Well, hello Farrow - a dress with built in pockets and a cute triangle shape. I bought this pattern in Seattle and carried it around for a bit, waiting for the right fabric to spring it to the top of my queue.
Fiinally, I cut this dress in a size 4 out of some heavyweight designer fabric with sparkle in it. I always get excited over this type of sparkly fabric at The Fabric Store and then it sits around when I realise I won't ever wear anything made of that. Ugh. So this was planned to be for a friend of mine who appreciates all the shiny clothes. Plus it is great to make practice versions of things - when I get around to making the thing for me, I get even better results! (Amazing, right?)
It's quite a fun sew, with just enough origami to keep you paying attention. I forgot to leave the keyhole in the back neck, but could still get it on so I wasn't fussed. I tried the dress on right before applying the fake facings*.....AND it was about 15 cm too big from just below the bust. I mean, it was ridiculous. And very long. Downright sacklike. Maybe in the lightest of silk something this massive would fall and drape, but because my fabric had loads of body that was never gonna happen.
*Fake facings YESSSS these are cut out like facings but you tuck in the underside and sew them all the way down, so no flopping about. Hurrah! Such a plus.
I thought about it for a short while and realised the solution was sitting in front of me: my sewing friend Tessa! She is only slightly bigger than me on the top but has bigger hips. She was planning to make the Grainline Maritime shorts and I think a size 10 muslin was too small, just so you have some scale. I made a 6 in those shorts, I believe. (here).
Tessa tried on the dress and it looked magical on her so I finished up those facings.
She was kind enough to send me a bunch of pictures!
It left me a bit conflicted as to whether I should try again but my interest was whetted as I really like lots of the elements of the dress. So I managed to get size 0 out of the pattern pieces - only one piece where I had to guess, and I created new facings by copying the line of the neck pieces. I used a lovely piece of raw silk from Drygoods Design in Seattle (I have had many plans for this) and was very worried it would end up sticking to me and needing a slip which I have not yet made but will soon. (Probably.)
I also shortened the pattern by 3 inches (!!) at the shorten lines. When I am shortening things at these lines, I always wonder, am I supposed to be removing fabric above or below the lines? It's like they were made for lengthening only; it's clear you lengthen between the lines.
This time I kept the back keyhole as I thought I might need extra room in the back. I am really really enjoying my fantastic new overlocker, and putting extra time and effort into each project. However it means nothing is a fast sew anymore, between the first version fails, pattern adjusting, and topstitching and overlocking.
I would have liked to scoop out about 1.5 cm from the armhole, but I didn't want to make new facings. So I increased the SA as I went down the armhole and shaved a few mm off. I don't think it was quite enough. On another version of this I would use bias tape since it's functionally exactly the same, and would give me more leeway to adjust the armscye.
Finally - the size 0 is a touch tight across the bust, but manageable. This is a sack dress. I honestly didn't get it at first, why has this been so popular? Also, 3 inches seems like a lot but it was about right. (I could have shortened 2 inches, that would have been ok in the front, but left the back too long.) I was annoyed by the tight armholes. And then I wore it to work and forgot about all of that!
The pockets are heavy, which hold down the front of the dress, so unlike Everything Else, it doesn't crawl up tights very much. It was super comfortable at work and the pockets are great. I am actually considering making another one, which really surprised me! Also, I can still get it on without the back keyhole so I would just sew that shut in the future - it doesn't add anything as far as I'm concerned.
In case you are curious, not only was it very cold, it was also very windy!
Size 0 measurements on the pattern envelope: 32-25-35.
My measurements: 33-27-37.
The only measurement of any relevance to this pattern is the bust, so my recommendation is to pick the size as close to your bust size as possible - I think size 2 would have been optimal, but the size 4 just had too much fabric in it. Fabrics with a lot of body are better if you have big hips, but on me the size 4 in a heavy textured fabric - looked ridiculous.
I find that I struggle to pick the right size with Grainline patterns. I'm not sure if I make wrong judgment about what to cut, or if something else is involved. I recall the Morris fitting me perfectly, but I made so very many Scout tops before I was satisfied with the fit. The Tamarack jacket was a ludicrous loss and also for some reason I tend to get Grainline patterns on paper so I haven't been able to try another size of the Tamarack since my pattern is somewhere else. I see other people making really beautiful Tamaracks!
