Pattern Review

Good morning y'all! Who else was so excited for Missy Franklin and her Olympic Gold win last night? I might have cried a little...especially when she got to see her mom and dad. :) I love the personal stories that the media shows about our Olympians! As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to share with y'all a dress that I made over the weekend.  I'm super excited about this dress....I have so many ideas about how to wear it, especially as we head into the fall.

I used this vintage pattern. I was inspired to track down this pattern after seeing it on one of my favorite blogs, Tilly and the Buttons, seen here. I purchased my usual size in this pattern, and since it's from 1975, it's a one size envelope. It did not go well.... sort of.

I had no problems in constructing the dress or following the directions. Super easy to follow, and really easy to make. I used these knit interlock (from Joanns clearance rack earlier this spring). It's got a bit of stretch to it but it's still a sturdy and soft fabric. The pattern called for 2 1/4 yards for the shorter dress with cap sleeves. I didn't want to make the puffy sleeves (too outdated) and I wanted a shorter length. I only had 1 3/4 yards, which actually worked beautifully. I took off about 2 inches of length from the pattern before I even cut my fabric.

Once I got the dress mostly together, I quickly realized that it was going to be huge on me. Sure enough, the neckline was wide enough to fit another half of me in there. I ended up putting a center seam down the middle of the bodice to take in about an inch or so, and I ended up extending the bodice darts further up. In the back, I initially took off about three inches from each side of the garment. I had hoped that this would tighten it up on me. I put in the zipper, and my fabric bunched up in the back. Not good. See how it bunches with the zipper??

I ended up taking out the zipper, taking another inch and a half off each side, and seaming the back closed. You can see that I have three seam lines in the front and in the back (counting the darts and the center seam on each). It fits great now, and I'm really pleased with it. It was a quick sew, even with the problems I had. All told, it probably took me less than four hours.

It's a super comfortable dress, and I love the bright color of it. It's kind of a throw and go dress, but still looks pulled together. I'm envisioning it with cowboy boots and a denim jacket, maybe a scarf thrown in too! For now, I'm wearing it with Rainbows or wedges. Perfect for summertime living.

I'll definitely be making this dress again... although I'll probably end up doing more fit on the pattern pieces before I cut and put it together. We'll think of this one as my muslin. I think I'd like to try the long sleeves on a short one, maybe with a more structured fabric. Mine had a bit of stretch in it, and I wonder if that had anything to do with the fit... ? The pattern says that you can use any of these fabrics: challis, surah, printed silk, sateen, shantung, chintz, crepe, crepe-back satin, jersey, lightweight wool, soft lightweight double knit, velvet, velveteen, or satin. Whew. That's a lot of options to consider. (any idea what surah fabric is?)

This dress is going in my suitcase for our trip this week. Speaking of which, I've started packing. And unpacking. And repacking. I've even scoured Pinteret looking for tips on traveling with infants. My mom MOVED from Connecticut to Hawaii with me when I was not quite three weeks old.  If she can do that, then I should definitely be able to handle a two and a half hour flight with my almost-seven months old girl. Right?! :)

These days, her toes are her favorite toy!

Oh, and I'm so excited because I'm working on a dress for Reagan! It's coming together so quickly! I might even have to show it off for y'all soon!!!! :)

AND, I'm only a few posts away from my 100th post! I'm thinking a giveaway is in order for all y'all who faithfully read my blog.... What do you think? Up for a little giveaway?

Have a great Tuesday y'all!