Jesus, I look cross. I'm not sure why I look so cross. It's possible this was the day when the sunlight was being a pain and making all the photos look terrible and I had to try about forty different camera positions to get it to work.
I bumped this one to the top of my list and made it within the first week of May. Technically this should have been my lowest priority but I wanted to try it out before I decided what skirt to put on my wedding guest dress (I decided not to use this one - the fabric for my other dress is so busy and loud that I think I need the shape and style to be as simple as possible).
As I said in the planning post, I've modified this a bit. Originally I wasn't planning on buying this pattern at all because of the button up front, but everything else - the scoop neckline, the gored skirt, the grown-on sleeves - seemed to be exactly what I was looking for, so as I am now One of Those People What Can Modify Stuff, I bought it with plans to simplify it. I omitted the facings and interfacing at the centre front and converted the button-up part into a straight centre seam. The fabric is rayon and really light, so I French seamed the entire thing. I am terrible at finishing my seams but I really enjoyed doing this; turning the dress inside out and seeing all the lovely little enclosed seams gives me a sense of accomplishment that looking at zig-zagged seams just doesn't. Extra effort AND it still looks scratty (I KNOW I NEED TO GET TO GRIPS WITH MY STUPID OVERLOCKER ALREADY, I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW), whereas this looks pretty and professional and therefore feels more worth my while.
(You can tell it was a properly nice day because I switched to orange lipstick. I never wear orange lipstick unless it's hot and sunny, because otherwise I feel like I'm walking round with a face full of misplaced optimism all day)
I made my usual Sew Over It dress size - 12 at the shoulders, 14 everywhere else. I tend to think of Sew Over It patterns as being quite fitted, but this is actually looser than I imagined it would be (especially given the finished measurements on the packaging), and I can get into it without needing to undo the zip at all. For future attempts at this dress, I'll either size down for a more fitted dress or just leave the zip out completely and have a loose comfy thing for summer.
The bodice has pleats at the front and back, and the back pleats are sewn after inserting the waist ties into them, so the ends are all enclosed and the back is finished nicely. I was in the middle of squeeing over this detail when I realised I had become an actual sewing nerd.
You will notice that the pleats are sitting in such a way as to give me a nippular look. This is also something to be corrected next time.
I'm surprised at how much I love this colour. My instinctive reaction would normally be that the colour is too light for me, but as it's a very bright pale colour instead of a pastel, I think I can get away with it. I know I can get stuck thinking I can only wear complete neutrals and jewel tones, so it's nice to have things like this, my mustard tulip skirt and my coral Anna dress come along and show me that I can have a slightly more interesting colour palette without feeling any less like myself.
As a result of the size thing mentioned above, I'm not 100% sure I love the silhouette. It doesn't give me much waist definition and the material is too light for there to be any shaping in the skirt. I don't mind as much as I otherwise would because I'd planned it to be a dress for really hot days that won't get much wear when it's cooler (I discovered in the sudden warm spell at the beginning of the month that I am seriously lacking in clothes like this), and if it looks like we'll be getting a crazy hot summer I'll make a couple more like this. For the rest of the year I'd definitely want it to be more fitted, and I really hope Sew Over It releases a sleeve pattern for this dress come the autumn.
Amber likes it too.
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