Please excuse the state of my garden. We’re in the process of moving house, so we finally had to do something about the terrible mess. The move has come about a little bit suddenly, so our plans for the garden have changed, but it’s all coming along very quickly which is nice.
So, you saw the toile of Simplicity 3968 the other day, and since then I’ve been hunting in my fabric stash to find something appropriate. This is a linen blend – I thought it was blended with wool, but the more I’ve handled it, the more I think it might be polyester. I obviously bought it before my self-imposed ban on man-made fibres. It makes a pretty nice dress though!
I’m pleased with the v-neck. It’s nice and neat, if you ignore the little wiggle on the right – that’ll press out with a bit of steam. I think it shows off the collar of the shirt underneath very nicely. I was a bit concerned that the neck would be so high that you would barely see the shirt at all.
The back, however, was nowhere near as cut away as I’d expected from a dress described as a “halter”. Once I had the neckline finished and the bodice and lining basted together, I decided to make an alteration to the armscye to make it much deeper at the back. I took the plunge and drew this freehand. I then used the piece I’d cut away to make the identical alteration on the other side.
The change was then translated to the pattern, so I can make the next one the same.
Much better! I like the waistcoat effect, which shows off more of the shirt fabric underneath, and allows for a greater range of arm movement without pulling across the back of the dress.
My absolute favourite part of this pattern though – in fact the entire reason I bought it – is the pockets. Look at them! They’re absolutely ENORMOUS. Despite that, I don’t think they draw an unnecessary amount of attention to themselves. They do stand slightly away from the skirt, which was an oversight on my part. I made the four panels of the skirt slightly narrower (to make the pattern pieces fit more easily on my sewing table!), but forgot to change the placement of the markings for the pockets. Next time I’ll try and remember to sew them on flat!
HEPZIBAH image © Fairysteps
The belt, for anyone who’s wondering, is the fabulous Hepzibah, courtesy of Fairysteps. I might have accidentally bought a turquoise one as well.
I plan to wear this dress to work tomorrow, so I’ll be able to see straight away whether it’s the right length, and is easy to wear. There’ll be the usual amount of sitting on the floor, rummaging about in cupboards and generally making a mess, so anything I wear to work has to be able to cope with a lot of abuse! I’m hoping this will turn out to be the dress equivalent of jeans – comfortable, but hard-wearing and practical.
