Entries Tagged 'Cosmopolitan Dress' ↓

I’ve been fighting off some sort of horrid lurgy the last couple of days and it’s made me irritable and unpleasant. As Mr J coughed and spluttered and blew his nose in a manner that was so irritating I could have throttled him, I decided that the best thing would be be remove myself to my sewing table and concentrate on the dress.

The things I do for my marriage.

One almost finished cosmopolitan dress (yes, my mirror is still dusty). I really really love it. It fits well, it’s really comfortable and the inset waist band with the ties gives me back some shape. I learnt a few things (and made notes for next time), mostly that I really needn’t have done the panama at all, or at least not quite as big. There is quite a lot of room up there anyway, and since it’s a knit it stretches… Ah well. For once I have a dress that isn’t either a tent or gaping across the front. I’m still pleased I attempted it since it flipped a switch in my head – patterns are a starting point, and if it doesn’t fit right out of the envelope that doesn’t mean I am a mutant woman thing. It’s a confidence booster too – look what I did to the pattern and I still got a wearable garment from it.

I’m definitely making this again, which makes the pattern cost well worth it.

I couldn’t have done it without my beloved DK Book of Sewing. It’s dry – oh so dry – but it has photos for every technique it describes, so you’re not left wondering what on earth the text might mean. The pattern says that the sleeves are ‘attached like a normal shirt sleeve’ so I flipped open my book to ‘attaching a shirt sleeve’ and had illustrated steps to follow.

The Fit for Real People book also arrived. The authors designed patterns for Vogue and McCalls, and make it sound perfectly normal that you’d mess about with the pattern: in fact it’s more than normal, it’s almost required. All of the adjustments have really good illustrations so I think I could stick my neck out and recommend it.

Oh and there’s one more thing I couldn’t have made the dress without…

In my defense it’s an ex-demonstrator model from SMD (still available at time of typing) and as such had almost 20% off. I was assured it had been checked over by the engineer, and it came with all the normal freebies, so I just went for it. Since it’s already seen action in neatening seams and finishing edges I can report that it works perfectly. Adventures in knit can continue.

So I said I wouldn’t try it, and then I realised that there would never be the perfect project, so after reading countless how-to’s and discovering umpteen methods I set at my pattern piece:

Slash and spread, baby. Terrifying. I’ve added width and length, and had to add a dart at the waist because it has to attach to the rest of the dress. I’m not sure I’ve done it the best way but it’s a way. The poor pattern piece looks like Frankenstein’s monster now:

At least if it doesn’t work I remember where I got the fabric…and just in case I do have to do it again, I’ve ordered the book that people seemed to refer to the most: Fit for Real People: Sew Great Clothes Using ANY Pattern Bold claims, indeed, but hopefully the contents are as good as they say.

You know, the trouble with this ‘hobby’ is that one thing almost certainly leads to another, and the more you sew, the deeper down the well you crawl, the higher the stash, the bigger the pile of books and equipment…

*This is what Mr J says I must call it from now on, having seen the Panama mannequins.

Finally! I have to say that wasn’t the quickest order process I’ve had from the US – far from it. It took almost two weeks from placing the order before they shipped, and then it took just over another week to arrive. On the plus side, no customs to pay, which is always nice. The patterns themselves also go a long way to making me happy with the company again (and I am). Like Onion patterns these are printed on thick white paper rather than tissue, which makes handling and using them so much easier and a hundred times more pleasant (big 4 take note!). The instructions are just printed onto A4, and there are no illustrations at all, so this might be scary if you’d never made a single garment in your life. Having said that there are times when I’ve stared and stared and stared at the illustrations on commercial patterns and come away more confused, so maybe it’s no bad thing.

The pattern you can’t see in the picture at all is the plain and simple A line and pencil skirt – skirts are easy, pencil skirts are everywhere in the shops, and this one has optional lining, which I’ve never done before, so I’ll be able to push my boundaries if I want to. The Weekender Sunshine tops have had good reviews, and it looks like it could be a good staple, if I can get the fit right. It’s a t-shirt that’s more than a t-shirt, if you see what I mean.

This is really what prompted the order in the first place. The Deco Vibe Cosmopolitan dress. Ah. Pretty. I know I seem obsessed with wrap type dresses, and that’s because I am. I already know that I won’t be making the New Look one again (at least not until next summer) and this one has different neckline, skirt length and sleeve options. It’s mixy matchy. Put together the dress you like the look of most…This appeals to me because it’s like making up your own pattern but without having to do the drafting.

Reviews of this dress seem to be universal in approval, though some people say it comes up big. Given that, and the stretchiness of the jersey I have to make my practice dress, I’ve decided to make the size that fits the rest of me and not the bangers (as Gok would call ‘em apparently) instead of the other way around. I’m not going to attempt a full bust adjustment because I’m making the wrap version and I figure it will either stretch enough or I can wear something underneath.

Another factor in deciding to go for it is that there is a lot of advice about making this dress out there:

Scarf sleeves – mitred hem
Adding a band to the neckline
Using clear elastic to keep the neckline snug to your body
Cuff directions and a great review
Leaving off the neck facings (and two nice versions to look at!)

With all of that to digest I just want to leave you with one more link that made me howl with laughter – Cidell’s visiting her parents in Panama…