By Hand London and I have some size issues.
My two Anna dresses sadly didn't fit very well - my first size 6 was too small, and the 8 was way too big (but fits my friend Ellie perfectly! It was fated!) My third Anna, which I did after the Elisalex, was a size 6 and was also slightly too big.
My Polly top was a size 6 with an inch shaved off the shoulder height. And it's rather baggy but in an ok way.
When I looked at the final measurements chart for the Elisalex, the 8 seemed pretty reasonable if I accounted for BHL not leaving any ease.
Oops. Such a wrong call.
Back to the beginning - my fabric is a linen-silk with lurex threads. It doesn't have that much body, and in fact wasn't my original choice for this dress. But I love this fabric and I love the idea of a cream coloured shiny Elisalex, I thought I would prefer the tulip skirt with less out-ness, so I went with it even though it's definitely not long sleeve weather.
I cut off 10 inches from the bottom to start with and sewed it up without other pattern changes. Once it was together I had two issues - major hugeness, and not being sure whether I needed to give myself more booby room. I just can't tell if the princess seams are too tight! I cut one inch out of each side of the centre back. That fixed the overall too-bigness (and was possibly too much). Then I started to shave off the princess seams and now I think they are better but they are lumpy. At this point I still have no clue what to do with them. The chest needs work.
I have pinned the hem up about 6 inches. (On top of the 10 inches I cut off initially!! Do not forget to measure the length of your Elisalex!)
I would consider this a work in progress - I'm tempted to take off just a bit of the side skirts so it's not so tulipy. I need help understanding how to make the princess seams fit my chest. Probably I should have done an FBA. I am doing what we do when things go wrong...taking it home for my mother to look at...since I'm moving I am in a crazy busy state of trying to get all my remaining projects at least cut out so I don't have to travel with extra fabric! 23 kg luggage limits are the bane of my existence!
On the bright side, my zipper looks awesome. It's the first invisible zip I've done that looks invisible! Hurrah!
My two Anna dresses sadly didn't fit very well - my first size 6 was too small, and the 8 was way too big (but fits my friend Ellie perfectly! It was fated!) My third Anna, which I did after the Elisalex, was a size 6 and was also slightly too big.
My Polly top was a size 6 with an inch shaved off the shoulder height. And it's rather baggy but in an ok way.
When I looked at the final measurements chart for the Elisalex, the 8 seemed pretty reasonable if I accounted for BHL not leaving any ease.
Oops. Such a wrong call.
Back to the beginning - my fabric is a linen-silk with lurex threads. It doesn't have that much body, and in fact wasn't my original choice for this dress. But I love this fabric and I love the idea of a cream coloured shiny Elisalex, I thought I would prefer the tulip skirt with less out-ness, so I went with it even though it's definitely not long sleeve weather.
I cut off 10 inches from the bottom to start with and sewed it up without other pattern changes. Once it was together I had two issues - major hugeness, and not being sure whether I needed to give myself more booby room. I just can't tell if the princess seams are too tight! I cut one inch out of each side of the centre back. That fixed the overall too-bigness (and was possibly too much). Then I started to shave off the princess seams and now I think they are better but they are lumpy. At this point I still have no clue what to do with them. The chest needs work.
I have pinned the hem up about 6 inches. (On top of the 10 inches I cut off initially!! Do not forget to measure the length of your Elisalex!)
I would consider this a work in progress - I'm tempted to take off just a bit of the side skirts so it's not so tulipy. I need help understanding how to make the princess seams fit my chest. Probably I should have done an FBA. I am doing what we do when things go wrong...taking it home for my mother to look at...since I'm moving I am in a crazy busy state of trying to get all my remaining projects at least cut out so I don't have to travel with extra fabric! 23 kg luggage limits are the bane of my existence!
On the bright side, my zipper looks awesome. It's the first invisible zip I've done that looks invisible! Hurrah!
You'll likely need to do FBA for the front, as in pic 3 you can see that the front waist is rising rather than staying level at the natural waist. The shoulder looks like it's maybe a little too long, perhaps take it in 1/8 to 1/4 at the shoulder, that may fix the crease on the front armhole and the fabric collapse at the top of the sleeve. I would let out the back princess where you see the creases about an 1/8 on each side, that might take care of those. Just a few suggestions I thought might help.. =o)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your commentary! Elisalex from BHL is also emailing with me to try to salvage it! I guess I will try to cut a size 6 top with an FBA if I can fit in on my fabric, and reattach it to the (unchanged) skirt.
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