Library Bookcase Dress

A dress for a friend who loves reading. She gave me my Famous Frocks pattern book and this is one of the last dresses that i haven't tried: the Marilyn Dress.  It's an adjustable eight panel, halterneck dress.

The fabric is printed cotton and was quite heavy.  I was expecting the bookshelves to be evenly spaced but the pattern only repeated itself every 3 shelves, which was difficult! I wanted the shelves to align on the skirt in V shapes but some of the them are quite shallow Vs because of that. 

The skirt is fully lined in rust coloured cotton ( note to self: cotton burns and melts if you use a linen setting iron on it) which is also the contrast waist and the back of the neck straps as there wasn't quite enough space in the fabric.

The bodice is top stitch 6mm from the edge all the way around so that it falls nicely: the burgandy thread is pretty.  However, the pattern does not seem to align very well at the neck strap-bodice interface: I'm not sure that it is the correct width as my neck straps turned out thinner. I don't think that's just poor cutting out!

To make it adjustable, I put two button holes (the one step button hole on my new sewing machine is amazing!) 4" apart on either side of the waist and some elastic between. The elastic also has button holes in it so that it can be tightened or loosened. The waist tie should hide any gathering. 

Conveniently, the straps can be attached to these buttons too. I've put three button holes into each strap so that their length can be adjusted too.

Materials needed:
2 spools of burgundy thread
4m rust coloured cotton
3m library print cotton
4 burgundy 1" buttons
Iron on interfacing
7" burgundy zip

Marilyn Pattern size L

Overall, it's a pretty summer dress: the book pattern worked really well. However, it is quite short: if I were to make it for myself I'd have to add 2-4" to the skirt. The back straps are also quite revealing!  But I'm sure perfect for reading a book in the sun!