Did you know that dark purple dresses are scarce this time of year? Breanna's wedding colors are deep purple and teal, and her bridesmaids are wearing purple. She wanted a dress that would coordinate with them for going away, so after much searching she found this one at ModCloth that she liked.
This is the Coach Tour dress. It has a lot of really great features - the draped collar and buttoned tabs at the waist, underbust gathers for shaping and a gathered skirt with pockets. It is made of a rayon poly blend double knit. The only down side seemed to be the fact that it is sleeveless, but a cap sleeve tee would work underneath to take care of that. Then the dress arrived and even on Bre's 5'2" frame it is SHORT. Like, I hope you shaved all the way up short. Surgery was needed. Stat.
In order to get the length to Bre's knees, I added a 5 inch band at the hem. I used Sophia double knit from Vogue Fabrics, and it is a nice match to the original fabric of the dress. Getting an exact color match to the dress would have been impossible, and a matched band would definitely have looked like a "fix". With the black contrast, hopefully the look is more designer addition. :)
Since Bre needed a top to wear under the dress anyway, I made one out of the same double knit, to hopefully add to the look of a coordinated set. The pattern is one I copied from a RTW tee and have made at least 10 times. It's rather nice in the double knit. Perhaps I need one for myself...