Sew Liberated Hinterland x 2 and review

 I had successfully made a muslin. (here.) 

I had planned to stop there if I didn't like the dress.  But the fit was really good, so I decided I might as well forge ahead. I used the same size 2 as before, but used the front placket this time.  This is a piece of Liberty tana lawn that is very precious to me, but I'm tired of having a stash of precious fabric so I've been planning my way through it. 

This dress may look ok on me but I felt kind of stupid in it.  The sleeves are a little bit tight, and I'm not sure if I've ended up with a tighter fit than on my muslin - for the muslin I widened the front to make up for the absence of a placket. 

However, I had had a vision and I was determined to see it through. Said vision including white loomed silk from Nepal and a full front placket.  I thought I would maybe like this dress more if I could wear it over other dresses and partly open.  I also committed to the method used in the instructions for the bias band at the neckline.  It's different than I've done before, including 1/4" seams which made me very wary, but to my surprise I ADORE the end result.  I have already used it elsewhere.  I french seamed everything except the sleeves and side seams - I have not yet bothered to learn how to french seam pocketed seams, though I believe Carolyn has a tutorial on her blog. 

I added a bit of additional width in the back piece to make it less tight, and I sewed the sleeves with small seam allowances.  For some reason my sewing machine has behaved and sewn all the buttonholes without catastrophe.  Probably it only hates jackets.  I went for mismatched buttons to make the look a bit more interesting.  

 

Vision notwithstanding I feel stupid in this dress.  We can sew and sew but it takes something extra to figure out what you actually like to wear.  My instinct on hinterland was a solid NO and only after years was I somehow convinced to give it a try.  The fit is good.  If I wanted to make it and love it I think the two possibilities are: sleeveless.  Always more versatile.  And shorter, to wear over pants.  Maybe in linen.  I've already sent the Liberty dress to a friend (actually with the assumption that she will wear it hiking haha) and I suppose I'll keep the white one around to see what I do with it and if I feel less stupid in it at any point, but I think it's been a reminder that woven sleeved dresses and I seldom suit - or maybe I should aim for very oversized?  Always some food for thought for later. 

Sew Liberated Hinterland dress, toile

 The flexibility of this dress grew on me slowly. I tend to be wary of things that have sleeves and are made of wovens.  I made the size 2 after a thorough internet search. I saw that the ease was going to be enough...probably. But maybe not.  However my size 4 metamorphic really is big, and that also pushed me to size down.

I didn't have much enthusiasm as I made this, it seemed quite blah and I also assumed it was going to not fit well, or not fit AT ALL. I totally expected my first attempt to be a bad muslin. The fabric is nice - it's a double gauze that I think I got from Miss Matabi on her etsy store.

I didn't do a button placket, but I added about 2 cm to the centre front to make up for it.

Lo and behold, this dress fits me perfectly. The issues others had with shoulders seem to create a perfectly fitting sleeve for me.  Adding about 2 cm was a good amount, I can get it over my head and the front isn't tight.

 

Now that I've made this and confirmed the fit I can also confirm that without the front placket it's pretty boring.  I have plans for summer and am just waiting on having a space to sew again!