I decided to make this as the final make before moving house. It meant I didn't have a lot of bandwidth for anything complicated! I assumed...it would be easy. Well, mostly it is as long as you choose a fabric that doesn't shift around too much. Also of course just before moving I found the absolute best spot for taking photos. Of course!
Started out with the size hunt. Sadly no blog reviews of this up anywhere so I turned to Instagram where indeed lots of advice was to hand. Seems this tends to be big, and the drop shoulder made me immediately think about future sleeveless versions. Because of the reviews suggesting it was pretty roomy, I went with size 8. It was not a good choice. Being snug on the shoulders "worked" in that my shoulder is within the drop shoulder, but it's not the designed fit and it felt uncomfortable. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I think you are fine to go with the size chart (I would have made 10) rather than sizing down, unless you are narrow through the shoulders.
Fabric is a beautiful piece of plaid...Mind the Maker...tencel. It has the best drape and dry cool feel. It is shifty. It has vertical stripes! Did I mention above how I wanted something easy?
Also, this has a facing. I really hate facings. It's a small facing, and you can attach it down in a lot of places, but it is still rife with potential for flipping out.
So I cut out the dress with a rather lazy grain, and pleated my pleats which just would not line up, and then corralled them down, still not straight. (I really like the z-lines that you sew, this bit is very fun and feels like wild cowboy sewing!) The dress was a simple sew after that and I was pleased with my choice of button. The fit is not terrible but it is too tight across the shoulders. To salvage the pattern I would do best at this point to turn it into a tank top dress and cut out some roomy armholes.
Of course with all those mismatched front lines no way could I keep this, it went to a friend who suits that colour more and isn't nearly as picky as I.
I think it's worth making again. The facing is not avoidable, you need the back button to get the dress on or the neckline is too tight, and a facing is the best way of dealing with the front pleats. But it's not too substantial and I was happy enough with it staying in place. The way the pleats open out into the skirt is really lovely. It feels like there's a lot of volume in the skirt but it's flattering. I will probably skip the sleeve, and then make the dress or top and cut down the armhole til I am happy with the coverage. No immediate plans to go there, but some food for thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment