I was tempted to call this project a WIP as I'm really seeing it as a first step towards a much better dress, but after I'd taken photographs of it I realised that I really like it, despite it's little problems. I always feel a bit like I'm being super picky and negative when I point out all of the flaws in the things I make or that I'm being too self deprecating. However, I want to keep getting better and to make better things and acknowledging when things aren't perfect is definitely a part of that. Also I don't want anyone looking at my photos and wondering if I really think I made this dress in the right size!
And really, that is all that's wrong with it. Normally I don't mind things a little loose, it gives me a bit of room for chocolate biscuits, but this is a little big all over. The bodice is just a smidge too long and the extra room all round makes the back of the dress droop down. This is mostly helped by wearing a belt to hold everything where it should be. The bust darts are a little too low as well giving me loads of extra room just under my boobs. Sexy! I think most of this will be solved by making a smaller size although I'll get my ruler out next time just to be sure.
Oh and then there's this.
The world's least invisible invisible zip (invisizip?). I rarely use invisizips (yep, I'm running with it) because I have no real problem with people knowing I have a zip in my clothes and I have a massive stash of ordinary zips. This pattern called for an invisizip and I thought I hadn't done one in ages and I could use the practice if I had a suitable one in stock. The only one I had that matched was much shorter than I needed, but a quick pinning and trying on told me that I would be able to get in the dress if I used the short zip. So far so good. And then I got out the requisite foot for my sewing machine and everything went wrong.
Yep, I appear to have ended up with the drunk version which apparently thinks that its ok to have the bar thingy that attaches to the machine way over to one side! Apparently my tiny brain was completely unable to compensate for it's wonkeyness and my stitching ended up all kinds of nowhere near the zip teeth. The whole experience was a bit too trying for me, especially as the zip teeth also weren't feeding through the grooves properly either and the thought of doing it again was making me stabbity. Its really neat and even, despite the fact that it shouldn't be seen, so I've decided it stays.
Other than that, this is a really pretty dress and the fabric is lovely. It looks really different from close up and far away. Up close it's all about the humming birds and butterflies (or 'blies' as Felicity calls them), but from a distance the leafy pattern is the star of the show.
So, moving on, my next sewing project will be fulfilling the pledge I just made for the Made Up Initiative, which was launched by Karen of
Did You Make That? I was really happy to donate to the National Literacy Trust as reading has always been a big part of my life and as I pass that on to my children I know that not everyone has that. So with my children in mind, I've pledged to make a pair of trousers for Cassie before 10 September. I've traced the pieces today so I hope to update soon.
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