Rosie the Riveter

Burda 05-2010-119 jumpsuit

I’ve made another jumpsuit, albeit for DD3, this time ’round.

She wanted to be Rosie the Riveter for Hallowe’en, and I offered to make her a denim jumpsuit if she agreed to it becoming part of her wearable wardrobe.https://i0.wp.com/assets.burdastyle.com/patterns/technical_drawings/000/000/448/May_119_tech_drawing_large.jpg  She gave it a few days’ thought, and said yes.  Yay!  After scouring Burda’s website, she loved the May 2010 jumpsuit best, so I found the magazine and purchased it via eBay from Germany last week.  In a perfectly-timed coincidence, Fabricland emailed me a coupon for 50% off any single cut of fabric, and I used it for 4 metres of stretch cotton denim, purchased last Friday.  The Burda magazine arrived on Tuesday, and I’ve been sewing ever since.  Today she wore it to school.

The pattern is pretty straight forward, but, because the magazine is in German and Google translate is horrible for sewing terms, I didn’t follow the directions.  And I made some changes:  I put a proper placket and cuff onto the long sleeves; left off the epaulets; and omitted the elasticized hems on the trousers.

Burda 05-2010-119 front

My DD3 loves blue, and wanted blue buttons and blue top stitching.  The shirt pockets are faux, although I made fully functioning buttonholes because I don’t like the look of buttons sewn over faux buttonholes.  I think it looks unfinished.

Burda 05-2010-119 jump!

The trouser portion of the jumpsuit runs large.. surprisingly.  I cut DD3’s recommended size, and then narrowed each side seam of the trousers 3 cm to get a good fit.  No other changes were made to the pattern.   In retrospect, I’d lengthen the back crotch length, but she hasn’t changed out of it since coming home from school, so it must be comfortable.

Oh, and, because it’s a jumpsuit, here’s another jump!

denim jumpsuit

Salvage September Project 2

Remember this dress?

Well, it went into the “remake it pile” when I purged my closet.  I initially cut it apart with the intention of making another dress, but that went out the window once I’d laid out all the pieces and realized only the skirt was really going to be salvageable.  Burda classics 0015 blouseSo I traced off this little sleeveless number from Burda’s 2012 FW Classics issue.  There was just enough to squeeze it out, although I did end up piecing some of the facing.

Liberty Bea

I lengthened the back by an extra 4cm, hemming it with right-angle corners instead of grading it to meet the front length.  It means I can tuck it in securely at the back, or, when it is left untucked, have sufficient coverage when I sit or bend over.

Burda Classics 2012 #15

I’m quite happy with this little top, especially the collar.  And quite happy that I have a garment which will see more wear than the dress ever did.

Tie front blouse

 

Warning: A Miserable Project: Burda 11/2012 #138

Burda 11-2012-138 adjustedSome people blog all their pretty perfect outfits and look pretty and perfect, which is all good and uplifting and encouraging and all, but let’s be realistic.  A lot of the garments I sew for myself take a lot of work and reworking and fitting and tweaking before I’m happy enough to wear them for a blog post photo shoot.

Well, this dress project is pissing me off because, well…. let’s be honest here.  Because I’m an idiot and didn’t bother to do a toile prior to cutting, which was beyond necessary because my fabric is wool crepe.  I quote from the pattern instructions:

Recommended fabrics:  Jersey of wool or wool blends.  Use stretch jersey fabrics only.

Yeah, I know.  But I really wanted to use this particular teal wool crepe (I love wool crepe) and I wanted to make this particular dress because the bodice looked interesting, and I needed a wildcard for that Tying-Up-Loose-Ends idea.

At least even Karl Lagerfeld himself makes mistakes matching fabric with design sometimes.  (Don’t believe me?  Watch the documentary Signe Chanel in it’s entirety here or here or buy your own copy. There’s a lovely silk velvet gown that one petite main spends twelve full days sewing by hand, only to have the master admit his original fabric choice isn’t working.)

I measured, allowed for the lack of ease in the fabric, was a good girl and did an FBA leaving the armscye unaltered….FBA Burda 11-2012-138And it failed miserably.  This is before tweaking. The sleeves are the perfect length and it looks good, right?Burda 11-2012-138 front before adjustmentBut I can’t move in it.  See what happens when I move my arms? armscye problemThe armscyes are very low.  Actually, a full 2.5 inches lower than they should be, and it’s because the top of the front armscye is entirely on the bias.  Well, mine was, because I had the brains foresight to do the required FBA. Yes, I was warned when I posted of my SWAP plans, but I’d already cut it out by then, so I just (uselessly) crossed my fingers and hoped.  See the pulling? The sleeves won’t let my arms go anywhere, so the bodice is stretching across all its bias glory to allow for arm movement. I could not reach forward or put my arms over my head if someone had held a gun in my face.

