Queenie Inspired | Simplicity 8504

Things used :

During the first 2020 lockdown, when EVERYTHING was closed, I was quickly running out of things to keep me occupied and fight off boredom with. I was trying my best to get through my UFO (unfinished objects) pile but I kept quickly running in to halts due to not having everything on hand that I needed to complete anything.

I went through my pattern stash and looked for something that I hadn’t made yet which is how I ended up with Simplicity 8504. I adored the silhouette with the massive sleeves and the fitted gown. The next issue I had was finding a suitable fabric that I already had in my possession.

I couldn’t find anything in my fabric stash, but then I remembered the bridesmaid dress that I had from my best friends wedding in my closet. I knew I was never going to wear it again as it was and was only holding on to it for sentimental reasons. I messaged my friend and asked if it was okay to repurpose and she was thrilled by the idea.

The only issue with using the fabric from the dress is that it was stretch velvet and the pattern called for non-stretch. So I had to keep that in mind when constructing. As a result I ended up omitting the invisible zip from the pattern altogether because the fabric stretched enough that I was able to get it over my head without the need for one.

Because I was working with a limited amount of fabric, I couldn’t follow the grain-line when placing the pattern pieces and cutting them out. Luckily it didn’t matter so much because I wasn’t using a woven fabric.

I found the pattern itself rather simple to follow. I even got to do a new-to-me technique which was smocking the sleeves.

I didn’t quite have enough fabric to make the waist belt, so I added ties at the waist which tie together in the back in a bow to help add shape to the waist.

Speaking of not having enough of something, I only had three pearl buttons in my stash and because this was made during the lockdown times, I couldn’t get a fourth so I used a snap instead. I will be replacing this eventually.

Two years later and I finally got around to wearing it out. I decided it would be perfect to wear to watch the new Fantastic Beasts film – The Secrets of Dumbledore as it reminded me of something Queenie Goldstein would wear.

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Difficulty : *
Time : 6 hours
Cost : $ I used things I already had