished dresses participants made!