This is after tweaking, with the too-full-but-with-room-enough-to-move sleeves of the wrong length.  Burda 11-2012-138 front The re-cut the sleeves v.1 were from  Vogue 8615:  a 3/4 sleeve with an elbow dart, which was still too tight.  (?!?!)  When that didnt’ work, I thought I may as well go the whole hog and use what I know to be a loosey sort of proper fitting sleeve with wearing ease from Burda 5/2010 #112.  The original sleeve is in tissue overlaying the sleeve pattern I eventually opted to use.sleeve adjustments I used silk organza selvedge to stay the armscye and eased in about 2-3 inches of stretched bias on the bodice front into what the measurements on the pattern dictated the armscye should be (about 9 inches from shoulder to underarm).    Ridiculous.armscye fixAnd now I have this.  See all that fabric trying desperately to shrink into the armscye?  And I couldn’t recut the bodice or reduce any of the fabric from the pleats because the FBA needs the ease to fit successfully.Burda 11-2012-138 bodice adjusted It isn’t pretty and perfect, but I can raise my arms, see?  Doesn’t look great, but let me tell you, from a wearability perspective, it’s 100% better than the original version.Burda 11-2012-138 armscyeThe sleeves are loose enough that they move when I need them to now, and the armscye sits high enough that it basically stays in place when my arms move.  But it’s got to be the ugliest bodice I’ve ever seen on myself.Burda 11-2012-138 sideSo do I like anything about this dress? Yes.  I love the fabric.  I love love love wool crepe.  And the back fits well.IMG_5461 Burda 11-2012-138 backThe hemline finishing – fell stitched to the hem allowance because I wanted a clean finish.Burda 11-2012-138 lining hemMy silk lining.Burda 11-2012-138 liningBut I really hate the fit of the bodice and sleeves on my version of this dress.  I think I’ll chop it off and make a skirt.  So much for this loose end!

Vogue 8626: Classic Harris Tweed

Vogue 8626 pockets (523x800)I wore my new tweed coat for the first time a couple of days ago when it was -11°C.  My fingers were numb after five minutes of trying to take photos outside, but the coat kept me toasty warm. It’s a very simple coat – nothing super fancy or head-turning about it.  The coat is wonderfully comfortable, and I’m glad I interfaced the back on the bias because it gives the feeling of moving with me instead of being separate from me.  Like it’s hugging me and keeping me warm.  I’m sure I’ll get a lot of wear out of this garment.  Here’s a shot of the back pleats.  Vogue 8626 backI’m a little disappointed in the way the pleats fall during wear.  When the coat front is open, they fall perfectly.  Vogue 8626 unbuttonedWhen it’s buttoned, they spread.  The side hangs vertically in a straight line while either buttoned or not, so the pleats should hang properly during wear, but they don’t. Vogue 8626 side If you look at pictures on the web and read reviews of this pattern, you’ll see that this is a problem on all versions made of this coat.  Personally, I think it’s because I assumed the empire back and pleats would eliminate the need for a short back adjustment of 2 inches, and there’s some tweaking that needs to happen with the pattern to get the pleats to lay perfectly flat.  The side back pleats need to be much deeper and shaped over the hips, imho.  Here’s a view, buttoned, on my dress form.Vogue 8626 back pleats buttonedAt least it mimics me in shape and drape!  And now the interesting collar: View C with the very high collar.Vogue 8626 view C collarI don’t have a particularly short neck, but you can see how the collar is too high for me.  Here’s a shot of it unbuttoned and folded over at the CB, which I think is much more flattering.  However, in a gale, the high collar will definitely keep frigid winds away!Vogue 8626 vie C unbuttonedAnd here’s the last finishing details.  I finished the hem edge with bias taffeta.hem bindingI added a hanging chain loop.haning loopAnd, of course, an extra button along with the wonderful Harris Tweed label that accompanies every length purchased from one of the mills in the Hebrides.harris tweedLooks a little 70’s, don’t you think?70s style

Blue Christmas

chinese brocade dressIsn’t this the most amazing colour?  In some lights it’s cobalt.  Other times it looks what in my mind I call “blueberry”.  And the highlights are baby blue, but other times they look turquoise.  It’s a visual feast, embodied in my DD3’s new Christmas dress.  She leapt at the fabric when she laid eyes on it, and after perusing The PatterV8615n Stash, chose this little classic number called Vogue 8615.  The selling feature was the BIG SKIRT.  Now, the brocade as has decent amount of heft, as most brocade does, but as you can see from some of the versions on PR (click the pattern image to see) the skirt falls rather flat.  The pattern does mention a purchased petticoat, which I think helps the skirt stand properly.  But I didn’t want to make a separate petticoat, and DD3 didn’t want to wear a separate petticoat.  Isn’t it nice when we’re on the same page with our clients?  🙂

I had in my mind this BIG SKIRT from Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, and since we watch this film bi-annually, I was quite sure that I could copy the stiffness of it.  If you watch this scene you’ll notice that the skirt actually bends, like there’s 20 layers of organza underlining.https://i0.wp.com/the-dandy-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/white-christmas-vera-ellen.pngI chose to use a stiff netting as underlining – just one layer – and the effect is similar.Vogue 8615 skirt interiorThe hem was fun to make.  Vogue suggests a narrow 5/8″ hem, but I wanted more support in that BIG SKIRT, so I turned it up 3 inches and micro-pleated in the extra fullness into purchased 1-inch-wide bias binding (that’s super stiff for some reason) and hand-stitched it to the underlining.  I did not press the hem.  The skirt is 6 yards in circumference, consisting of four panels.  The centre of each panel is cut on the straight grain, which means each seam is on the bias.  That was another reason I underlined it with stiff netting.  🙂  Netting on the bias doesn’t grow, and I was surprised, after cutting fashion fabric, that this brocade would if I’d let it have it’s own way.Vogue 8615 backThe dress is straining on Vintage Judy through the shoulders, but the V back fits DD3’s shoulders perfectly because I raised it by 1.5 inches and did a short-waist adjustments to keep it sitting properly.  I debated putting a waist stay into the dress, but didn’t.  I may add one if today’s wearing suggests it would be a good idea.  (Today is DD2 and DD3’s piano recital.)  Vogue 8615 beaded zipperThe zipper is hand picked, and can I just say it was such a massive pleasure putting a zipper in by hand again?  So much simpler than a lapped zip or an invisible zip and completely fuss-free. After inserting the zipper, I made an additional pass over the stitches and added iridescent beads.  It’s my first use of this decorative technique. Vogue 8615 blueThere’s a lot of pattern in this brocade, with a repeat that I ignored except on the CF bodice seam.  You can see from the pic above how the BIG SKIRT folds in on itself rather stiffly.  So pretty, even if I do say so myself.  I’m really liking this pattern, too.  It comes with custom bodice sizes A through D cup, two sleeve lengths, and seriously, peeps – who couldn’t love that BIG SKIRT?

Baby Blue and Navy Blue

Vogue 2396It’s done and on its way to Alberta.  I couldn’t be more pleased with this outfit – simple, chic and I’m so happy with the way it came together.  The ice-blue sheath is Vogue 2396.  Here it is without the lace shirt.Vogue 2396 sheath dressI pre-washed the linen when it was purchased about 12 months ago (longer, maybe?).  I had originally intended to simply underline it with silk organza, but it was a little on the show-all-possible-undergarment-lines semi-opaque, so I also lined with bemberg.  Vogue 2396 interiorI added a small kick pleat at the CB, since my DF isn’t a fan of hemline slits.  This is such a lovely simple design that it will be wearable for many occasions.  I faced the armholes and neckline with a self-drafted facing instead of taking the lining to the edges as per Vogue’s instructions.  I think this finishes up the edges in a much nicer way, and the support afforded by the self-fabric keeps everything in shape properly during wear.  Isn’t that icy blue such a pretty summery colour?Vogue 2396 facingAnd now the nitty gritty of the lace top.  I folded the lace in half, matching the scalloped selvedges, laid the front of the dress pattern over top to get an idea of the neckline shape, took a massively deep breath, and slashed from the centre front out to the shoulders.  I’m sorry I don’t have pics of this process, but it was pretty simple, and I’m hoping I’ll write well enough for you to follow along.  Then I put the lace “top” on over the dress as it was on Ms. Vintage, adjusted the shoulders so that the hem hung horizontally, pinned it to the shoulders of the dress, and carefully trimmed away the excess to match the dress’s neckline.  Then I tried using my silk ribbon to bind the neck edge.  I’ve not pictures of that either, and for good reason.  It was an atrocious ugly mess.  Of course, I can hear some of you more experienced sewistas muttering, because silk ribbon is not bias, and therefore will not shape smoothly.  Yup.  Stitch and learn.

