Peppermint mag x Elbe Textiles Bardon no. 2

 All the summer dresses were successes this year (Bardon, Summer fling, and Marcel) and I wanted to make a second version of each of them. I am, however, running out of summer too fast (it's over!)  I'm slowly relinquishing my plans to next year when I get excited about dresses again, but I managed to sneak this one in before getting distracted making sweatshirts and loungepants.  

I adore my first Bardon though it is somewhat oversized.  I was inspired to size down and make another one, seemed like nothing could go wrong.  I had made size C because of the problem of the high bust.  You're advised to use the high bust measurement instead of the bust measurement to choose your size.  Wellllll that never works for me, my high bust consists of loads of feminine muscles, so it's the same as my bust, though distributed differently.  

So this time, size B.  Same shortening: 1" off the bodice, 1" off first tier, and 2" hem.  Again I lined the bodice rather than using bias tape. The fabric is viscose and is almost certainly Dolce & Gabbana. (I bought it from an Etsy store in Ukraine, so you never know, but the quality of the print was convincing enough.)  Though in my head I often conflate viscose and rayon, the difference between my two fabrics was striking. The black rayon star print fabric is drapey and cool with a pretty tight weave, holds its shape, and has a very smooth face. This pomegranate viscose has a soft, nubbly face, a loose weave, and behaves horribly.  It was difficult to cut, and shredded fast.  As I discovered later it also stretches!

I didn't have enough to line the bodice with the same fabric, for better or worse. I used a lightweight silk cotton.  I was really happy that this adds some structure - but once the dress was done I realised how much the bodice had stretched out, as the lining was now something like 2" narrower than the dress.  I spent about a day panicking about whether I'd be able to hand sew it down.  Luckily I had been planning to do it by hand anyway, and I learnt a big lesson as I did which is that hand sewing can fix a lot.  The stitches kind of just gather the seam allowance of the bodice where I united them, meaning that there are a few more gaping spots than I would usually have, but it supports the bodice a lot and I think even with those inner gaps, it's going to be quite secure. If I'd been able to use the same fabric I would have had the trade off of less structure support, but an easier time getting the pieces to match up in that final moment. 

 

Overall the dress feels very long compared to the other one - the bodice seems long, the pockets seem low - and it may be a bit low because of the viscose stretching, but when I put them on one after the other, it is definitely smaller than my black dress.  Maybe the black one feels smaller than it is because it's oversized and hangs away from my body, whereas this one really is smaller and flows closer to me.

Though I suspected it would settle unevenly I didn't hang the dress overnight before hemming. Live on the wild side!

I'm happy about this dress...with caveats.  As an end of summer item I hope I do have chances to wear it before it's too cold.  I kind of hope it shrinks a bit in the wash but I also have the sense that it's a very fragile dress that won't last long (the black version felt like a workhorse wardrobe item, indestructible, machine washable, etc).  I was really committed to using this fabric for this dress and now I wonder what might have caused me less heartache with the fabric stretching out - I think I'll always stay stitch the bottom of my bodices from now on at least.  I can't think of anything else I would have wanted this fabric for, but it did make me think about dresses with less weight to them.  

The day I did all the hand sewing, the weather got hot and sunny and I wore it all day - I think it's also hard to love two versions of one pattern - you have to let them be different items that happen to be sort of similar - they are never exactly the same!  But I started to love this one for its own strengths and I'm really super glad I sized down - the bodice fit is really spot on.