beautifulshell
January dress III
So, my 2011 New Years resolution (which I rarely make and never keep) is to make one wearable piece of clothing per month. Doesn't sound like much? My lifetime total comes to: two patternless cotton skirts. I don't count head-adornments or knitting. I'm a quilter and three dimensions and PATTERNS (DUN Dun dun..) terrify me.
Anyway.
This is the Working 9 to 5 sheath dress from the Built by Wendy dress book. Not sure why I skipped over Sew U entirely and went straight to dresses, but there you have it. This is an old IKEA curtain because I didn't want to waste good fabric (even after a semi-successful muslin). Note that I've been too lazy to make either the self-belt or add buttons to the placket. Ah well.
Negatives: there is a major oops where the neck gaps in front (best seen here). It took me until I was tracing my next pattern to realize that the problem resulted from me adding a seam allowance to the front fold. DOH. It is partially remedied by a small dart under the placket (not enough!). Had I not made this bonehead mistake, I think I would actually like this dress a lot. As it is, I think it might be passable with a scarf or something covering up the front. Lesson learned. Also: my in-seam pocket skills remain mediocre. Not so noticeable here, but I clearly have no idea what I'm doing. Note to self: look up correct way to do it (for some reason, WM's instructions make my head swim).
Triumphs: Worked off a pattern for the first time. Sewed and ADDED darts (to the back - probably mostly because of said initial oops) for the first time. Messed around with facings and interfacing for the first time. I seem to have mad skillz when it comes to invisible zippers, or they're just easy - that was fun.
Major anxieties remaining: my lackluster hemming skills and dilemmas about how to finish seams (I pinked most of these).
Conclusion: My messups aside, I'm not in love with the raglan style. The February dress (in progress!) is the dirndl pattern.
January dress III
So, my 2011 New Years resolution (which I rarely make and never keep) is to make one wearable piece of clothing per month. Doesn't sound like much? My lifetime total comes to: two patternless cotton skirts. I don't count head-adornments or knitting. I'm a quilter and three dimensions and PATTERNS (DUN Dun dun..) terrify me.
Anyway.
This is the Working 9 to 5 sheath dress from the Built by Wendy dress book. Not sure why I skipped over Sew U entirely and went straight to dresses, but there you have it. This is an old IKEA curtain because I didn't want to waste good fabric (even after a semi-successful muslin). Note that I've been too lazy to make either the self-belt or add buttons to the placket. Ah well.
Negatives: there is a major oops where the neck gaps in front (best seen here). It took me until I was tracing my next pattern to realize that the problem resulted from me adding a seam allowance to the front fold. DOH. It is partially remedied by a small dart under the placket (not enough!). Had I not made this bonehead mistake, I think I would actually like this dress a lot. As it is, I think it might be passable with a scarf or something covering up the front. Lesson learned. Also: my in-seam pocket skills remain mediocre. Not so noticeable here, but I clearly have no idea what I'm doing. Note to self: look up correct way to do it (for some reason, WM's instructions make my head swim).
Triumphs: Worked off a pattern for the first time. Sewed and ADDED darts (to the back - probably mostly because of said initial oops) for the first time. Messed around with facings and interfacing for the first time. I seem to have mad skillz when it comes to invisible zippers, or they're just easy - that was fun.
Major anxieties remaining: my lackluster hemming skills and dilemmas about how to finish seams (I pinked most of these).
Conclusion: My messups aside, I'm not in love with the raglan style. The February dress (in progress!) is the dirndl pattern.