So I tripped down to the fashion district last Friday and matched the lace with silk chiffon (since French navy silk organza is NOT to be had anywhere in this town and I’ve not tried dyeing anything and didn’t want this to be the start of a foray into that art form).  I cut long 1″ wide pieces of bias and made a couple of yards of narrow bias binding.  Not the most fun job in the world with chiffon, but it worked.lace shirt chiffon edgingThen I carefully trimmed away all but 1/8″ of the uglified silk ribbon neck edging and stitched the chiffon binding around the neckline by hand.  I didn’t trust my machine.  Once the neckline was all finished, I put it on Ms. Vintage again and started draping the side seams.  I ended up trimming 2″ off the front and backs at the sides, tapering to a short sleeved kimono shape.  Then I bound each long edge, back hem to front hem, and fell-stitched 8 inches of the edges together from the hem up to create the shape of the shirt.lace shirt sleevesThe bias binding is not uniform in width, but it’s complementary to the variation of widths in the design of the lace.  I think so, anyways.  It’s a pull-over style, and I’m hoping it will get worn with a myriad of other outfits. When my DF picked up the dress she was wearing a backless spaghetti strap black maxi dress. She tried on the lace shirt and it looked amazing with the dress she was already wearing. And here’s a final shot of the back.  This was a fun project.  I love working with linen and these sorts of garments are what make my sewing heart leap with giddy joy.  Next up:  boring snoring cake for DD1 and another go at the Vogue 1039 skinnies pattern.  *yawn*Lace shirt back

My Take on Vogue 8825

V 8825 5

Well, after all the wool and the thinking that’s been going into the Marfy coat, I needed something quick and easy called instant gratification.  So I turned to Vogue 8825, which I knew I would love as soon as the pattern was released.  It has everything that I like:  a cross-over bodice, full sleeves and wide cuffs.  The skirt is pencil-y and what’s not to love about the 5 foot long ties?  Very 70’s with that requisite “modern” update!  Ha!

I cut a straight size, tapering up one size through the hips.  It turns out that was completely unnecessary, although it is one of my usual alterations.  The skirt didn’t need any extra fabric to skim properly.  The fabric is a poly knit that I picked up last fall from Fabricland, and just because I like lined skirts better than unlined skirts (whatever it is they’re made of) I added a nylon knit lining to the skirt.  I simply cut another skirt, stitched it up and sandwiched the bodice ‘tween skirt and lining fabric while attaching the bodice to the skirt.

lining attachment seam

This is the interior with the lining turned down.  I left the facing edges completely unfinished as the fabric is completely stable.

V8825 lining

It’s a super quick sew, and a dress I’ll probably wear a lot, being chocolate and all that.  I didn’t do an FBA – and I usually do a good 2 inches of one.  I simply made the CF overlap deeper, about 3 inches instead of the 1 inch as drafted.  After wearing this dress all morning, it didn’t malfunction.  I’ll confess to being in a bit of a hurry and thoughtless while cutting.  I may have to find a chocolate brown Sharpie permanent marker to fix my mistake.  Can you find it?

V 8825 4

This is a super comfy dress, and I’d love to make up several more in a variety of prints.  I hear Ann is hosting a Jungle January.  This would be perfect in a leopard jersey!  And if you haven’t already, please enter my Birthday Giveaway – it closes on Saturday, December 15th!

V 8825 7

I’m wearing Bellville Sassoon

I thought I’d do a little story-telling around this dress for the fun of it, since I’ve posted pictures of it twice, and a couple of you commented on it in the last post. This gratuitous second posting of this picture is my second sized-up version of the dress, since my first version didn’t fit anymore.grad gownI think the first post mentioning this gown was here, from my high school graduation.  I do not have this pattern anymore, and I can’t tell you the number of it because an internet search was completely fruitless.  But I can tell you that it’s a Bellville Sassoon Vogue pattern, and I graduated from high school in 1987. I vaguely remember the pattern envelope:  a model wearing the dress in the exact colour I made it up in, and a shorter drawing in black, I think.  Anyways…

This dress was one of the reasons that I continued sewing.  I knew I was going to make my prom dress, and I was given cart blanche for colour, fabric and design.  Woo HOO!!!  That is dream news to a 17 year old.  I remember my mom driving clear across the city of Edmonton for what seemed like hours to a little European fabric store – no Fabricland fabric for this! – and choosing the teal moiré taffeta for the gown.   And I remember choking as my mom laid out more than $200 for it.  Eeep!!!  Ah, well, in typical teen prom dress la-la land, who cared?  Not me!  I had the makings of a fabulous dress.

