Every once in a while, a fabric gets sidelined, not because I don't like it, but because I just don't have very much of it.
And while I don't have many patterns that require a small amount of yardage, I did have McCalls 7740 on hand. What I didn't realize when I chose the pattern, though, was the fact that it is full lined, and therefore requires essentially twice the amount of yardage I was expecting. (Why I didn't study the pattern envelope, or the pattern instruction more closely before committing is something I cannot explain.)
It also proved rather difficult to find a matching turquoise cotton for whatever reason.
I lost interest at some point and tucked the cut pieces of the fashion fabric away. But that is dangerous because it always takes me quite a bit of time to figure out exactly where I left things, what the issues were, and I often find something new and shiny to distract me away from the unfinished project bags.
I was intrigued by the minimal yardage requirement of the garment, and figured it would be handy to have a pattern on hand that could potentially use up smaller pieces of fabric. And so I continued making the dress.
Invisible zippers are not my favorite choice, but the pattern does call for one, and I happened to have a very good color match stashed away.
And here is where the pattern started to give me a bit of a headache.
I was expecting to make the backless version with a single tie at the neckline. But even shortening the back length and repeatedly re-opening the waist seamline to pull more and more back bodice length out, the back continued to gape.
After admitting defeat, I decided the only thing to do was to add another set of ties to the lower portion of the back opening which would help to minimize the bodice pulling away from the body.
I was too lazy to reopen the finished edge, so I just finished both sides of the ties, and carefully hand stitched them onto the finished garment.
So this may not be the fabulous dress that I was hoping for, but I still managed to get a wearable garment out of the exercise, which is always nice.
I am just happy that this fun turquoise and red cotton was finally rescued from the stash.
But I still hate that lining color match (or lack thereof!).
The dress feels slightly out of my style comfort zone, but it's always nice to try something a little different.
Especially when it doesn't take five plus yards of fabric!
I may have been tempted to leave it in the unfinished pile, but I am pleased to say that both the pattern and I persevered. And that's the story of this dress.
