Some ironies with this project. I compared it to the Camber set *at length*, (it is quite different!), made a muslin of the top, did a shoulder widening adjustment, and then realised my amazing fabric had so much stretch that I would be better off with the narrower shoulder. Then I applied the pattern to my fabric and determined that even shortening the dress 6'' there was no way it fit on 1.5 meters of fabric...
So I ended up, after these labors, cutting the normal pattern, size 10, with no changes, from some Marc Jacobs charmeuse that I had lying around and was tired of looking at. The charmeuse created most of the challenges here. I french seamed the sides and shoulders, applied the facing, which then of course refused to lie flat, and then the sleeves, with really little trouble (I stopped french seaming by then, too much trouble for the sleeves.) There is a funny little sleeve insert which required a bit of effort (and is my favourite part!) Overall this is such a shapeless, floppy kind of dress that I doubt the relevance of any small irregularities caused by my charmeuse slipping away from me. Or maybe the IDT was doing its job.
Hemmed the rest of about 7'' off the length. I don't love hemming so my technique is to spend as little time on it as possible. This time it worked out. The wide hem and the wide sleeve hems match, and although on certain spots my stitching is not totally straight that was me, not my machine.
This was fun. It could be done in one evening. I think the facings suck because they always do and I would never use them again. This one could easily accept a bias tape finish. The result is...sort of cool in a hippie way. Maybe I'll find somewhere to wear it and then feel like it's totally me, but I am not used to having so much fabric between the bust and hem. I think it can be quite flattering, and the silk because it keeps sticking to me, then flowing away, creates very nice movement, but just a bit of me wonders if it's too middle aged lady? Pregnant lady? Trying to hide something lady? Not sure yet. I wore it to dinner with my friends (hence change of scenery photos!) and they reckoned it looked very sophisticated so it can't be too bad but I'm on the fence as to whether it goes in my 'keep' pile or my 'friends' pile.
So I ended up, after these labors, cutting the normal pattern, size 10, with no changes, from some Marc Jacobs charmeuse that I had lying around and was tired of looking at. The charmeuse created most of the challenges here. I french seamed the sides and shoulders, applied the facing, which then of course refused to lie flat, and then the sleeves, with really little trouble (I stopped french seaming by then, too much trouble for the sleeves.) There is a funny little sleeve insert which required a bit of effort (and is my favourite part!) Overall this is such a shapeless, floppy kind of dress that I doubt the relevance of any small irregularities caused by my charmeuse slipping away from me. Or maybe the IDT was doing its job.
Hemmed the rest of about 7'' off the length. I don't love hemming so my technique is to spend as little time on it as possible. This time it worked out. The wide hem and the wide sleeve hems match, and although on certain spots my stitching is not totally straight that was me, not my machine.
This was fun. It could be done in one evening. I think the facings suck because they always do and I would never use them again. This one could easily accept a bias tape finish. The result is...sort of cool in a hippie way. Maybe I'll find somewhere to wear it and then feel like it's totally me, but I am not used to having so much fabric between the bust and hem. I think it can be quite flattering, and the silk because it keeps sticking to me, then flowing away, creates very nice movement, but just a bit of me wonders if it's too middle aged lady? Pregnant lady? Trying to hide something lady? Not sure yet. I wore it to dinner with my friends (hence change of scenery photos!) and they reckoned it looked very sophisticated so it can't be too bad but I'm on the fence as to whether it goes in my 'keep' pile or my 'friends' pile.
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