So I went started in on it, and not knowing how to even dot the “i” in the word “fit” at that point in my sewing adventure, blithely cut out my standard size 12.  Then I sewed it up with 1 inch seam allowances, knowing it may be a bit small, but it fit perfectly.  I learned a lot from sewing this dress:  boning, lining, underlining, ruching, petticoats… it was a complete high to sew it up.  And then I tried it on and realized that the skirt was going to be too short if I did the recommended 2 1/2” hem.  So I learned from my mom how to do a French hand-rolled hem.  I think that’s what she called it.  Anyways, the taffeta was very unkind to my fingers by the end of that hem.  I don’t know how wide the bottom of that skirt is, but I remember cutting 3 – or was it 4? – complete 1/2 circles of 60” taffeta for that darn skirt.  I was in prom dress heaven!!!  And I wanted the rhinestones or whatever they were on the CF bow at the neckline, so I sewed a bracelet around that lovely bow and I had a perfect dress!  YAY!

After the prom was said and done, I happened to be wandering through our one and only Holt Renfrew (the only Canadian store close to the likes of Neiman Marcus or Bergdorf Goodman) and stopped dead when I saw my prom dress.  Actually, more than one.  In the exact colour and detail as the pattern.  Imagine my shock!  So I inspected the dress from top to tail and discovered that the quality of the taffeta I had used was superior (in my mind, anyways) to the one’s in the store, and that I had paid $200 for a dress that was selling for $1299.

Who wouldn’t continue sewing after that?friends grad accoutrements

P.S.  My BFF’s dress was peach satin with alençon lace, and her brother was my date. His shirt, cummerbund and bow tie were all me-made.  Looking back it’s a miracle any of it fit because I didn’t know anything about doing muslins or fitting people properly!

The New Woman

My eldest daughter is participating in an Historica fair at her school.  It’s actually required, but it’s still fun.  This year she chose Canadian women’s fashion from the 17th century to the present.  Large scope, yes.  I tried to tell her she bit off a bit more than I thought she could chew, but as she was working with a partner, it’s been manageable.New Woman Part of what the girls wanted to do was wear period dress during their presentations and the fair.  DD’s friend is to be dressed as the “New Woman” c. 1900.  After perusing every single book on the history of fashion that she could get her hands on, DD presented me with a picture and asked me to replicate “if it wasn’t too much trouble”.  Initially I’d thought her friend could just borrow one of the existing ball skirts in my closet (regardless of their bright colours), add a shirtwaist and be done with it.  Easy peasy.

Then I wandered through my local Fabricland looking for a pattern for DD1’s Napoleonic costume and stumbled across a table of taffeta for $4/m.  I used to have a black ball skirt from my performance days, but thrifted it years ago and regretted doing so ever since.  And here was the perfect excuse to have a (completely unnecessary) replacement!! I made it up from Vogue 1015 – an old Belleville Sassoon evening ensemble that was the pattern for the sorely missed original in my closet. I decided to go the whole gamut and put in the lining and the full-length net petticoat with a hem ruffle. V1015 skirtWe added a jabot – not a proper period lace jabot – but one that I slapped together with 1.5 metres of eyelet edging gathered and stitched at regular intervals to a strip of shirting remnant.  And I mean slapped together.  The edges are totally unfinished and the neck band is simply folded over into thirds and stitched together from the right side with a zigzag stitch down the entre length.jabot

It’s not perfect, but it gives the period silhouette, which is what we were aiming for. Then we pulled together an RTW shirt and jacket,  and it looks pretty good for a wannabe costume on 3 days notice! new woman ensemble

McCalls 4228: The Claire McCardell Day Dress

About six months ago, Tasia over at Sewaholic mentioned this pattern on her Facebook update…. or was it a blog post?  I cannot remember, but I do remember clicking on over to the Etsy shop that was selling this pattern and purchasing it on a whim.

