Red October: The Lighthouse Colette Peony Dress
Here’s my second contribution to Red October – my Lighthouse Colette Peony dress!
Lighthouse Colette Peony Dress (and shoes from Topshop)
I first made a Peony dress two years ago, in October 2011:
I still really, really love this dress!
Last year I decided to make another Peony dress, this time with cotton instead of satin…
I didn’t really like this version, to be honest. It’s all well-made etc, and fits nicely, and I love the fabric, but there was something about it that I just didn’t like. So much so, that I included it in my list of my top 5 sewing failures of 2012! Poor Peony dress…
But THEN…a few months ago, I suddenly had an urge to wear it again, and I put it on, and I loved it! And since then, I’ve been wearing it pretty much weekly, it’s become one of my favourite dresses!!! How weird is that?!! In light of this, I knew I wanted to make at least one more Peony.
Sort of side view of dress and shoes…
On a recent trip up to the East Yorkshire seaside town of Bridlington, I popped into the lovely Bridlington Sewing Centre and came away with 3 metres of this gorgeous cotton. Like I said in my last Red October post, I’m always on the lookout for red fabrics and I love me some novelty nautical prints…so this was just perfection!
Back view. The bottom of the skirt looks slanted here, I don’t know why!
I love the design of the Peony dress. It’s a simple make but so cleverly designed to be shapely, like the curve between the waistline and the hipline of the skirt pieces – so often the centre back seam of a skirt is completely straight, but this is curved to give shape without anyone really noticing (the side seams too). It’s a small detail but so effective.
Closer front view
Although nautical prints are more closely associated with summer, I just couldn’t wait to use this fabric, and of course Red October spurred me on! The Peony is a nice autumn/winter dress. I considered making the longer sleeved version, but decided the short sleeve was better for if I want to wear a cardigan too – less annoying bunching up of the sleeves as you try to pull a cardigan over!
Have you ever made something that you didn’t like, put it aside for ages, then suddenly rediscovered it and loved it?! I’d love to know!
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I love it (and your two others!)
Thanks! I think my first one is my most favourite of all.
Lovely!
Thanks Sarah!
Ooh very nice! And the shoes are gorgeous btw, esp the cut out detail.
Thank you! The shoes are pretty old now but I still love them 🙂
This is a great fit! Lovely!
Thanks Amanda!
That fabric is great, I want some. I love Peony on other people but I just couldn’t get it to work for me. Love yours though. And you’ve reminded me that I need to get cracking on my red October make.
Next time I’m in Brid, I’ll see if they still have it for you! They also do it with a navy background. It’s a shame the Peony didn’t work out for you, but there are so many other dresses instead – hurray!!
Lighthouses, how adorable!!! This dress looks lovely on you, I have not tried the Peony pattern. And, I so love your satin 3/4 length sleeve version. It’s so 70s, fabulous!
The satin one is my favourite, too! 🙂