Purple Pansies

This is one of those patterns that I knew that I wanted to make up as soon as it was released.  Of course, it's a fabric hog, so that limits the amount of stashed yardage that I can use.  And so the pattern was put away, waiting for the right fabric to show up.

While trying to figure out my next project a couple of months back, I came across some cotton that was still on the bolt, just as it had been since I purchased it at the closing sale at my local JoAnn Fabrics.  I assumed that I had about 3 yards.

When I went to unfurl the yardage to measure what was left and to take care of pre-washing it, I realized there was significantly more fabric than I had expected.  I wish that happened more often!

In fact, I had enough to lengthen the skirt so that it is more of a tea length look than the original below the knee styling.  I definitely prefer a slightly longer length, so it was good news all around.

The pattern calls for bias tape to create the neckline elastic casing, but I prefer to use self-fabric when possible.

For one, it matches, and also, the most commonly produced bias tape is a poly/cotton blend, which I try to avoid whenever possible!

This particular quilting cotton is fairly lightweight and has a really nice hand, and the self-made bias tape worked perfectly.

I will say that the instructions are interesting.  This is not the way that I would have chosen to construct this, but I decided to follow the given directions to see how it went.  The main downside to the given instructions is that it is impossible to tell how the bodice is going to fit until it is completely put together.

The wide neckline means a standard bra will not work, so I went ahead and added bust pads.  The pads that I had on hand were slightly too large for the design, so I just trimmed them down.  They get hand stitched into place along available seamlines.  It can be a little fussy to make sure they are in the right position and to have them sit between the bodice and lining layers, but it is definitely worth the extra effort.

So far, so good.

The pattern calls for different width elastic in the neckline and around the arm.  

This seemed like an odd choice, and seeing as the only neckline elastic that I had on hand was 1/4" instead of the suggested 3/8" (and I really didn't want to purchase more elastic) I decided to change things up slightly while still maintaining the difference in width between the neckline and arm.  I am still not entirely sure why that choice was made by the designer.

The tiered skirt went together fairly painlessly.  The cotton did want to fray, but not terribly.

And once the seam was stitched, I finished it with some seam binding.

Since I was dealing with a bunch of rectangles, the hemline was a piece of cake to finish.

A circle skirt is wonderful, but those curved hemlines can be a bit of a bear to deal with.

The sleeves are not lined, but the remainder of the bodice is so those raw edges were nicely contained.

And then there was a bit of hand sewing to accomplish.

It was around this time that I realized that I had made a mistake by sizing up with this pattern.

So instead of adding a waist stay for the purpose of stabilizing a form fitting waist seam, I used it to slightly take that waist in.

When that didn't feel quite secure enough, I added a length of elastic just under the bust line.  

This dress is essentially held up by the elastic in the shoulders of the dress and it does not have any added boning or something to maintain the structural integrity of the garment.  If those sleeves slip down, the whole bodice is going with them.

The addition of the waist stay and the under bust elastic worked pretty well.

I was hoping that this would be a pattern that I would return to again and again.  I'm not sure that I want to deal with modifying the construction of the bodice, and I don't know that I love the dress enough to deal with all of that gathering!

But only time will tell.  

A Summer Find

There are certain projects that get neglected for whatever reason, and this was one of them.

I know that I rushed to finish it for pattern testing, and I didn't actually hem the skirt for quite a while after the rest of the dress was complete.

It may be that the weather got away from me, and by the time I had stitched that hemline, the weather was too cold, or a pastel floral just didn't feel appropriate to wear.

But eventually, I got around to hemming the dress.  I actually love hand sewing, so I couldn't tell you exactly what my issue was.

And then it hung on the back of the sewing room door, for no obvious reason.  But at least the dress was completed.  That gives a sense of accomplishment, at the very least. 

Turns out, I love the print, and the dress isn't too shabby, either.

Now that I finally got around to wear the darn thing, I am quite happy to have another easy to wear wrap dress in my closet.

And I suppose that is the most important thing.

So perhaps I should get back to all of those other works-in-progress!

Dress:  Made by me, "Jade Wrap Dress"
Blouse:  Gap
Shoes:  Kate Spade
Earrings:  Etsy

Complementary Colors

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.