Friday 13 December 2013

Selfish Sewing Week Revision: Part 2

So, my first garment from Selfish Sewing Week was a fail... What about the second? My Lisette Diplomat dress:


If only my life involved a lot more standing around at cocktail parties I'd consider this dress a success. But sadly, it's not come out of the wardrobe again as I am continually having demands made of me that require me to move, bend, pick things up and generally move in ways that this dress just wouldn't allow.

All that moving around sometimes ends up with me finding myself in a fabric shop. How about that? And one day I found myself having moved about such that I was standing in front of a bolt of fabric that had that elusive bit of stretch that this dress lacked. It also had the great two-tone weave that I'd really liked about the first dress.


I also have some linen that I think would make a great sleeveless version of this dress so I was keen to try and sort the sizing out once and for all. I went up one size over all and then added another size through the hips. I graded the pattern out over a 6" section starting at the waist. I also added 1&1/4" to the length, just cause I like a just below the knee length, and because I still have that bump on my inner leg from the stupid motorist who ran me over


I don't know how it happened but I found my completed dress front was a good half inch longer than the dress back. The stretch in this fabric let me get away with that but I'll have to check my pattern pieces before trying it with the linen.


I really struggled with the zip. The fabric wanted to stretch and it looked so wavy. It would shift such that I had to sew downwards on both sides but the folded neck facing at the top was so thick and was an awful spot to try to start stitching from. Nightmarish. I pulled it out and resewed it about three times before deciding it was good enough even though I know it could be better.

This time I've sewn a dress I definitely will wear. Arguably it could probably be a bit better fitted just under the arms and through the waist, but it's super comfy as it is. Perfect everyday dress.


In fact, as you read this I'm probably wearing it right now....

This post was brought to you by blogger's scheduled posting 'cause I'm on holidays. Yippee!

Can you guess where I am? Here's a Self Portrait with a Monkey as a clue: (try Google if you need more help!)

Apologies if that image just broke your computer screen!
See you all again soon!

6 comments:

  1. You're wearing your beautiful red dress in MEXICO? You lucky, lucky thing.

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    1. Oh yes, I felt so very lucky. Ten child free days eating and drinking my way around an amazing country. And the dress was the perfect evening thing and travelled in the suitcase very well

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  2. wow, the dress is awesome and you're too hard on yourself! your zipper looks great.

    i hope you're having a great time in Mexico! can you believe i live in Texas and have never been?!

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    1. Thanks Rachel. This one will be a keeper. the fabric has that essential weight to make it feel smooth and lump free when worn.
      That's the funny thing about distance. We always want to travel further than we need to in order to take a holiday. You could go for the weekend! After three days in Mexico City I feel like I know all the best taco stands and Mezcal bars!

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  3. Love your dress. I definitelly will try it. Congrats!

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  4. It's so good to hear someone admit to a fail! It makes me feel less of an idiot! My last make was an epic fail so bad that it didn't make it onto the naughty pile waiting to be worked on. It's in the back of a cupboard waiting to be cut up for dusters. You have inspired me to get over it and try something else. Thank ypu

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