Friday 8 July 2016

Back to the Basics

Even though I love sewing colored and fun dresses, I have to admit that I tend to wear a lot of basics. And when talking basics I always think of a black cotton shift dress with 3/4 sleeves I bought maybe 3 years ago which I can wear all year round: with a few jewels in summer, with colored sweaters in winter. The fit of this dress is not perfect, but quite OK for an RTW dress. The only think which really bothers me, are the sleeves which get often stuck under other sleeves (be it a jacket or a cardigan).

So, on a coup de tête, when I was looking for my next cool summer dress, I found a piece of simple black cotton in my stash and decided to sew a simple shift dress.

I used NewLook 6145 which I had already sewn before, but I made some  modifications to adjust the shoulder area. Obviously, I have very narrow shoulders. I paid special attention to stabilizing all curved seams (thank you blog-reading, for teaching me valuable lessons).

This dress is also a proof that you can make mistakes on very simple patterns.

I have totally no idea why, but I cut the back in 2 pieces so as to put in the invisible zip. Only afterwards, I realized that it will be large enough to pull it over, too late for re-cutting the back as a one piece. So the back will have to stay like this.

I hesitated for a long time whether to make pockets. As a note, my RTW dress has them and it is a nice idea. The point is that I have fallen out of love with the fabric during sewing, as I had thought it to be more luxurious. Yes, this is what happens when you spend your time sewing silks and wool!

Anyhow, I decided to just push through, omit the pockets and finish the f...ing dress. I used bias binding to finish the curved seams made from small scraps of a very fine silk, so that it does not add too much bulk. This gives the dress a little detail only I will know about, but it helps me feel special about this make.

Of course, in the end, I regret not having pockets, as it would have been quite practical. But I will just live with it like that. The dress is cute enough, versatile and goes with everything. I am sure it will get a lot of wear.
Not talking about the costs, a mere 10 eur


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