Thistle Blossom Princess--A Western Dress (KwikSew 4133)

This was my first ever KwikSew pattern, and I guess the name of the company should have been an omen, as poor spelling and overuse of the letter "K" mean a slower route to success and this pattern took me over a year to make. JUST KIDDING it wasn't their fault--this pattern had a few weird fitting issues, but was otherwise really nice to work with! The reason it took me so dang long is because I was trying to do my appliques and embroidery on the yokes by hand, and it wasn't turning out quite how I imagined it so the project was abandoned for a while until I cheated and bought these pre-made appliques on Etsy.

Construction Notes

Kwik Sew 4133: The neck on this pattern is LARGE. I had to take 4 inches out of the back of the pattern to get the collar close to fitting. I know it's technically supposed to be a slouchy collar, but shouldn't a button down look nice... buttoned? 

Another button woe was snapping these pearl snaps onto this dress. It's a process that requires a special tool, and either I bought the wrong tool, or I'M the tool, because I had the damnedest time getting them where I wanted them. 

Otherwise, the pattern went together easily--this is only my second-ever project with a collar, so it was a fun adventure. I hand-sewed down the bottom edges of the yoke along with the fringe so I could get the fringe exactly where I wanted it, and I glued on the rhinestones. I've thought about adding more sprinklings of rhinestones around the flowers... maybe someday. 

My only regret is that I wish I had angled the yokes on the back so it didn't look like a sailor dress situation back there. 

Butterick 5556: My old faithful didn't let me down on this one. I knew the pocket placement would be perfect for some piping and arrows, and it's just such a cute lil skirt. 

To add the piping, I just laid those bad boys 5/8 inch in along the edges of the pockets, then sewed them to the sides of the skirt (with the piping in the middle.) The triangle appliques cover the ends of the piping nicely! BUT I recently saw a time-lapse video of how to hand-embroider the arrow appliques, which I think I'll be doing next time! You can see that video here on Jukebox Mama's Instagram, for those following along at home. 

Styling and Shoot

Shoes: B.A.I.T. Footwear 
Fabric: Online somewhere? Hand-dyed by me with a potion of two or three shades of RIT dye

Photos by Hattie Clark, at Homemaker's Bar in Cincinnati, OH and also on a random street corner.