Vote to Choose the SewStylish Dress to Impress Challenge Winner

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Nicole Smith, contributor

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Vote for your favorite entry in the SewStylish Summer Dress to Impress Contest.

Winner will receive a StyleBasic Dress Form from Manne-King, size 6/8, is a pinnable dress form in creme jersey with matching light oak tripod base and neck top.

Manne-King

Winner will also receive a $50.00 gift certificate from Britex Notions, the online store of the brick-and-mortar Britex Fabrics in San Francisco, California! Britex Notions offers buttons, lace trims and ribbons for all occasions.

Britex

Vote for your favorite entry in the SewStylish Summer Dress to Impress Contest.

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Wow! What an amazing array of beautiful dresses! We are so unbelievably impressed.

The editors here voted and narrowed the entries down to the top 5. Now it's your turn to select the winner! First place gets a Style Basic dress form from Manne-King and a $50 gift card from Britex notions.

Below are the five finalists. Be sure and scroll to the bottom for the poll. Congrats to all of the finalists!

Fun Summer Cocktail Dress by Lauraleeva - This one shoulder cocktail dress is made from a red, cream, and black floral print cotton sateen. The dress features hand sewn stones across the top of the neckline to add an unexpected detail. It is fully lined and underlined, including the two bottom tiers. Both tiers have hand sewn hems with horsehair braid to make them stand out. The dress closes with an invisible side zipper.

Grandma's dress by UnifinishedProjects - I found an old photograph of my Grandma, and I fell in love with her dress. So I decided to make my own! This is the first full-skirted dress I've ever made. It took me quite a while to find a pattern that matched the style of the dress. I ended up using New Look pattern 6886. I paired the sweetheart neckline with the off-the-shoulder straps, a combination that was not shown on the pattern package. I did have some difficulty getting the straps to lay flat, which is probably why that particular combination was not shown. 
     I used the skirt pattern pieces from an authentic 1950s vintage dress pattern as a basis for the petticoat. Everything else from that point on was improvised. I wanted to make sure I could wear the petticoat with different length dresses so I created eight gathered ties to pull up the dress.
     It has been so fun to make this dress in memory of my Grandma. I didn't realize it until a few days ago, but my Grandma passed away exactly five years ago this month. This one's for you, Grandma!

Polka Dots and Crinolines by Laura_Mae - This dress combines some of my favorite design elements: 1950s-style, full skirt, dropped waist, and, of course, polka dots.
     I added a net crinoline to my skirt lining using construction elements from another 1950s repro pattern, Butterick 4792.  I love the way this creates a poof at the lower hip, which I think is a more flattering line than starting at the waist, especially with this pattern's drop-waist construction.  Be warned, this does take up a lot of closet space!
     The Vogue pattern does not include a belt as a design element, but after constructing the dress, I thought it would be even more flattering with a nipped in waist accent.  However, I knew that a self-fabric belt would be lost with all the dots.  After searching high and low for an appropriate white belt, the only thing I could come up with was a woven belt with gold toned d-rings.  Because I did not like the look of the gold contrast, I used bias strips of my fashion fabric to wrap away the gold.

Military-Inspired Jean Dress by Cloudyhn - This year, Jean Dresses were presented and appeared on fashion shows from so many famous designers in the world. This jean dress was designed and stitched by myself about end of summer 2008. Inspired by military style I used stretching jean and many small hooks plus the back details to create the strong character for the dress. V-neck front when unlock 2 top hooks.

Navy and white scalloped dress by AdventuresInDressmak - I was first inspired by an Anthropologie dress but designed my own style and pattern for this dress, looooosely based on a McCall's.

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Comments (11)

lulu5156 writes: I ♥ the green polka dot dress, so 50th chic. Love all the dreses but this is my pick :)
Posted: 1:36 pm on August 3rd

GreenTrunkDesigns writes: I love green so I have to cast my vote for the green polka dot dress. The others are lovely too.
Posted: 3:26 pm on August 2nd

MerrySunshine writes: I agree all the dresses are beautiful, but my favorite is the dress made in Grandma's memory. The model is as beautiful as her grandmother.
Posted: 7:31 pm on July 30th

ilovesewinginsa writes: All these dresses are lovely and everyone did a fantastic job. My vote is for the red cocktail dress. I think it looks very high end and I’d love to wear it. Nice work!
Posted: 12:51 am on July 30th

q455923354 writes: wonderfull dresses! congatulations to all of you
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links of london jewellery
Posted: 12:40 am on July 29th

dannyk90 writes: I see I forgot to reference the dress I made earlier comments on. I meant to say the Jean dress is the dress I was most IMPRESSED with. It is the most unique of all the entries.
Posted: 1:17 pm on July 28th

dannyk90 writes: I am IMPRESSED! This dress looks like a custom design - no pattern. Very creative. All five look good, but this one is most unique. Great work!
Posted: 11:08 am on July 28th

cloudyhn writes: Wow... I feel so greatful to be chosen in the 5 finalists. Thank you for creating such a nice place and oppotunity for sewers to share our sewing passion. It was amazing to see that the contest had so many many beautiful dresses posted and I loved all of them. Great work everybody...and have a joyful summer.
Posted: 10:53 am on July 28th

babe57 writes: I love the jean dress with the military influence. Great and different look with the use of jean.
Posted: 10:30 am on July 28th

Riet writes: it was hard to choose because these are all wonderfull dresses! congatulations to all of you
Posted: 3:15 am on July 28th

Lauraleeva writes: I'm honored to have been selected as a finalist, especially with all of the other fabulous dresses that were entered. Congratulations & good luck to the other finalists!
Posted: 8:03 pm on July 27th

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