Doctor Who Fandom Skirt and Dress

What happens when a Doctor Who fan finds out that her local Joann Fabric and Crafts have Doctor Who fabrics?

She goes and buys some of course!

Not only did I buy fabric, so did a bunch of my friends in the hopes of making clothing items. T.A.R.D.I.S. and Daleks and flannels, oh my!  I bought two yards of the repeating T.A.R.D.I.S. print and 4 yards of the exploding/Van Gogh T.A.R.D.I.S. print. As much of a not fan of the Daleks as I am, I am almost tempted to go back and get that fabric to make a skirt out of.

I turned the repeating T.A.R.D.I.S. print into an A-line skirt. I made it in half a day, a week before attending Triad Anime Con where I wore it on Sunday. It’s a comfortable skirt since both the fabric and the lining are cotton based. It’s not something I can wear to work because the print is…well…see for yourself.

It’s a bold print, one which I can only wear on my days off from work or to cons – and also only with solid colored tops. But I really liked the cut of the skirt so I will probably make another in a more work appropriate print. (By the way, the pattern is Simplicity 1717, style B curvy.) Because I am apparently curvier than Simplicity thinks curvy women are, I had to add two extra darts in the back to fit the waist properly.

One of my friends, Angela, bought the exploding/Van Gogh T.A.R.D.I.S. fabric and made a fabulous dress out of it. This, naturally, made me want to make a dress of my own once I had acquired the same fabric. It took a while to decide – with the input of friends – which pattern to use. I ended up deciding on Simplicity 1755, dress A but with the skirt length of dress B. I used the T.A.R.D.I.S. fabric for the main dress, a navy stretch sateen cotton for the collar and removable belt, and a navy polyester lining in the bodice. Except for the DW fabric, everything else used to make this dress came from my hoard (yay for using up scraps!).

As with the skirt, I had to make a few adjustments, mostly to the top. I had to shorten the top at the neck edges by a total of about 2 inches. Then I took in the sides about 1 inch under each arm; I cheated and made “pleats” under the arms so I could maintain the blouse-iness of the top while closing the arm openings to a more comfortable level. I don’t always like exposing that much of my arms so I will probably wear a cardigan with this (perfect excuse to buy the Her Universe Tardis or Union Jack cardigans I have been lusting over).

The skirt on this dress is MASSIVE. It has all these pleats in the front so it didn’t look as large until I laid it on the floor in the midst of sewing; it’s makes a half circle skirt…with pleats. The above photo shows the dress with a petticoat underneath; you can get a sense of how full the skirt is. Without the petticoat it’s still pretty impressive.

Best part is the dress skirt has pockets strategically hidden by pleats. I love skirts and dresses (anything really) with pockets. Even if I don’t put anything in them, inevitably my hands will find my way into pockets. The print is attention grabbing and a different sort of boldness from the skirt. I think there might be certain days I could wear this to work, at least I’ll find a way.

P.S. Notice how the photography of my skirt is different from my dress? I recently purchased some soft box lighting equipment off eBay for my photography lessons. I practiced with them for the first time to photograph the dress. What a difference controlled lighting can make! I am hoping to make it a habit to photograph new projects using the equipment. Hopefully soon I can get a set-up and backdrop so you guys don’t have to see the blah off-white paint of my walls.