Fiinally, I cut this dress in a size 4 out of some heavyweight designer fabric with sparkle in it. I always get excited over this type of sparkly fabric at The Fabric Store and then it sits around when I realise I won't ever wear anything made of that. Ugh. So this was planned to be for a friend of mine who appreciates all the shiny clothes. Plus it is great to make practice versions of things - when I get around to making the thing for me, I get even better results! (Amazing, right?)
It's quite a fun sew, with just enough origami to keep you paying attention. I forgot to leave the keyhole in the back neck, but could still get it on so I wasn't fussed. I tried the dress on right before applying the fake facings*.....AND it was about 15 cm too big from just below the bust. I mean, it was ridiculous. And very long. Downright sacklike. Maybe in the lightest of silk something this massive would fall and drape, but because my fabric had loads of body that was never gonna happen.
*Fake facings YESSSS these are cut out like facings but you tuck in the underside and sew them all the way down, so no flopping about. Hurrah! Such a plus.
 |
| It looks so cute and innocuous! But NO it is massive. |
I thought about it for a short while and realised the solution was sitting in front of me: my sewing friend Tessa! She is only slightly bigger than me on the top but has bigger hips. She was planning to make the Grainline Maritime shorts and I think a size 10 muslin was too small, just so you have some scale. I made a 6 in those shorts, I believe. (here).
Tessa tried on the dress and it looked magical on her so I finished up those facings.
She was kind enough to send me a bunch of pictures!
It left me a bit conflicted as to whether I should try again but my interest was whetted as I really like lots of the elements of the dress. So I managed to get size 0 out of the pattern pieces - only one piece where I had to guess, and I created new facings by copying the line of the neck pieces. I used a lovely piece of raw silk from Drygoods Design in Seattle (I have had many plans for this) and was very worried it would end up sticking to me and needing a slip which I have not yet made but will soon. (Probably.)
I also shortened the pattern by 3 inches (!!) at the shorten lines. When I am shortening things at these lines, I always wonder, am I supposed to be removing fabric above or below the lines? It's like they were made for lengthening only; it's clear you lengthen between the lines.
This time I kept the back keyhole as I thought I might need extra room in the back. I am really really enjoying my fantastic new overlocker, and putting extra time and effort into each project. However it means nothing is a fast sew anymore, between the first version fails, pattern adjusting, and topstitching and overlocking.
I would have liked to scoop out about 1.5 cm from the armhole, but I didn't want to make new facings. So I increased the SA as I went down the armhole and shaved a few mm off. I don't think it was quite enough. On another version of this I would use bias tape since it's functionally exactly the same, and would give me more leeway to adjust the armscye.
Finally - the size 0 is a touch tight across the bust, but manageable. This is a sack dress. I honestly didn't get it at first, why has this been so popular? Also, 3 inches seems like a lot but it was about right. (I could have shortened 2 inches, that would have been ok in the front, but left the back too long.) I was annoyed by the tight armholes. And then I wore it to work and forgot about all of that!
The pockets are heavy, which hold down the front of the dress, so unlike Everything Else, it doesn't crawl up tights very much. It was super comfortable at work and the pockets are great. I am actually considering making another one, which really surprised me! Also, I can still get it on without the back keyhole so I would just sew that shut in the future - it doesn't add anything as far as I'm concerned.
In case you are curious, not only was it very cold, it was also very windy!
Size 0 measurements on the pattern envelope: 32-25-35.
My measurements: 33-27-37.
The only measurement of any relevance to this pattern is the bust, so my recommendation is to pick the size as close to your bust size as possible - I think size 2 would have been optimal, but the size 4 just had too much fabric in it. Fabrics with a lot of body are better if you have big hips, but on me the size 4 in a heavy textured fabric - looked ridiculous.
I find that I struggle to pick the right size with Grainline patterns. I'm not sure if I make wrong judgment about what to cut, or if something else is involved. I recall the Morris fitting me perfectly, but I made so very many Scout tops before I was satisfied with the fit. The Tamarack jacket was a ludicrous loss and also for some reason I tend to get Grainline patterns on paper so I haven't been able to try another size of the Tamarack since my pattern is somewhere else. I see other people making really beautiful Tamaracks!
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