Summer dress in action
First off, sorry for not responding to comments for a while! ^_^; I kind of, er, forgot about LJ for a while... *coughs*
Anywhoo, on with the regular programme!
Oh man but that summer dress is a dream to wear. ^_^
I almost didn't get to wear it at the work party I had intended it for - we all went to Madrid for our big annual conference, but when I got to the airport there my luggage hadn't! The airline spent the rest of the day looking for it and luckily they found it and got it to me the next day, but I was already picturing having to wear one of the two plain dresses I managed to buy on the first day along with some necessities, or having to take time off work to shop.
While shopping is not normally a chore, it's not quite as fun when it's 30 degrees out and you have to find something that fits and looks professional enough within a 2-hour time limit. ^_^;
Buuuut the crisis was averted, and by the Wednesday I could don my lovely dress as planned. It was a big hit, and some colleagues took pictures of me or wanted to take pictures with me, so I'm using those to show you want the dress looks like on me. The odd proportions are because I cropped out some coworkers who might not enjoy having their faces plastered over the Internet.
I think I'm going to stitch up the armscythes a little more; it doesn't show here, but my bra peeks out sometimes and I think a slightly smaller armscythe might also make the sleeve hang better. That's the only thing I'd change, though, I'm basically 99% pleased with how this came out, and that when I didn't use any pattern, just measured myself and calculated the sizes of all the rectangular and triangular pieces, working out the process of putting it together as I went!
I didn't keep my notes, but I think I will write myself a little template for future dresses like this. All the straight seams make this pattern perfect for French seams, which I do believe are my favourite way to finish seams. It's just so neat, and barely any extra work. I'm making another dress which has serged seam finishings, but I'm using my regular sewing machine for that and it takes ages, and doesn't even look as neat on the inside as French seams.
Perhaps I should spend some time practicing making curved French seams work. I've seen some tutorials on it, so that ought to mean it is possible. I just can't quite... envision it yet.
I'm also working on another summer dress, again a light blue one but this time without print, using the pattern I got for Eowyn Chic but bringing up the hem to just above the knees. I remember the sleeves were quite tight in that dress, so I'll probably have to adjust those as well. I don't have any progress shots yet, but I may remember to take some of the remaining steps...
Anywhoo, on with the regular programme!
Oh man but that summer dress is a dream to wear. ^_^
I almost didn't get to wear it at the work party I had intended it for - we all went to Madrid for our big annual conference, but when I got to the airport there my luggage hadn't! The airline spent the rest of the day looking for it and luckily they found it and got it to me the next day, but I was already picturing having to wear one of the two plain dresses I managed to buy on the first day along with some necessities, or having to take time off work to shop.
While shopping is not normally a chore, it's not quite as fun when it's 30 degrees out and you have to find something that fits and looks professional enough within a 2-hour time limit. ^_^;
Buuuut the crisis was averted, and by the Wednesday I could don my lovely dress as planned. It was a big hit, and some colleagues took pictures of me or wanted to take pictures with me, so I'm using those to show you want the dress looks like on me. The odd proportions are because I cropped out some coworkers who might not enjoy having their faces plastered over the Internet.
I think I'm going to stitch up the armscythes a little more; it doesn't show here, but my bra peeks out sometimes and I think a slightly smaller armscythe might also make the sleeve hang better. That's the only thing I'd change, though, I'm basically 99% pleased with how this came out, and that when I didn't use any pattern, just measured myself and calculated the sizes of all the rectangular and triangular pieces, working out the process of putting it together as I went!
I didn't keep my notes, but I think I will write myself a little template for future dresses like this. All the straight seams make this pattern perfect for French seams, which I do believe are my favourite way to finish seams. It's just so neat, and barely any extra work. I'm making another dress which has serged seam finishings, but I'm using my regular sewing machine for that and it takes ages, and doesn't even look as neat on the inside as French seams.
Perhaps I should spend some time practicing making curved French seams work. I've seen some tutorials on it, so that ought to mean it is possible. I just can't quite... envision it yet.
I'm also working on another summer dress, again a light blue one but this time without print, using the pattern I got for Eowyn Chic but bringing up the hem to just above the knees. I remember the sleeves were quite tight in that dress, so I'll probably have to adjust those as well. I don't have any progress shots yet, but I may remember to take some of the remaining steps...