So are you as jazzed as I am about The Monthly Stitch June 2014 Challenge – Indie Patterns?
First up: the dresses contest! I searched around for quite a while to find a new pattern that spoke to my design aesthetic as well as being um, “age-appropriate” (hate even thinking like that!). I fell in love a little bit with Salme’s Sleeveless Pleat Front Dress pattern. Tailored but still feminine, and pleats! I love pleats!
I bought beautiful voile fabric I loved. I made sure it was light and drapey so the gathered waist would not create a Michelin-tire-man effect. I printed out the pattern and glued it together. I did add a couple of inches to the skirt length, but did not bother with my normal “petite-ing the bodice†adjustment. The deliberate blousy style + elastic waist casing of the pattern should handle that issue, right? I forged ahead and cut out my pretty, pretty fabric. I also cut out gossamer-thin batiste lining so a slip would not be needed when wearing this dress. Very soon things started to go off the rails.
Failure # 1. Pattern marking fail. I did not cut the front bodice on the fold because the pattern piece did not specify “Cut 1 on Fold.” Sometimes sets of pleats have a center seam included, so it didn’t strike me as odd. Yes, the cutting diagram does show the bodice laid out on the fold, but I never look at those stoopid diagrams. I do however, pay close attention to the pattern piece markings. Since I had leftover fabric, I recut a second front bodice. Only this time in my haste I missed adding seam allowances to the bodice (no SA included in Salme patterns). My fault, not Salme’s. Soooo, I decided to get creative and see if I could salvage this hot mess. I played around with a few options available in my stash (it was about 10:30 pm, so stores were not an option), and decided that centering a grey ribbon down the center front was the best available choice. I finished the entire dress, including making a very nice job of the lining, if I do say so myself.
Failure # 2. Pattern drafting fail. Usually there is a curve at the waist edges and hems on women’s patterns, right? Salme drafted this bodice and skirt completely straight at the bodice waist, the skirt waist, and the skirt hem. No bueno.
Failure # 3. Pattern drafting fail. The front bust dart was waa-a-a-a-a-a-y too low. Like not-even-in-the-ballpark too low. I have honestly never had this problem in a pattern. And since saggy girls are usually more of a problem for us slightly older ladies, and this line is designed by a young gal, hmmm. I had to adjust the dart placement. More no bueno.
Failure # 4. Style fail. Wow. A bag tied in the middle came to mind when I tried it on. So.Very.Not.My.Style. I can envision that a more rectangular body shape might look better in this dress style than I do, but all I know is what I had thought/hoped would be an attractive dress was butt uglyvery unflattering. I also think a neckline change would help this pattern. As drafted it just is not really very pretty on the body. My two cents, of course.
Nope, no pix of me wearing the dress. As a matter of fact, I can’t even show you a pix of the dress on my dress form because we had a fit of cleaning and organizing this past weekend. Dress got tossed into box for Goodwill; box was delivered to donation center on Sunday. Uncharacteristically efficient of me, I know. You will have to trust me, this dress was just soooo sad on me. Time to chalk this up to a learning experience and move on, sista! Sorry Salme, I could definitely forgive a style fail due to my bad judgement/body shape, but pattern marking & drafting fails earn low marks with me.
Coming soon: the indie dress that DID work for me, and absolutely meets the requirements for The Monthly Stitch Indie Dress Pattern Contest! Wheee!
Happy sewing!
Maris