First Dress of the Year

I'm feeling so happy with myself today.

I finished my first dress last night, or should I say this morning. I went to bed last night at about 2am, because I wanted to wear it to work today. Which I did....YAY!!!!!!. It's taken me a couple of evenings after work, but I'm just glad its finally over, and has given me my confidence back.

The last dress I made was last year in April I think. I have spent the last couple of months blaming my machine and everything else under the sun, but now I have no excuse because I got a brand new Pfaff Select 4.0. So sew, I must. I really love this new machine. Its really easy to sew with.

I started a dress earlier this year, but it was a complete disaster. I will probably do a seperate entry for that big time failure.

So about this dress: All the pictures were taken with my phone. I don't have a camera at this point because I dropped it while riding a Camel in Tunisia last year on my honeymoon. The pictures look quite dodgy ..lol...

Materials

Turqouise crepe fabric from Goldhawk road. I can't remember the name of the shop. I found the fabric in their remnant basket, and bought two pieces of 1.5m each for £2.50. So the fabric cost me £5.00.

I also bought 1.5m of turqouise acetate lining at £2.50. I thought this was expensive, but what do I know? Will have to try and source out cheaper linings. But it was easy to work with though.

I used a 16" invisible zip. BIG MISTAKE. I should have used 22" as requested on the pattern, but that was all I had at home, so I tend to squeeze myself into the dress.

The Making

This is a hybrid of two different patterns. The skirt of Vogue 8232, and the bodice of Butterick 5316.

Butterick B5316

Vogue 8232

The skirt was the easiest thing to sew. I really like the fact that it's very flared because I am the definition of  Pear Shaped, and straight or body hugging skirts and dresses are a NO- NO for me, although I do get them sometimes in bigger sizes.

The Bodice is lined, and has double darts at the front. I can't show you pictures of the lining because I took these pictures at work, and I think my manager will have an early death if I suddenly disrobe infront of him. And of course, since I am queen lazy, I won't be taking anymore pics of this dress for blogging.

I liked inserting the cap sleeve. It is really easy, and I learned how to line it for the first time.

The problems I had though, were with inserting the zipper.  I did not know how to insert a zipper in a dress that was lined. So I scratched my head for ages, but i finally came up with a solution, which I am sure will scandalise more experienced sewers. So I will not be writing about it. Lets just say its my own little secret...lol....I can however let slip that as I type these words, with the dress on yours truly, I still don't know what to do with the linning and the zipper.

Anyways, the dress was easy to sew, but for the zipper insertion. The pattern instructions said to use a regular zip i think, but i used an invisible zip. I find it easier to sew with them, so I always try to use them.


Lessons Learned

1. Never forget to mark notches in patterns
2. Always read all instructions before starting any project
3. Redo any seams that do not look nice. ( I did alot on this dress, especially with the zipper)