I wanted
the sewing to be a hobby and not a source of additional stress. Anyhow, that is
what happened with my b-day dress. I was slowly planning another dress (for a
wedding I am invited to in June) and hesitating on a great khaki wool crepe I
bought a month ago, and a black cotton because I really need a black skirt now.
I also finally received my fabric order from Germany and my 3 old Burdas. So
too many ideas, too many wishes, not enough time and…. a request to wear a new
dress “made by me” on my b-day (in 2 weeks time).
Not that 2
weeks is not enough, it includes 1 week-end plus 4 evenings I can sew freely
and I can finish a dress in what.. 15 hours… but the idea of a deadline got me
totally stressed out.
So I ended
up taking a day vacation just to go fabric shopping (again!, but I controlled
myself and only bought what I really needed: brown-reddish cotton for the b-day
dress, cotton-silk for the lining and then finally dark blue silk and a
cotton-silk blue lining for the wedding-guest dress). The same day I also
created a test model, because the pattern I have chosen asked for a real
precision and I was sure some usual alterations were needed.
The pattern
is 108 from 04/2014 Burda where I really like how all the lines flow on the
dress. I omitted the pockets, as already said, I consider them on dresses and
skirts somehow superfluous. I am wondering if I will ever learn how to sew the
pockets, will probably have to try a pair of shorts or trousers one day.
As for the
test model: the bodice was too long, as usual, in the front I took in 1.5cm, in the
back 1.5cm to equilibrate and additional 1.5cm on the upper and lower side.
The cotton
is pretty simple to work with, so with a little bit of attention to the pattern
matching I managed to handle the too many darts and pieces which in the end
create the beauty of this dress. But the lining was a nightmare: I did the
French seams on all the lining pieces because the fabric is so fine that I was
afraid anything else would fray or roll and baby hemmed the border. It is
incredibly comfy on the body, but I cannot believe I have another 5 meters of
this hell to work with.
I put in
the invisible zip, as usual, covered by the lining. I was thinking about the way
to insert the lining for 2 days, looking at many tutorials but in the end I
followed the pattern instructions (at least I think, because I read them
through very quickly). I attached the lining everywhere, leaving the shoulder
seams for the end, which I thought I would put together half with a machine,
half by hand. I ended up with no more than 4cm of fabric on each shoulder, so
hand stitching was the only possibility.
Et voilà,
the finished dress, 2 days before the deadline. I am very proud of
- - Darts matching on the outer dress
- - Very invisible zip
- - Not having thrown away the lining
- - The fit of the dress (lesson learned: it makes sense to make the muslin)
Hopefully my next project
will be more fun and pleasure :o)
To see it in the real life, here is a picture of myself in the dress at Opéra Bastille.
