I’m supposed to be doing my taxes.
Meh.
I thought it would be more fun to share DD3’s latest sewing project with you instead. 🙂 We went shopping in my stash, and pulled out this fabulous fabric from EmmaOneSock, which I purchased with DD3 in mind a couple of years ago. In the latest Vogue patterns online sale, we also purchased Vogue 9167. She chose to work with View D.
We began with a toile of the bodice, using the 14-D cup bodice provided in the pattern, but it pulled in all sorts of unhappy ways, so I suggested that we do an additional 1.5cm FBA. She followed the directions from the 1982 Vogue Sewing book on her own, but decided to make it a 2cm FBA instead of a 1.5, hoping she wouldn’t need to make yet another toile. And we ended up with a really good fit through the bust, if it was a little loose. We didn’t need to lower the bust point at all. But it looked like something my dog found in the garbage with drag lines going on in every direction FOREVER.
And I couldn’t for the life of me think of where to even begin with this mess. DD3 has been in physio for a couple of years because she a) sprouted so quickly; b) went from a B cup to an F cup in less than 6 months (remember, she’s 13 years old), which affected everything from posture to self-esteem; and c) swims semi-competitively. Which, all put together, makes for shoulder issues, as you can see in these photos. Oh, and we’ve just learned that she has scoliosis – minor – only 1cm, or so – but it obviously affects the fit of a bodice. Soooo….
Because she’s a swimmer, I cut 5cm extra through the shoulder seams, in preparation for a square broad shoulder (remember, I’m trying to get her to work from a pattern, since that’s the way I work). Maybe it’s time to learn to work from a moulage… Ah, well, here’s a summary of what we ended up with:
Back: narrow back adjustment 1.5cm
Right shoulder: took away the 5cm extra, and sloped it 1.5cm. In effect, working from a size 14 pattern, it boils down to a 1.5cm sloped shoulder adjustment.
Left shoulder: left the 5cm extra on the front. Took away 5cm on the back. What is this called? Reverse forward shoulder adjustment? Backward shoulder adjustment?
Short waist adjustment: 5cm
This is the back of the dress. We still need more adjustments through the right shoulder… lower shoulder adjustment? narrow shoulder adjustment? sloped shoulder adjustment? Or maybe it’s a high neck issue?!?!?!
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!
You can see it’s still a hot mess on the right side in this photo, but I’m not sure if she’s rolled her shoulders forward a little bit (something she is fighting on a minute-by-minute basis). However, this is so dramatically improved from her Christmas dress fiasco (we’re re-cutting the bodice for December 2017), that we both did major happy dances. It’s not perfect, but it is 1000 times better than it was. She didn’t want it to be fitted closely under the bust, so we left it with a little more ease than I would like. But it’s her dress, and she’s happy with it.
She loves the pockets.
We added an A-line lining to the skirt. Working with all those box pleats was a bit of a challenge for her, since she’s just done circle skirts to this point.
Thank goodness for Vogue’s wonderful instructions. She just followed them methodically and was so proud of herself when they worked out beautifully. And me, well, I’m super proud of her. My contributions to the project were some cutting, the back zip and colour-matching the thread for the hem. Because it just looked better that way. If you click on the photos, you’ll find yourself in my Flickr photostream, where you can zoom in and play Find the Stitches in the Hemline.
Well, now she’s working on the toile for her middle school graduation in June. And we’re going hardcore: foundations, boning, lace and petticoats!
Mezzo Couture 
She made a great job of this dress – and no-one but another seamstress will be scrutinising the way we do. It looks great and I’m sure that her graduation dress will be a triumph 🙂
The right back panel where the drag lines are just need to be shorter. You can probably pinch 1/4 inch horizontally on that panel on the paper pattern for next time and graduate it to nothing at the side seam or pin a little out of the front panel a tiny bit to match. that panel could be slightly narrower as well but only on the right side to snug it up. No one notices but seamstresses…It is just lovely and the colors are so bright and sunny…great job!
Yay! Thanks for the tips! I told DD3 that this could end up being a TNT if she likes the pattern enough.
A beautiful dress, nicely fitted. I hope DD3 is proud of herself!
Fabulous work, well done to both of you. She looks lovely in that dress.
She’s made a lovely dress there! Just beautiful! I love it when I see young people sewing.
Absolutely darling! What a treasured experience for both of you to work on a complex fitting job together and achieve such success！ kudos to both of you! And especially your daughter who is getting quite an education plus a beautiful frock!
Your daughter looks beautiful and justifiably proud of this lovely dress. My sewing efforts at 13 were abysmal for so many reasons so I love seeing happier results.
I am so impressed! Your daughter did an amazing job. Of course, she has the best teacher too! Congratulations to her and I hope she loves wearing it.
awesome work!
That fabric and fit is BEAUTIFUL! And her even moreso! Brava!
Thank you! She’s very proud of her new dress!
Wow your daughter should be so proud of this! Lovely.
Lovely! And what a good job on the details 🙂
This looks so great! She should be so proud. (You too!)
Great teaching job–and Fitting!
A beautiful dress, well done to your daughter, and she is so lucky to have you helping her to get such a good fit. I found it difficult to get clothes to fit me as a teenager (and still as an adult). Not having the ‘standard’ curves to fit off the peg. I honestly think that being able to sew clothes that fit prevents a negative self image and increases confidence.
The dress looks great and I can’t see any issues in the fit on the final!
I hope it’s not too sensitive to mention, but have you considered a breast reduction for DD3? My best friend bloomed very early and being quite a small girl, her breasts were causing her massive discomfort and back problems at 16, so she had a reduction done. They can do wonders for self esteem and pain and if she is still so young with quite a rapid change, it could really help.
Thanks, and not too sensitive. We have a very supportive MD, but we’re waiting for DD3 to finish all her growing before we look further into it.
Just lovely, both the dress and your daughter!
Wonderful work by DD3 with a bit of help from mom! Great blue and green print
Fabulous job. I wish my fitting journeys ended as well as this did.
I adore these colours and she looks beautiful in this dress.
Great work! The fit looks amazing – especially if you compare to what she would be able to to find RTW. And lovely fabric choice too.
When I first looked at the photo, I thought it looked lovely. Great fabric choice for the pattern. Dd3 and mum should be very proud of themselves
She did a fantastic job! I had the opposite problem at 13…my 34A bust left room to spare in everything. I wore a lot of bolero jackets.
She looks beautiful! That’s a very nice dress. Maybe some fitting issues can be skimmed over by working in stretch fabrics? They’re so forgiving of little bumps! Good job kiddo!