Although this is a very easy pattern to sew I was slightly worried that it might be a bit narrow in the hips so as soon as I had finished the shoulder seams and finished the neckline I basted it together and tried it on. It was a disaster! The neckline was extremely, indecently low! No one else (well neither Adrienne or Toy) seemed to have these problems with the neckline. It is possible that my lightweight jersey stretched out a bit with the weight of the long dress, but I have had this problem to some degree with the last 3 garments I have made. Excellent - a new figure problem to add to my list! I fixed this in a rather quick and dirty, but effective way and literally took around 3 inches off the front shoulder seam and 2 off the back and restitched the shoulder seams together (with a piece of fusible tape along the seamline for support). This changed the shape of the armscye but since the dress has a cap sleeve it was easy to fit in, although my version is now somewhere between a regular and raglan sleeve. What is that expression about there being no mistakes, just design opportunities?
Overall it all worked just fine and I am really happy with how the dress looks now. I used a border print jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics (again!) and used the band placement shown on dress 117 as inspiration for using the border on the sleeves as well as the bottom of the dress. As it turned out that was the only problem and the fit elsewhere was good.
(Those weird lumps on the hips are just where the padding on my dressform comes to an abrupt halt! Not that the real thing is much better, ha).
Thank you to my lovely enabling readers regarding the need for red shoes. Not that I needed much more encouragement, but they would also go nicely with this dress too so are definitely on my shopping list now. Somehow I seem to have suddenly caught a cold so unfortunately they will also match my nose rather well at the moment too!
Love that dress in that fabric.
ReplyDeleteHave you measured from your shoulder to your BP, then measured the same on Burda, to see if maybe you need to do a petite alteration in the high bodice? It could be that you do, or it could just be that the necklines on these are Low.
Lovely dress though, nice save, and the border just makes it more interesting.
Great dress! (I've fixed BWOF low necklines in a similar way - it works!) And thanks again for the Patrones, so lovely!!!!!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty dress, the fabric is just perfect for the design.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you use the borders! BWOF always seems a bit low for my personal taste, so I'm always adjusting the tops somewhere, too. I'm petite, so that might have something to do with it.
ReplyDeletehmmm,, maybe my bra,, all my bras are full coverage so they give cleavage like crazy,, lol
ReplyDeleteI always fit in them because those are all I wear, I was telling one someone just the other day that changing my type of bra will make all my clothing fit differently because they will be a lot less boob-age, lol
beautiful dress, I have that fabric and still don't know what the heck to do with it.
I sympathise with the cold. I am just getting over one - my first one for years so I won't complain too much.
ReplyDeleteNow to the dress - lovely!~ The border print works really well the way you have used it. And yes, red shoes.
Beautiful! I love the dress and how the sleeve turned out after your alteration! The fabric was a good choice too! It really enhances the stylelines of this dress (which is on my sewing list too!!) Congratulations on a fabulous job!
ReplyDeletelove your dress - those sleeves look really good with the border print. And as for red shoes, I think they are an absolute must because they're so much more versatile than you might think!
ReplyDeleteNice save, looks like a great dress! I'm wanting to make this one too.
ReplyDeleteI am a borderprint junkie! I just love the possibilities of what they can be...and this is an awesome example of how fantastic the finished garment can be!
ReplyDeleteLove the border print. A great border print is so hard to find anymore. Love the way you used yours. Great dress. Red shoes. Definitely.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! And such a gorgeous fabric. I always do a petite alteration to the bodice, but then I am petite. Burda necklines are however quite famous for being low-cut.
ReplyDeleteWhat I also do is stabilize all the necklines in my knit tops/garments with clear elastic.