Colour-wise, I may be most famous for my love of yellow, but if you actually look at my sewing, blue is by far the most common colour in my historical and modern sewing wardrobe (unless you count historical undergarments, in which case white is winning!).
One of my historical wardrobe sewing goals is to make more things that are not in blue, white, & black. I’ve got the most stunning persimmon orange silk taffeta calling my name, and a deep purple, and a vivid golden yellow PHd, and I’d really, really like to find an excuse to make something green, because it’s a colour I adore, and yet somehow I never end up sewing with it!
So far I am totally failing at diversifying my colour palette, because my first make of 2019 is…darkest blue, so dark it reads black in photos. (faceplosh)

In my semi-defence, this dress was intended as a wearable toile, because I really wasn’t sure the pattern would work, and I was specifically looking for a fabric in my stash that I didn’t love – and that I had a LOT of.

The pattern may look slim, but it’s a massive fabric hog: far wider than the line drawing, with huge tucks and a huge hem, and really interestingly constructed sleeves that take a LOT of fabric.
This is one half of a front or back piece:

Note: Felicity is a very long cat!
So, knowing I needed a ton of fabric, I chose a very lightweight darkest blue wool twill that I found for a steal at an op-shop – though not quite as much of a steal as I’d thought, when it turned out to be full of moth holes.

By careful cutting, and a bit of pattern fudging (my dress is not quite as full as the pattern, because one front or back wouldn’t fit on a folded width of fabric) I managed to avoid all the moth holes, and get the dress out.

When I first got the dress to a wearable stage, I put it on and thought: “Oh My. If I ever get invited to a fancy dress event with the theme ‘Amish Toga Party’ I’m all set, but otherwise…”
So I didn’t finish the dress in time for the Victorian Picnic at the Botanical Gardens, because well, it wasn’t an Amish Toga Party…
But with Theresa coming to visit, I decided I’d finish the dress, and if it looked terrible, well, at least we would have had fun, because we always do!

I made a hat to go with the dress, but didn’t quite get it finished – and when I tried on the unfinished hat, and compared it to my Tricorne Revival hat, Theresa and I both agreed the Tricorne Revival was the one to wear.

I’m now absolutely in love with this dress. It’s really comfortable, it’s super fun to wear, and I adore how I look in it, and that it goes so beautifully with my hat.
One of my favourite things about it is the silhouette it gives me. It’s really helping me achieve that ideal mid-late 1910s look. Slim-hipped (but not so much so as in the early 1910s) with a full, low-bust.

The bust pleats are so awkwardly placed to the modern eye, but they visually lower the bust, creating that oh-so-fashionable droop.

Despite the easy, loose style, the proper underpinnings is still really important. I’m wearing this over a Rilla Corset, and the dress does NOT look good without a corset underneath.
I’ve also got a petticoat, and a Wearing History corset cover, for a bit of added bust fullness.
All in all, a dress success!

So, now the big question is: would you like this to be a Scroop Pattern?