My Mod Dress

Don't know if it's really "Mod" style, but that's what it makes me think of.

So I finished my dress today and wore it to the party tonight.

I was going to make dress B (the blue one) but along the way decided to add the band around the hem, the same as the one pictured.  Turns out that the black/white and the gold coloured dresses are actually shorted than the two blue ones.

Good thing I wanted the shorter one, because when I went to lay out my fabric I realised that I didn't have enough to match the pattern if I wanted the longer one.

True to my habit of not making anything the way it was desgined, I had already decided not to do facings around the neck and arms because I hate facings. Instead I was going to bag it out with a lining since I had to back the lacey fabric anyway.

I realised once I'd started the dress that if I did this, you'd actually be able to see the seem allowance through the lacey fabric, and at the bust seem this would be most notable because of including the purple/grey fabric in the seam.  In the end I decided to bag out the lining around the neck edge, making a nice neat finish, and then treat the rest of the lining as an underlining, so it was sewn into the bust and armhole seems along with the lace.

This then meant that I still had to do something about facing the armholes.  I just made a bias binding out of the black fabric and ran that around.  It is machine sewn under the arms (where the purple fabric is) and whip stitched to the lining around the black yoke.

Apart from that I think everything else followed the pattern pretty much.

 

Oh, and I had to add some back darts because otherwise it looked like I was wearing a potato sack. I've never just drawn on darts like that before. I got hubby to help me pin it and then just drew in some lines and sewed it. Came out really well first go!

As for sizing....according to the back of the pattern I was a size 18 bust and a size 22 hips or something.  When I pulled out the pattern pieces and read the finished garment measurements, this allowed for 12.5cm ease.  This is a LOOSE fitting!!  I like my clothes to be a bit more snug.  Decided on the size 16 for the bust and at the waist tapered it out to the size 20 for over the hips (and my tummy).  I figured I could always take it in a little more at the bust if need be.

Turned out pretty spot on for the sizing, and the sudden curve from 16 to 20 gives it a little bit more defined shape, which is nice.  YAY for multi-sized patterns (although I hate going around all the morse code lines for the neck and sleeve edges).

I decided to cut around the circles of the lace on the sleeve edge to make a fancy finish, but after wearing it out tonight, it's already starting to get threads and look messy, so I think I'll go back and do a regular hem before I wear it again.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out and I love the fabric, I think it was perfect!  I haven't made a garment in ages and I'd forgotten how fun it was to make something that you can fit to yourself and be exactly what you want!  Although 5/8" seam allowances seem huge after doing so much quilt and softie work with 1/4" seams.

Oh, and of course kitty had to help:

Thanks You SEW Girl for the inspiration to make a dress!