Spreading the Mews

I've always loved novelty dresses. Before I knew how to sew, I would buy them from anywhere I could find them. Now that I know how to sew, I still buy novelty dresses. Not long ago, I ~bought~ this dress from ModCloth. I say ~bought~ because the company oversold the dress and cancelled my order before it could ship.

Disappointed, I did the next best thing. I found the exact same fabric for sale online, ordered it, and made a copy~cat~ dress of my own.

In love with this print, I decided to make another version of my favorite dress: the Lisette (Simplicity 1419). I made the optional Peter Pan collar with black velvet for extra kitty vibes. The fabric is from Timeless Treasures, purchased through Fabric.com.

While overall similar to the dress from ModCloth (brand Retrolicious), my dress has a different neckline, sleeves, and collar. I also centered the print so that "The Kitty Courier" would be legible on the bodice of the dress.

I definitely spent more time, energy, and money on this dress than I would have spent on the original dress from Modcloth, but I don't care. I adore this dress, even more than its original inspiration.

My favorite thing about this dress has to be the paw-some puns! If only all news articles could be as enjoyable and heartwarming. "I think my cat is an extraterrestrial!" "Purranormal Cativity" "Marlowe the Cat Elected Mayor of New York Town for Sixth Term!"

"Vampire Cats Terrorize Town!" The photos are adorable, and each news story has convincing text. Similar to this circuit fabric, this cat-themed newspaper print makes me want to design my own fabric, featuring photos of and stories about my own cat.