Khrystos Voskres! Christ is risen!
Phew! Lent is over and true to tradition; I barely finished my annual Easter dress for Easter Mass.
Every year at this time, I design and sew a Ukrainian inspired Easter dress. This year, I had trouble choosing between 4 dress designs. So by the time I nailed down a design and started the embroidery, it was already half way through Lent.
Blue Ukrainian Embroidered Dress
A couple weeks ago when I realized there was no way I would be able to finish the embroidery before Easter, I dug through my mom’s box of embroidery she received from my babcha. In the box, I found some beautiful bright blue and purple men’s shirt embroidery from Ukraine.
You would think it would be easy for me once I had the embroidery. But unfortunately, this made the design process harder! It was hard to figure out a combination of fabric, color, embroidery, design, and fit that worked together.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I was likely in more pain Friday night trying to come up with an Easter dress design, than my sister who was having labor contractions.
I finally nailed down the design the day before Easter. It was right in front of me and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner!! I decided to use Burdastyle 02/2015 #129 Dress pattern (size 36).
I started embroidering a Burdastyle #123 linen dress last spring, so I already had the dress pieces cut. (I had to cut some new pieces since a few of the originals had embroidery started on them.)
This pattern turned out to be perfect! It was both a design I was itching to make for myself, and it incorporated most of my embroidery design ideas! It also allowed me to put a feminine & modern spin on the Ukrainian men’s shirt and use all the embroidery pieces without cutting them!
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I made a couple changes to the pattern.
I added the back invisible zipper to make the head opening larger. This prevents me from getting make-up on the dress when dressing and undressing..
The dress looked a little shapeless and boxy on me, so I added the back gathering and belt. It also looks less like a Ukrainian men’s vestment with the gathered back waistline.
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Overall, I am very happy with the dress! It very much reflects my style and taste. I don’t think I could’ve come up with a better dress with the time I had to spare and materials I had in stock.
Eventually, I will finish the other planned dress design and (maybe) post about it on the blog. It will be interesting to compare the two projects!
I hope you had a nice Easter! Enjoy spring!!
Here are work in progress photos.
Thanks again to the family & friends who gave me late night Easter Vigil feedback/suggestions! You’re the best!!
Stunning. What a beautiful dress which keeps your family culture alive and well.
Thank you Marjorie! I hope you had a nice Easter as well!
So beautiful! What a wonderful way to incorporate ready-made embroideries, and carry your babcha with you in a way. I love the colours of the men’s bands and it works perfectly with the shape of this dress. Happy Easter!
Thank you Melwyk! I was lucky to have found the embroidery! (There was no way I could finish the embroidery I started.)
The pieces may have been embroidered by my babcha, but we’re pretty sure that relatives from Ukraine sent it to her.
I hope you had a wonderful Easter too!
The dress is so beautiful! Any Ukrainian girl, me included, would be happy to wear it! You picked a perfect dress pattern, which, paired with the fabric and embroidery, conveys the atmosphere of a traditional shirt 🙂 I am quite curious about the fabric though, did you apply lace on top of linen?
this dress is fantastic, I really admire embroidery and it’s something I would like to learn and insert in my sewing project.
I am a big fan of yours! Your work is stunning. Thank you for sharing your passion which is very contages. I am also Ukrainian by heritage living in the Czech Republic. You are a true inspiration for me. Natalka
Thank you for the support and kind words Natalka! You’ll enjoy one of my future posts! (I can’t post anything until after Ukrainian Christmas since the pieces are Christmas gifts for family.) It’ll inspire you if you do your own Ukrainian embroidery 😉
~Mary Grace