10 Dresses: September

Posted by: Peanut in MyBlog on Oct 15, 2010

Tagged in: Sewing , Dress , 10 dresses

 

Here is September's sundress. Owing to a late start and a bit of procrastination it wasn't completely finished until the second of October but October's fabric wasn't going to be here until the middle of the month anyway (arrived today - will share tomorrow). I used Butterick 3660 and a beautiful piece of Liberty of London's Tana Lawn.

I'm actually a little disappointed about how this dress came out. It's completely my fault and was not entirely unexpected but something I need to keep in mind in the future:

I am not as tall and leggy as the women drawn on pattern envelopes.

This issue has messed me up before. I don't know why I don't learn. In this case my problem is really that the bodice of the dress is cut completely straight (no darts or other waist shaping) from underarm to hip and then features a bunch of gathers at that point. It is super comfortable but really flattens the figure in an unappealing way - not such a big deal if your legs are more than half your height but kind of problematic with more usual proportions.

I asked Rob what he thought and he agreed that something to take in the fabric a bit would be a good idea so I've gathered it in at the back waist with some lines of stitching with elastic thread. It's still not great but it does help. It also helps if I'm moving around, instead of standing still like I do in front of the mirror, since the fabric is very soft.

I'd like to make the matching skirt. It would tie at the waist and flare more over the hips creating more figure. A mauve or indigo linen would be pretty or maybe some denim (I wore this dress over jeans to work and it looked really cute). A project for next summer.

Photo credits go to Rob who took time out of his birthday weekend to humour me. We went out on the trail to take these pictures. It was chilly and windy but I really wanted outdoor pictures for my dress. The wind was great for getting my ruffles to show themselves off. Abby was pretty excited to be going for a walk with both of us. She's surprisingly strong for a small dog. I love the look of sunlit things with storm clouds behind. It clouded over shortly after we got back to the house.

 

Despite the less-flattering-than-I-was-hoping fit I know this dress will be worn quite a bit. It really is incredibly comfortable, the riffles make me feel cute, and it has the nostalgia factor for being made from one of my Mum's old patterns.