Semiformal dress has exotic appeal

Dear Julia: I need a semiformal dress for a special occasion. I’d like something a little exotic, maybe formfitting, but nothing revealing or too tight. Do you have any pattern ideas for me? Thanks. — Susan P.

Hi Susan: I did some searching online and found this beautiful dress called Prudence, the Mandarin Collar Dress. You can find it at www. colettepatterns.com. Search for “Prudence.” I think this dress is the perfect balance of what you’re looking for: It’s tailored to the body with a semi-fitted bust, fitted waist and semi-fitted hips, but leaves plenty of room to breathe.

The dress features a front neckline keyhole and a mandarin collar, which will give you that exotic feel you want. You have three options for the skirt with this pattern: a pleated full-length skirt, a pleated knee-length skirt or a short, gathered skirt.

I’d go with the fulllength version for your special event. You also can choose to add one or two slits to the side seams if you’re feeling more daring.

Colette Patterns even offers a special limitededition fabric kit for this pattern. It comes with the pattern in 0-16 or 18-26 sizing, and 4½ yards of a rayon challis print with white flowers on a black background. The fabric can be machine washed and tumbled dry.

When selecting your fabric for the dress, go with a lightweight to medium-weight woven fabric, such as silk, rayon challis or cotton voile. You’ll also need allpurpose polyester thread,

yard of lightweight fusible interfacing, a 14-inch invisible zipper and a small shank button or frog closure.

Dear Readers: In a previous column, I gave instructions for creating a simple 11-inch pillow cover.

A fellow sewer was kind enough to point out that one of the measurements was wrong. You will need to cut your fabric to 13 inches by 13 inches to result in an 11-inch pillow with a 1-inch seam allowance.

Thanks, Judy!