‘Better-with-a-bow’ dress (Simplicity 1609)

My lack of activity in the blog-o-sphere really has been haunting me, I wont lie!

I recently started a new job. Don’t think it’s right to discuss work on a blog but I will say that I am really excited and I hope I can do a good job :)!
Yesterday I got in lots of sewing time in (housework be dammed) and today I made the final touches to this dress.
All my recent sewing projects seem to leave me with mixed feelings. I don’t know if that’s because my sewing is getting better (so I have higher standards) or because I pick the wrong things to make. Anyway here’s the new 60s dress (yes it’s another shift dress 😉 )

I didn’t get great pictures of me in the dress. I didn’t feel so fab, I had minimal make up on and then other things that I had to do came up. I guess I could always post better pictures later… (ugh ‘later’ seems to be my motto these days!)

Sewing nitty gritty: 

I am not really stoked about the fit of this dress. I think I could have gone up a size or made the side seam allowances smaller.

For anyone else who is considering making a dress up in the same pattern I would probably recommend going up a size if you don’t want a super tight fit. I have heard that vintage patterns are generally a smaller fit and this one has lots of darts and shaping.

Recently I have gone up half a dress size, I’m happy about it, but it does make deciding what size to cut more complicated (I’m sure others can relate). A lot of people move between sizes at different stages, but you want to pick a size that will work over time, so yea perhaps it’s better I go for a slightly looser fit next time!

The tricky thing about this faux cotton eyelet fabric is the ‘crease factor’. I am not really against a bit of creasing and I went to the trouble of underling the dress with a lightweight cotton which preserves modesty and makes the dress way more fancy! I really do love the effect underling has on a dress! It makes the dress fabric behave and it makes the dress feel much more substantial.

I really recommend underling. If you want to try it, or just want to learn more Julia Bobbin has a great tutorial/info !

I do wonder if the yellow cotton material was the right choice for this style of dress!  Despite the underling, it does pull and crease slightly (which is to be expected) but perhaps the fabric would have served me better as a top or a fuller pleated skirt. Doing something so fitted in a lightweight cotton may have been a bit silly.

The bow was fun and not difficult to make. I feel like adding bows to all my projects now. Mmmm I’m a big fan of the bow 🙂 (though I don’t enjoy the hand sewing on it).

I had those eyelet stripes going across the dress, which meant that I wanted them to match the fabric on both sides of the zip. I found a neat way of basting the other (yet-to-be-attached) side of the zip (keeping the regular sewing foot on and just moving the needle), before sewing the other side of the zip on….Guess that it’s too hard to explain without a tutorial.

That’s probably enough about the dress. Hope you like it!

I made a muslin using a different burda shift dress and it’s got me pretty excited excited about! It’s a looser fit shift dress, totally basic design and it’s bra-friendly. so I’m sure I will make a lot of dresses soon in crazy bold patterns!

-Kath

Chevron 60s Dress

I finally finished the dress I made using simplicity 1609. I have wanted a dress made from this sewing pattern and I was never going to be able to resist a 1960s reproduction pattern!

I’m going to say upfront that I am not so happy with the fit of this dress, but that’s OK because I did not attempt to alter the fit at all (this is how the pattern fit out of the envelope). These days I don’t seem to bother modifying the fit of a new pattern, I just make it in some less than special fabric, to see what the fit of the pattern is like. Is it worth fussing with the fit and making another? I’m not too sure. Perhaps it’s OK that its looser at the waist.

I kind of like not worrying about fit so much, because I have a lifetime supply of fabric and patterns to try anyway. When I worked at a fabric shop I would always buy up big when fabric was twice reduced in price, so I often managed to score fabric that was $5 a meter or less.

I love the 60s silhouette. The bagginess at the waist of my version is not so great (could have taken it in at the curved darts). Admiring other versions of this dress (made by other sewing bloggers) I noticed that often they made the dress either very fitted or a much looser shape. Perhaps I should trying increasing the seam allowances or removing the center front seam on my next version!

I was happy when I thought of using this fabric to create a chevron effect, because I love that kind of thing, and the fabric was pretty boring on its own.

The back of the dress is a puckering horrendous mess, but for the sake of being honest I am showing it to you. Perhaps the tension was off (on my machine), or perhaps it has to do with the fit. All I know is I just wanted this dress finished. I am a grown woman and I rush and swear at my sewing projects, it’s rather silly!

Done is better than perfect my friends!

After sewing so many dresses with lining I realized how much I hate sewing facings. Anyone got any tips about sewing facings, that don’t involve hand sewing?