Molly's Bee Charmer Dress

One of the many things Joni and I have in common is an obsession for matching the perfect fabric to the perfect pattern. Sometimes the pattern comes first, but more often it's the fabric that grabs hold and demands to be sewn. That's how it was with this Fabric Finders pique featuring an adorable design of bees and yellow pindots on a white background:


Pique (pee-kay) refers to a weaving style characterized by raised parallel cords or fine ribbing. Cotton pique is a favorite of heirloom sewists because it gathers and pleats beautifully and the surface texture creates visual interest.

For Molly's Bee Charmer Dress, I paired the must-sew fabric with the Empire Waist Dress Pattern by Med Welch, who also must have a thing about bees. (She is the sweetest woman in the world, by the way. Her patterns are not for the faint of heart, as they're not illustrated, but they sew up beautifully!)



Molly's Bee Charmer Dress has a full skirt gathered to a gracefully-shaped empire waist trimmed with hand-made pima gingham mini-piping. Solid white Swiss pique collar is piped to match, and the square corners turned out perfectly if I do say so myself:



The short sleeves and skirt are trimmed above the hemline with bias bands of black-and-white gingham secured with edgestitching:



Completing the ensemble are a black-and-white Gingham Beret topped with a jaunty fabric-covered button; a pair of Taffeta Hair Ribbons to tie at the ends of Molly's braids; and a Honeybee Pendant with Swarovski crystal eyes strung on a silvertone chain.




The Bee Charmer ensemble is currently listed on eBay for Kindred Thread Modiste. Click here to visit the auction. Bidding ends Saturday, April 23 at 8 PM EDT.