Denim Dress! Ta Da!!

I finished my dress and I am quite proud of it. I hacked up the front and completely re-designed it on Sunday. I love the new neckline and fit!

Obviously as this dress is so far from the original pattern, it is safe to say I will never make that high neck design again.

It can be worn in its own, with a cardi or over a t-shirt. It is so comfy too!

I'm most proud of my zip and the fit of the bust (not perfect, but getting closer)

Apologies about the pics... They aren't the most flattering and don't do the dress justice IMHO!

Now looking to see what to start next!

Denim dress... Complete re-design!

I have been working at this silly high scoop bib yoke for EVER!! I have moved it, trimmed it, darted it more, pinned it, pressed it and all other things you can think of. It was eventually "ok" but I didn't think it was flattering at all.

Therefore, I finished the finale of project runway with a cuppa tea... And thought " if they can hack up 'ok' clothes to make them completely different, then so can I!" ... And that is what I did.

It is now a far more flattering v neckline (with a slight curve) and almost looks like a wrap top.

The new adaptations are all pinned but not sewn yet... Oh, and also the side seams are getting trimmed down another inch at either side too.

Last adaptation... I don't think the sleeves will look cool. Am "editing them out"... Hopefully I can use the fabric for something else.

Denim dress update

I have made more progress than I would have expected! Yoke attached to front, Back left and right panels joined together (without zip at moment) and I have pinned and repinned LOADS... To check and recheck the fit.

Alterations so far...

Had to put in another dart at each side of the yoke. Also had to pull back seam allowance more than I may have been given because I am fitting the zip inside rather than the silly outside position in the pattern.

I have still got some fit issues... I think I need to place 1 more dart on each side of the outside front bust part of the dress. Next time: note to self. When pattern says do darts first... Do not! I'm pretty sure I just needed to reposition my darts and then I'd have less.

* if you look at the close up, you can see my darts including the extra ones and the outer ones that I have pinned but not seen yet.

**one image shows the pattern neckline and the other is my rough attempt at seeing if I can/ should lower and widen it.

Also... These extra darts may affect the sleeve holes. I haven't checked yet.

Lastly, the neck line is still WAAAY too matronly. I really want to make the scoop lower and wider. I also want to lower the neckline at the back a bit too... Otherwise it will be too tight a fit.

Anyone got some tips or pearls of wisdom for me in my hour of need, I'd be very grateful!

I am off to bed now as I can't concentrate any more. Will look with fresh eyes tomorrow.

Denim dress: Darts accomplished!

I really took my time on this because I wanted to get them right. I was also dubious that I could do it and make it fit my dress form.

Turns out, I did a pretty good job for my first try. The only things are:
1. I wish I had increased the large yoke in size rather than just the sides (I am going to make this dress again though, so will do it then)
2. I may have made the sides a bit too wide
3. The neckline on the yoke was too high up and matronly for someone like myself. It made me look like I could have set a 3 course meal and cutlery on my "shelf". I trimmed it to be lower... I may trim it further towards the end if it needs it
4. I think it would look cool with a piping/ contrasting fabric border around the yoke (it would go under and around outside of bust) joining on to the side bust and main dress part. Fuchsia or lime?

I have youtubed how to make bias piping. I just need to decide if it would be good to do it or not. Alternatively, giving myself extra bust room with contrasting strip instead of piping... But I have no clue how to start that and don't know if it will look awful.

Any thoughts?

P.s. the dress form looks bulky and messy because I need to fit it better at sides... It's too baggy. Also, I wanted to see if the darts looked ok from the right side, so I pinned it right side just to check. Hopefully the next pics will show a slimlined and neater dress.

Denim dress

So, firstly I had to try and convert the bust. I had 4 inches to add on. 4! I think.

I tried following the "pivot method" but have a feeling it will now be too big elsewhere.

The fabric is now cut and marked. I think I cut it out neatly. Fingers crossed it works.

I am impressed I managed to cut the bias out correctly. This is for the yoke and the sleeves.

Next step... The hard part of assembly!

Ooooh! New fabric!

So, payday arrived. I wheelied out of the carpark after work to the nearest (not very near) fabric shop!

After a lot of pawing and ogling, I settled upon a lovely floral Amy Butler fabric - it was on sale and the kind shop assistant gave me extra because it was the end of the roll (or whatever the 'roll' is called). Along with the pink ribbon trim and the lace/ pink gingham trim, it will be used (hopefully) to make the free 50's swing dress pattern on Burda, "Katjusha"!

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I am actually a modern jive dancer and boy do I get my use out of 50's style dresses... Anyone knows of any other free patterns, I would be very grateful! :-).

Below are some of my current dresses in action... Well, before I got too sweaty anyway! (unfortunately I didn't make them)... I hope to also make my own petticoats as the ones I own were bought and I wish they were a tad shorter and in brighter colours (I own black or white).

I also got a green spotted Amy Butler fabric too... Again on sale but less than 2 metres left. I have no firm plans for this one yet... Skirt or shift dress perhaps.

Last but not least, I got 2m of lightweight denim and am going to re-attempt the "plaid dress" from sew hip issue 2... This time I will take more care and follow all of the steps to the letter!

Later everyone!
Claire@ squintyseam

My striped skirt

My skirt had its first outing to work today. Everyone seemed to be complimentary. It is always a bit of a scary moment to wear your own creation for the first time, just in case everyone reacts badly! I am sure I am not the only one who feels this!

I also traced and cut out 2 patterns from my sew hip mags (the plaid dress from issue 2 and the full bloom top from a layer issue) I hope to buy suitable fabric for them once I get my paycheque at the end of the month. Until then, I may as well cut out all of the patterns I like, in preparation. I have not yet accumulated a 'stash'... I just have an assortment of small scraps at the moment.

I am going to give 're-fashioning' a go until I get my new fabrics. I have a couple of dresses that looked nice on the hanger, but when I got them home, they really looked icky. I was going to get rid of them but have decided to have a go at 'fixing them'... Fingers crossed!

I will post a before and after pic - if I manage to fix it.