I still have a subscription to Stitches magazine and there are issues that I flick through and never absorb. In Vol 18 no 10, there is a story about Lace in fashion showing at the National Gallery in Victoria until January 2011. What caught my eye was a dress by Pierre Balmain made in 1966.
After doing a bit of thinking, I found two knit fabrics in my stash. One is a black net with lace outline and the other is a plain poly knit with a some texture. I think these were remnants from Pitt Trading years ago.
The photo doesn’t really show the texture on the solid knit. What this did give me was the fabric to make a similar styled dress.
I decided to keep the neckline the same and the dress body sheath was easy to do with this knit fabric.
The next step was to find a similar pattern in my stash to use for this pattern.
I chose Simplicity 2615 as the basis for the dress. You can see the a pencil drawn yolk line that starts under the sleeve and curves up to the center front. There is also a roll shoulder adjustment and I took out some fullness after making up the dress yesterday.
As you can see from my design, I have only included one layer of lace to keep the emphasis on my face. I still love the original Balmain version and would have loved to be tall enough to carry it off confidently.
velosews 
A beautiful dress and it looks so much better in real life as you can see the texture in the knit. Great inspiration and you have done a wonderful job in intpretating it for you.
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Oh that is lovely!
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It looks great Maria. I love it!
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Thanks for the detailed post Maria. It looks beautiful. I love the Balmain original. Was it bridal?
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Love the dress – what great work. Luisa R
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