SSPC 2012: Pastille Dress - DONE!

My sister-in-law gave me The Colette Sewing Handbook for Christmas, and I highly recommend it. There are reviews about it all over the place, so check those out if you want more info. It's full of great tips and very clear writing, plus it includes five patterns. I decided to start with the Pastille dress, which is a fitted cap-sleeved dress with three horizontal tucks near the hem. I used a pink cotton with a red and white feedsack style print that I bought from a local fabric store.

Why, yes, I *do* feel awkward taking pictures of myself!

I haven't done a whole lot of pattern adjusting before, but I needed to adjust this one. I liked all the cutting, moving, adjusting, and most of all - getting results. I tissue fit to figure out how much to take out for the SBA I needed, and I made the muslin with those changes. Then I just sewed the whole thing with 1" seam allowances so I could let out anywhere I needed to. I did not test the skirt at all. I realized at the end that the waistline needs to be adjusted a little bit, so I may test it all in the future.

The main adjustments I made were the SBA, taking some length out, especially in the back bodice (although it still needs quite a bit more taken out), and straightening the skirt a little. It had quite a pronounced outward curve around the hips.

The other change I made was to redo the sleeves. I sewed them up as drafted, but ended up carving a good slice out of the outer edge to make them shorter and change the curve a little. They just weren't fitting correctly over my shoulders. I will most likely change them more significantly if/when I make this pattern again.

I made my first lapped zipper on this dress! This dress was designed with a centered zipper already, so I made a centered back lapped zip. I could (and probably will) move it to the side next time. I feel like it's kind of conspicuous right there, and I certainly need more practice with those. I must have had it misaligned, because I have a weird fold/crease at the bottom and I managed to make the top edges not line up at all. I did not want to redo it, so I'm living with it.

That zipper is one of the reasons (excess back length being the other main one) why I like this dress much better with a cardigan.

I will probably wear it without one also, because I want to be able to wear it during the summer.

Besides the general awkwardness, I was using a different camera and not sure of its timing...

And in other news, my Alabama Chanin skirt is *THIS* close to being done! I just need to attach the waistband elastic, which I'm going to do tonight (probably while watching Once Upon a Time). I also have my 80's pattern t-shirt all cut out, and I'm re-fitting my Clovers as shorts - hopefully a wearable muslin. I ordered a few things from Fashion Fabrics Club, and lo and behold they didn't send me any thread, including the Woolly Nylon I was hoping to use on my knits, or the blue knit for the McCall's shirt. So I need to see what else I can find now. But I'm still making progess!