Miss You Sew Much

So, I mentioned my new dress/jacket, which I made for Pittsburgh.

I needed a dress to wear...something winter, not too showy (it's HER day), but comfortable. Yes, I could have pulled something out of the back of the closet (I haven't had the need to dress up much lately, so dresses are pretty tucked away), or I could have gone to the store and endured mid-February clothes shopping (try finding something that's not SPRINGY), but really, it's so much better to make something. Not only do you wind up with just the garment you want, but you also are honoring the person for whom the event is planned -- I made this special just for this event! It just does feel more...ok, special.

The other thing is, when your bust measurement is almost five inches smaller than your hip measurement, well, dresses off the rack never fit right. Separates are ok because you can buy them in different sizes, but not dresses. I've gotten pretty good at taking in tops and flaring out bottoms as necessary in commercial patterns.

I love the style of this dress...

The three-piece front is a flattering style for any shape, but especially for less-than-large-busted women such as myself, and the scalloped hem is flouncy and pretty. I chose a green sort of twilly sort of peachskin (pictures to come) that has a bit of a stretch. It was very easy to work with. I decided not to line it though, and I had to adjust the neckline quite a bit, as the darts and the waist were too low. I also had to take in the armholes a bit. But those mods were no big whoop (I did have to cut a custom facing for the neck, though, since it was now a completely different shape.) The neck seam puckered a little bit at one corner, but I don't care, because it's sleeveless, so I'll have a jacket over it. Also, since I didn't line it, I had to figure out what to do with the armholes (no facings, no lining) -- and for the same reason, I just overcasted the edges and then rolled them in, and topstitched. They got a little bit puckery, too...grar. But again. Jacket. So I didn't bother ripping it out and redoing it. I'll do that for the next time I wear it.

The jacket was a horse of a different color. I used a heavy brown moleskin that was embroidered with simple green-gold-red shapes. In a dress, it would have made me look like a chair. But for just the jacket, I think it actually looks pretty nice. Since the jacket goes *over* the dress, you'd think that it'd be cut a bit bigger than it is. Even adding some flare at the bottom wasn't quite enough, and I decided to not even add a button/buttonhole, mainly because I ran out of time. The shoulders fit just fine, but the waist and hips really could have used another inch or so (I like a loose fit -- but a FIT, not a potato sack.) Also, the neck of the jacket was pretty confusing to put together -- there's a long front underfacing piece (well, two pieces that you put together), and then a back facing that I finally figured out goes inside...but it all goes together in a weird way, and it did make a tiny bit of a pucker that I just couldn't get out in time. The back facing piece I would have done in a lighter lining fabric had I figured out sooner how the thing goes together. I struggled with this for quite a while before I figured out how it was supposed to go together -- and I still wasn't able to machine stitch it exactly the way it needed to be. But close enough.

That said, I REALLY like how the jacket came out. I think it helps that the fabric has a bit of weight to it, and I used plenty of interfacing. But the collar is a really interesting feature (I have a small wrinkle in mine on the inner left neck, but I'm sure I can figure that out), and it lays nicely.

I will definitely make both of these pieces again. The neck facing on the dress is a bit tricky, but I think next time I'll put the facing in first, and THEN do the alterations. And I'd probably tape the armholes or maybe even actually line the dress. I could make my own facings, but if I'm going to do that, I might as well line it anyway. The fit is just excellent, and with my minor alteration (taking it in at the shoulder seams), the waist hits exactly the right spot, and the bottom is just a *little* bit flouncy, as it should be.