Monday, August 26, 2013

Finished: Engagement Dress



I made this last summer. I know, it has been a long time coming, eh?

I started to make it a week before my sister's engagement party. Sounds like me, right? Hah! Sunni was throwing a sew along one day and then big box Joanns had a 99¢ sale on the exact pattern the next day! It was fate right? Obviously. I searched through my stash fabric and settled on another great silk crepe de chine from Mood, one of my first big fabric purchases in 2010. Even though I had never sewn with silk before, I came home sporting 3 cuts of beautiful silk. I used one of the other pieces for this dress from this past January. I have one piece left that I think I know what I want to do with. I will put that in my mental-sewing queue.




Anyway. I bought the print with my fabric-purchasing buddy because we thought it had a cute vintage-y style print at the time. When I took it out two years later, it looks a little more western than I had remembered, almost approaching bandana territory. But it was still cute and I thought would work great for the dress. I think I was right!


This is Simplicity 1880, a Project Runway pattern. This line from Simplicity I actually really like. The ease is not as great as the rest of their patterns, and I like the fact that there are multiple options for each pattern (sleeve type, necklines, pockets, etc.) I traced the pattern and then adjusted the neckline by taking a wedge out, to minimize the gaping I had on my first muslin. I am, without a doubt, small busted, and this was what I found during research to do an sba for a wrap neckline. If you look at the first photo, you might be able to see (maybe?) that I had to cross the fronts over more than I was supposed to. I probably could use to take out another inch or two from the neckline, which I hopefully will correct that in future versions. I noted this on my pattern before storing it, so that I won't run into the same thing again.

One thing I am not 100% happy with are the sleeves. They are self-lined and I am not crazy about them. Whether it was because it was silk, or operator error (or the two combined!), they were a complete pain to get in and I feel like they look a little bulky. If I do make this dress again, I will try to either not lining them or, as Sunni did, and cut them on the bias instead.


All in all, despite the sleeves, the dress came together pretty easily. I used French seams, my first in silk, throughout the entire dress. The one thing I will note is that the weight of the skirt is pretty heavy on the center seams and even after wearing it only a handful of times, I can see that the seams are being stressed and starting to pull apart. Next time, as I think Sunni did in one of hers, is put a waist stay to help with the weight.


The skirt. Sigh. This skirt is lovely. It is twirly and very feminine. But! If you look at the full photos of every finished skirt (and even on my PGMannequin) you will notice that those pesky center seams fall in between the legs while wearing it and creates a weird fold in the front and the back. Now, this is quite annoying, I thought, and I don't like the look of it. I thought that I could just cut the skirt on a fold, but because of the shaping of the skirt and waistline I don't think that is possible. The other option is to slice out the excess fabric that falls in the fold, but I am not sure what that will do to the drape of the skirt. Any other options that I haven't thought about?? Maybe just slap a circle skirt on the bottom instead? These are the thoughts that keep me awake at night ;)


Per Sunni's tutorial, instead of using a facing for the front neckline I made matching bias tape and bound the edges in that. If you look closely, and I assume no one will look that closely at my chest, the stitching wasn't the best, but again, who will know but me? And now you :)

School has started here in the Northeast today and it seems that summer is finally over. That means back to sewing for me. I moved a small desk that I found at an estate sale (only $2!!!) and have placed that back into my old sewing space. Our condo is still on the market so I will have limited sewing supplies, but I don't care. My summer vacation is over and now back to sewing and blogging. Maybe I will go buy a new notebook and some #2 pencils and make a new outfit for the first day back! Do they still sell Trapper Keepers anymore? I think that would be awesome to keep my patterns and notes in. I will have to look around for those :) 

Anything on your sewing table for this week? Is summer (or vacation) over where you are? Does anyone remember the Trapper Keeper?!?!?

Have a great Monday!

12 comments:

  1. Very cute "vintage-look" dress! I like the addition of the bias tape instead of facing. Looks like you did great sewing with silk for the first time! :)

    Glad I'm not the only one that hasn't been keeping up with sewing and blogging over the summer;) Not that I didn't want to, its just a busy time of year! I'm in NB, Canada, on vacation but I can't wait to tackle something new once we head home to NS tomorrow!

    Happy Sewing Maggie! :)

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    1. Thanks, Rikki! I know it is so tough when the weather turns warmer and all you want to do is sit outside...not good for sewing mojo! But I have a few ideas for my first project back, I just need to find where I put my pattern!! Hah! Have a great vacation :)

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  2. please get a trapper keeper for your notes, maybe one by lisa frank, he he. Beautiful dress! Isn't it nice to get back to sewing after taking a break? Hope you've planned something fun for your next project =)

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    1. There are a bunch of Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers on etsy and, wow, they are bright! I did find one with kittens on it, but it was actually a little too creepy to pull the trigger! I will keep my eye out ;) It was a nice break, but I am ready to get back in the sewing saddle!

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  3. Really, really cute! I love this! I wonder if the skirt would hang better if you wore a half slip underneath it? Maybe that would be enough to keep the skirt from folding weirdly.

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    1. That is a great idea!!! I really do love the twirl-factor of this skirt, so I if that solves it, you will be my hero! :) I will at least try a slip first before I go hacking into the pattern ;) Thanks!

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  4. Definitely has that vintage style and so does the fabric. Really? Is this your first silk project - fantastic job!!
    I'm heading to the US soon. Got the shopping list ready for NY!! Other than that, have been too busy to blog, as usual, and sewing lots for DD. What is a trapper keeper?

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    1. This was my first silk project, well first slippery silk. I did work with Silk Dupioni on my Rome anniversary dress, but I feel like that is actually pretty easy to work with because of the nubby-ness, although I don't think that is actually a word :) Have a great trip and I know you have an amazing time!

      And Trapper Keepers where a plastic binder/notebook from the 80's (well, they still make them but they are not as popular) that had places to put folders, pencil cases and of course notebook paper. My first one was blue, but then I am pretty sure I had one with a unicorn or something like that on it. The folders were fun too. You could get just plain colored ones or they had ones with kittens, Michael Jackson or Garfield and much more. I got a new one each school year, so they just say school to me! Trust me, you are not missing out ;)

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  5. That's a really nice dress, Maggie; it's so fun to use beautiful silk from Mood, isn't it? I ended up clicking back on some of your links and came across your info on using Bento for organizing patterns. I was quite excited until I saw that they're stopping the service in September. Darn, I've been looking for a way to keep track of my pile of patterns. I hope you'll post if you find something else that works for you!

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    1. Patricia, I am heartbroken about Bento!!! I had no idea! Bento, from what I can gather, is the user-friendly version of Filemaker (the company who made it) so I will look into that main program and see if it would work or not. I will still be able to use Bento, since I have the program, but no more updates or new versions, which is so sad. If I come up with something else, I will certainly let you know!

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  6. Apparently you're as bad as I am about photographing and posting your sewing creations HAHA! This is lovely and sorry about your frustrations with the skirt. I rarely/never sew a skirt with a CF seam for this reason. I'm not sure if this is the technically correct answer, but depending on the pattern and my desired outcome, I do one of the following:

    *place on the fold, this can change your grain placement, but that can also prevent the weird creeping
    *swap for a circular skirt with similar lower circumference
    *replace with a true bias skirt

    It's a process and I truly learn something from everything I make!

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  7. Pretty dress, love the fabric and style. It is just going into Spring in NZ so I have floaty dresses sitting in my sewing table!

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