FO: Skewed Flowers Dress

I'm here with a new dress today :) It's a bittersweet thing, sadly, but we will focus on the good parts first.

I put in a lot of time to fit Simplicity 1419 (talked about and pictures of alterations here). I decided that this pattern was worthy of serious fitting work because it would be a good block that I could make variations on - it has just straight waist darts and bust darts, so it would be great for all the novelty fabric I have waiting that has patterns in stripes. I wanted to make it up as-is too with the fancy collar and whatnot, so after altering the pattern for my "dowager's hump" (ugh, that's so depressing), thick waist, and hollow chest, I cut it out for real. This fabric is called Flori-logic by Pippa Moon for Studio E Fabrics that I picked up at my trip to The Sewing Studio this past New Year's Day. The fabric was in their clearance quilting cottons, so it was 50% off and then an additional 40% off of that, so I grabbed the last 3.3 yards on the bolt for just $11.00 - score! The collar is just white Kona Cotton that was in my stash from an old UFO.

Yay, pockets!

I really like this pattern overall - the instructions were surprisingly good for a "Big 4" pattern, and I really had no problems with any part of the actual construction. My only issues were with personal mistakes, of course. Likes, likes, Megan, talk about the likes first, lol. So, there are pockets! I love pockets, man. Everything is better with pockets. I really like the skirt on this - the pleats are very flattering, I think, and help the fabric lay flat over my tummy.  The bodice fit came out nice, and I love the sleeves. Hmm ... what else? I like that i can wear this belt with it to break things up a bit at the waist, lol.

So, what makes this dress "bittersweet" for me? Well, just take a gander at the photo below. I'll give you a hint - it's in the neck region ...

My keyhole in the neckline is totally slanting to one side! Ugh! I was seriously so ticked off when I noticed this problem. See, here is how it happened - in all my fitting changes to the bodice fit, I had to redraft the entire neckline and facings - the keyhole has a large facing that goes from the shoulders to around the keyhole, and the original was symmetrical. All I can think of is that when I was redrafting the new facing, I never folded it in half to make sure it was perfectly symmetrical - I just traced and trusted. Never do that! Always check, people! Learn from my cautionary tale so you don't look like a doofus who can't see straight when you sew. By the time I realized the slant, it was way too late to help since you have to cut into the bodice fabric to make the slit. The whole collar and keyhole was finished. I will confess - I have been too embarrassed to even wear this out of my house. I would feel compelled to lean to the side when I was near any other humans. *sigh*

Here's a close-up of the horrendous slant. Another screw up on my part - I accidentally put the collar pieces on upside down. I meant to have the interfaced side on the top, but then somehow I didn't pay enough attention and I put them in the opposite way. Ugh. I do like the collar though, and I know that it wouldn't be a big deal if I hadn't made the slant crooked. You probably wouldn't notice any problem with the collar if that hadn't happened. I used a gray satin covered shank button from my stash that I'm pretty sure came as an extra button on something someone else bought (my grandma kept all her buttons too and I inherited her stash). The gray matched pretty well, and I really just wanted the button to disappear. The last thing this neckline needs is another thing competing for the onlooker's attention, ya know? I was pleased with my sewing in all this process though, which is nice  to think of :)

Oh gosh, the back and side view. These pictures finally made me understand how Roisin of Dolly Clackett complains about her back looking derpy. Maybe it's that I now have a fitting diagnosis that I am, actually, a hunchback. I have awful posture, and that doesn't help. Also, the back collar has issues. Either way, I hate that back photo. I have a consistent problem with sewing zippers, and I may sound like a bonehead for asking, but it's never been explained to me. Do you put the top edge of the zipper tape along the edge of the fabric? Do you drop it down? I ask this because the zipper tape always ends up causing the back of my dresses to stand away from my (hunched) back. Hooks and eyes don't help, facings definitely exacerbate the issue, but I'm pretty sure that the underlying culprit is the damned zipper tape. If anyone could enlighten me on this, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, my zipper doesn't match up exactly on the collar - it was so frustrating, and I can only blame (yet again) my drafting issue since it made everything slant. It's not horrible (only about 1/4" if even that), and I have long hair, so I wasn't worried about it. I made a choice between having the top match or the waist seam match, and this area was easily hidden, so the choice was obvious to me.

My invisible zipper did go in beautifully, and I'm ridiculously proud of that :) Also, check out that waist seam matching action - ho yeah! As far as other details, I just turned and stitched the hem and the sleeves since the fabric has such a busy pattern. You really don't even see the thread.

