Dress of a million seams

And I'm not even joking about the number of seams! Just look at the technical drawing ;) Melissa dress is super lovely and has many interesting design features (just check out those little pockets!) I was one of the testers for this pattern last year and I've been meaning to give it another go.

I made a huge mistake with my fabric choice... Poly-rayon suiting looked alright and had nice drape but frayed like crazy! It has also absolutely no give and I was too afraid of clipping it around the curves. All the seams are finished with a combination of black and mint bias tape which added a huge amount of extra work but super tidy finish. My poly-rayon wasn't easy to press either, there was a very fine line between pressing and melting the fabric.

As for the dress itself - the back V insert is a great opportunity to use scraps of lace or "statement" fabrics. I used some black lace generously given to me by Sandra. As for the fit - I chose size 40 with D-cup and there was no need for FBA :D  The first time I made Melissa I didn't change anything and the waistline was way too low. This time I moved it up by 7 cm (I think) and it's a too high! The other change I made was getting rid of a top V pocket. I almost always have to adjust shoulder line and scoop out a bit of the top of the shoulder princess seam and that pocket would make the fitting quite hard. And there was just one more change - I made my dress sleeveless. I couldn't face dealing with more bias bound seams! The collar took three tries to get it right - including me sewing the collar inside out *facepalm* By that time I was a bit over and the dress ended in a naughty corner for a few weeks.

When I got over the collar, the rest went nice and easy. I used black buttons with gold metal ring and I like the way they look. Overall I like the dress but I'm not crazy about it. Lower waistline and different fabric would make a huge difference and I suspect I might give this pattern another try ;)

 

Interview dress

I haven't really been sewing much lately. My sewjo is gone and it bothers me a bit but I know better than to push it. I guess there were two major factors in me not sewing - being unemployed for several months and having unexpected flatmates. How does having flatmates stopped me from sewing? Well, we had to move all the junk and random stuff from the guest bedroom to my sewing room and my sewing space got really small.

In February I got invited for a job interview and that inspired me to make a new dress. I basically wanted a universal little black dress. I decided to make my second Vogue 8685 (first one can be found here) using some black ponte scored at yet another The Fabric Warehouse sale. Sewing went relatively well. I changed the pleats into darts - I admit that wasn't done properly and my darts are slightly different lengths but you can only tell when you get really close and stare and most people won't do that ;) At some stage I will fix the side seams where the skirt yoke meets the skirt - due to many layers of fabric there is a weird sticking out going on. The only thing that drove me crazy was the invisible zip in the back seam... The vertical seams didn't line up. I had to do some unpicking, adjust the neckline and put it in again. I'm happy to report that everything lines up now! The major change in design was changing the shape of the neckline - I think this dress looks much better with a V-neck!

I really love this make. The fit in the back could be a bit nicer but I'm focusing on positives. The dress is perfect to show off my curves and I love the seam lines accented by double topstitching. Being made with ponte it means that this dress is very comfortable to wear.

And I got that job so my interview dress will be regularly worn in the office :D