Completed New Look 6826 - Phew!

From my last couple of posts it's clear that this dress caused me some problems when, in actual fact, it should have been fairly straight-forward!

So let's get going with the review.......

From my past experiences (which are limited, granted) I decided to increase the darts in the bodice and reduce the amount of material in the neckline before I cut the pattern. I was hoping this would solve my 'full-breasted' issue and help the neckline to sit flat. And it worked - YIPEE!
My first pattern adjustment and it was a success, who would have thought it.

Moving on to the dart situation.
I sewed and then re-sewed the bust dart approximately 10 times. I couldn't escape the 'cone-shaped breast' look and felt Madonna was the only person that could pull this off!
But lo and behold, a comment from Vintage Girl saved the day (thanks for that!)
I was reminded that the dart needed to taper off the fabric to nothing rather than be sewn to a point and, taking some extra care (and by that I mean sewing slowly), I finally managed it!

I also had a problem with the darts in the back of the body. Thanks to my round bottom, the darts separated too much - which meant the back of the dress lost it's shape and made my bottom look even rounder. Only way to overcome this was to sew down the darts. Turns out, this not only totally fixed the shaping issues but also looks pretty cool!

My next problem was sizing. In terms of pattern sizing, my measurements are as follows:
Bust - 12 / Waist - 16 / Hips - 16
So I sewed accordingly. My gut feeling was that the bodice was too big, especially as it needed to sit nicely under the breast in order to work as an empire line. But I didn't follow my gut and put everything together anyway.
Foolish!
It was definitely too big (which, to be honest, does wonders for a girls confidence!) but it also meant that, if I intended on wearing the dress, it needed further adjustments.

A call to my mother-in-law (retired designer for Jaeger and Topshop), gave me my solution - I was to pull in more material into the bodice darts and similarly, pull in the same amount into the pleats on the body. Genius. And success!
She also explained that this is probably what I should for future patterns anyway, given my measurements - apparently it's a neat way to take sizing from 12 to 16 without the excess all ending up in the side seams....

So enough of my chat, here's the final product:

So it turns out, after all the issues I had, I kinda like it.

I think the main reason for this is because it has taught me a lot! Pattern adjustments, darts, fitting adjustments....this one had it all for me.

And even though I turned a fairly straight-forward pattern into a bit of a mission, it worked. So I'm happy.

(apologies for length of post on this one - it would seem I had a lot to say!)

Completed New Look 6457 - Albeit A Little Short

First week back at work after the Christmas and New Year break. Always tough, no matter how much you enjoy  your job.

This year, the first week back was made a little more bearable by the fact that I've spent virtually all of my non-working hours doing the one thing we all love to do....sitting at the sewing machine and finishing something.

My first complete project of 2011 - New Look 6457 (option E) with amendments

Ok, I'll begin by admitting that my judgment in terms of skirt length was slightly off and this dress is even a little short for me. There's no getting away from it. That being said, when worn with jodhpur leggings rather than flimsy tights, it's not entirely ridiculous.

Construction wise, this was a fairly easy creation.
Instructions are straight-froward and there are fewer pieces than other patterns I've made in the past which always limits the number of mistakes one can make!

My only issue was with the neckline......it ended up sitting fairly awkwardly, creating gaps between the dress and my chest.

In the end, I had to come to terms with the fact that I was suffering from my age-old issue I have with clothing - my bust is fuller than the pattern allowance.

Unfortunately, it was a little late for 'hidden' adjustments on this one so I had no choice but to add darts into the neckline to remove the excess material and make it lay flat against my chest.......
Now, diagonal darts (that I could have made look as though they were purposefully added) just wouldn't flow into the bust seams smoothly, no matter how hard I tried. And the harder I tried, the more frustrated I became.
So eventually I succumbed to the final lone option of adding a centre dart instead. It wasn't particularly pretty, but on a positive note, it called for some fabulous buttons to act as camouflage.

I also added an external, fully visible zip to the dress, updating the pattern to match current designs you might find in the shops. I tend to have a soft spot for them.

Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the results and have learnt my lesson to include darts into the pattern from the beginning when making anything with a low neckline............
Alternatively, I could stop being so lazy and create a muslin version before moving onto the real thing.

Hmmmm, anyone else suffer from the temptation to skip the (often much needed) practice piece???

Completed Simplicity 2591 - The First

Okay, so I'm cheating a little with the timeline here as this was technically, completed in 2010, but still, it was my first completed project so I felt it should be included in the journey.

Meet Simplicity 2591:

I wasn't sold on the gathered neckline option so opted for option A......turns out, for a first dress, it was a little tricky.

What you don't really see from the pattern picture is that the side of the dress is made up of long, deep pockets. Looks great on the finished product (and pockets are a guilty pleasure of mine) but blimey, it caused me some problems in the construction.

Somehow - and I sound vague because I actually cut the side pieces twice and this still happened! - one side of the dress was wider than the other. Clearly something went a little wrong....being new to this, I'm afraid your guess is as good as mine.....but I blindly adjusted and fiddled and it's not particularly noticeable to the naked eye.

Other features of the dress seemed fairly straightforward. Gathered skirt, front and back, worked well and, although my sleeves ended up a little smaller than they probably should have (mainly due to poor sewing), my top arms are not particularly loved so undertops are my wardrobe staple.

Completed project:

I absolutely adore the material, which always encourages me to pick it out from the wardrobe....just cotton, but the colours and the pattern make me feel all warm inside.

It's certainly not perfect but it's wearable - an achievement in my mind. Plus, given it's the first one, it will always hold a special place in my heart!

p.s. now that my sewing activities have a real home, photography will improve....