Friday Night Fagoting

So what does one wear to a midsummer, outdoor, daytime wedding? If you're my genetically blessed husband, you pop into Banana Republic on the way home from work and saunter back out with a perfectly fitted light grey suit.  If you're me, you fire up a coffee machine with one hand and a sewing machine with the other.

Fabrication:
The dress is made from a peach and ivory brocade from Paron Fabrics--my favorite fabric store--in NYC.  I've included a full lining made from cotton muslin. The bodice is supported by boning--10 bones to be exact!  At first I thought the brocade would be too heavy for a summer day, but the cotton lining was just the perfect thing to keep the dress comfortable and cool all day.

Construction:
I started this dress with the pattern, McCall's 5881.  It's a simple party dress with clean lines.  But as a lover of all things baroque, I just couldn't leave well enough alone.  I longed for a ruffle, a sequin, lace, embroidery, oh anything for an ornament!  It must have been the Bach fugues spilling from my stereo speakers that set me on a mission to embellish with a fagoted seam, a decorative seam that joins two pieces of fabric together with a space between them and a row of hand stitching.

Fagoted Seam from Colette Patterns blog

At first, I thought I could execute the seam with my sewing maching.  Here are my test samples:



Too big.



Too small.



Too sloppy.

Machine fagoting proved too weak and messy.  Only hand-stitching would render the best result. 

  Yes, hand fagoting.  I used heavy topstitching thread to really capture that filigree look.

Hand-stitched fagoted seam

If you'd like to try out your own fagoted seam, check out the Colette Patterns tutorial.

Accessories:
Like my bag? You can have one too! This is the Carla Bag, designed and made by me, for my Etsy shop, Style Me Mary.  Stop by to see more of my designs.

DJ Mary's Pick:
In keeping with my inclination for ornamentation, I give you the matchless Rostropovich who gives Bach a SPEEDY treatment.  When you are given the option to pick up the tempo, please do.  Bach and Rostropovich would approve.