So, there you have it. A dress. With a slanted cut at the neckline. It's a shame, because I really do like the dress other than that, so I am hoping that one day I decide to do a major hack and change the neckline to something more ... straight, lol. In the meantime, maybe I'll just look for a high collared sweater and keep it buttoned up all the way? I mean, it's a shame to not wear a dress that goes so well with my Swedish Hasbeens, right? I'm choosing to look at it positively as a learning experience - I most definitely learned the problems while making this! I'm hoping to use this pattern again with a plain neckline soon, so here's hoping I can put my new "knowledge" to good use :)

Summary:
Fabric: 3.3 yards of Flori-logic by Pippa Moon - $11.09, white Kona Cotton - from stash
Notions: 22" invisible zipper - $1.50, lightweight fusible interfacing - $0.25?, grey satin shank button - free
Pattern: Simplicity 1419 - $0.99
Hours: A lot - maybe 20 total?

WIP Thursday: It Has Begun!

Sorry I'm a little late this week - a day late and a dollar short as they say. But better late than never, right? It's been one of those months weeks. Anyway, I think I'll start with progress on something you already are used to seeing, lol.

I finished the right front of my Emelie! Isn't it exciting?! It's looking more and more sweater-like all the time.  Even with my nice progress and excitement around this sweater, I have had to put it aside again :( I am getting a jump on my holiday gift knitting this year so I'm not a frantic crazy person like usual (well, let's face it, that will probably still happen, just for different reasons, lol). Anyway, I officially started my Christmas knitting on Sunday night and I already have one item 90% finished!

This is the only sneak peek you get, I'm afraid. I hate not being able to show what I'm making here, but I would hate for one of my family members to actually read my blog and spoil their gifts (I don't think they do read it, but just on the off chance...). I just had to show something because this is a project I've always wanted to make, but just couldn't justify for myself. So someone else will get it instead, lol. Don't you just love the colors?! The gray is Patons Classic Merino in Pearl Gray and the variegated is Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Alpine Pearl (ooh, fancy!). Even better - both of these yarns came from a thrift store! Crazy, right? I can't believe someone would donate Malabrigo anything, but it was 100% unused and even wound into a cake when I bought it. I love the subdued colors and I love this combo of purple with gray. Anyway, I think this year I will show mysterious closeups like this so at least I can say, "Look! I MADE A THING!" and have something to show for it :)

I've also been plugging away diligently on my first Dahlia dress. As usually happens though, I have hit an unfortunate road block. I'll admit, I did make this project much hard than it should be - I decided to use a super drapey rayon-type fabric, then decided to underline it, then decided to match the pattern - all of these things I have never done before. I thought I was in the clear after a ton of work on my muslin last week (like I am talking ALL of last Thursday was spent in my sewing room) and I cut into my "real" fabric. I've slowly poked along, working on things a little each night and Monday was the day I finally got things together enough to try it on and double check ...

It doesn't fit.

I think I've figured out my error, but that doesn't make it any less depressing. I must have cut out the bodice piece along my sewing line by mistake because no joke I cannot even make the side seam touch where the zipper should go. I know what I need to do - remove the entire bodice (which means undoing more than half of what I've already done), recut the main fabric and the lining, and reinsert the new pieces. Man, is that going to suck. On top of it not fitting, I also discovered that this fabric is so not "me". When I have it on, all I can think of is how I would never buy a dress in a store with this type of print. *le sigh* Oh well, I am going to finish it anyway just for some much needed closure. Honestly, I really just didn't need that this week, lol.

Here's a little look at my technically failed pattern matching - though it was a diagonal print so I don't know why I'm disappointed. Also the fabric is totally printed off grain - so yeah, I just did the best I could. Also here is a look at the insides - all nice and enclosed. Ah :) I treated the bodice as 'underlining' simply because the pattern doesn't give any lining instructions, so you can see the seam allowances, but I enclosed the waistband and did the skirt as 'lining' to keep things more flowy. I've learned that really drapey fabric is not exactly flattering on my lower half. For my body shape, "flowy" seems to equal "clingy", which is why I decided on adding a lining at all. The lining is there to pull the drapey pieces over my lumps in a more pleasing manner and it has definitely succeeded :) I really wish I was the kind of person who could just make up the dang pattern with no lining, but I will pick lining it every time - it's just so much nicer!

Oh, and I tried making bias tape for this project and I am honestly having to curb my ill-mannered words while typing this just by recalling that horrific experience. I followed the directions of the Colette Sewing Book with the black cotton batiste I used for the waistband and I even used a bias tape maker - what a load of crap that thing is. I've read countless sewists out there on the internet saying casually, "I made my own bias tape for this project," without batting an eye - WHAT AM I NOT GETTING HERE?! Is it really this eye-gougingly-frustrating for everyone and they are trying to sound nonchalant, or am I just missing the bias tape making gene? No joke, I actually had to make myself not scream in frustration and throw the wad of fabric across the room. To save my sanity I dug out some pre-made bias tape from my stash and used that. I'll willingly admit that I don't like this option - the fabric is really scratchy, especially compared to the rest of this dress - but I didn't have to try making it again so I'm ok with it. Ugh! Bias tape!

So, those are my projects this week :) On top of my crafty problems, I discovered 3 big time house problems in about 3 days - not fun! Hopefully things are going a bit smoother for you, lol. Anyone else started their Christmas crafting?