It was the first ever vintage pattern that I have owned, and I was quite excited to open it up and have a look.  It was in perfect condition, although there was no pattern envelope.  It was housed in a paper bag with a magazine photo of the pattern taped to the front.  No information about yardage except for a handwritten notation “3 3/8 yards” on the back.  The dress is a size 16, which I thought could be tweaked to fit me, since that’s usually where I start with a pattern.  I loved the blue of the dress, and thought about making it in a deep teal jersey, but couldn’t bring myself to purchase the fabric since I’m really trying (really, I am) to whittle down my stash instead of adding to it.  And I had purchased the plum jersey, pictured, to make up the Donna Karan Vogue 1259 dress, but decided I’d use it for the McCardell dress.  But I cut it wrong.  Bad.  Very very bad.

And then I went to Fabricland.  Ugh!  I honestly only went to purchase fabric for DD3’s winter dress coat, but they had a 50% sale going for members, and the table of knits was BOGT and…  and…  and…  So much for shopping my stash.  But, in defence of economy and wise fabric purchases, this dress cost me all of $15 + HST, so it’s a steal compared to what I usually sometimes end up coming home with.McCardell 4

The fabric is a rayon lycra knit in a rich chocolate colour, but it’s got little olive green fuzzy polka dots all over it. They’re really a nice touch – a little like velvet spots – they catch the light and change from light to dark like velvet will.  And they shed, but that’s beside the point.  I really liked the green dots.  The interesting part of this dress is its construction.

If my memory serves me correctly, Claire McCardell was an American designer that revolutionized daily dressing, mostly through her use of knits and her swimwear.  I’m not a McCardell expert, so if any of you are, please correct me (or fill in the details) if I’m wrong.  I’m also pretty sure that jerseys or knits were a relatively new thing in terms of fashion fabrics, and the give in a jersey wasn’t something designers were making the most of, like today’s designers do.  So, this dress has reinforced seams.  I think the fluidity of a jersey appealed to McCardell , but she didn’t want the garment to stretch out of shape.  Here’s a shot of the interior of the bodice.interior of bodice

Every seam is reinforced with seam binding.  I used lace seam binding for the bodice.  The sleeves, CB seam and side seams are all stitched with the seam seam bindingside zipbinding to prevent the jersey from stretching out of shape.  The back pieces are cut on the bias, so that the “V” neckline edges are cut on the grain.  And every single facing is bound.  I could have omitted this step, but I wanted to do the dress as the instructions dictated for the vintage flair.  I used olive green china silk from my scrap stash for the pocket lining and the skirt CB and side seams.  I was running short of the lace binding, and wanted to use it for the skirt hem. There is a waist stay, which you can probably barely see in the picture above, and a side zipper inside the pocket opening.

I did not do any adjustments to this pattern because it’s made of jersey, and because there’s a lot of fabric in the crossover front (about 6 pleats, each 4 inches deep), and a lot of fabric gathered into the skirt.  I’m not so crazy about the pockets, but I left them in because of the zipper.  I didn’t want to mess around with the zipper placement. McCardell 1I did not make up the belt that came with the pattern for a couple of reasons, mostly because I just cannot find a two-pronged belt buckle that’s 3 or 4 inches wide.  I do have a date for the Fashion District next Wednesday, and it’s on my list, but until I get the right buckle, this purchased belt with have to do.  It’s the right width, but it’s very stiff and the bottom sits at my natural waist.  The belt pattern is only 2 inches wide, which I don’t think would be wide enough for this dress.  I much prefer the wider belt that the model is wearing, so if I ever do find the perfect buckle, I’ll be making this up as a wider belt.McCardell 5 And I have to wear it backwards, which is probably really stupid, but it works for now until I find that perfect belt buckle.  BTW, there’s nothing like a rearview shot to bring a hefty dose of reality to one’s view of oneself.  I had no idea I was so w-i-d-e across the back hips.  Brother.  The gathering of the skirt fabric does NOT help, either.backBut you can get a good idea of the bias cut of the back bodice from this picture, and the small “v” back neckline.  The sleeves are raglan, and a little shy of my wrists.  I don’t mind that length, as I prefer them pushed up a bit anyways. McCardell 2

This was a fun pattern to put together.  It’s a classic cut of dress, comfy because it’s knit, and the style suits me, I think.  I’m not sure if I’ll make up another one, but if I did, it would be in a dark teal blue, I’d shorten the waist by about 2 inches, and probably try a circle skirt to eliminate the dirndl look. But then I’d probably have totally different dress!  As it is, I’ll probably wear this dress a lot once I get the perfect belt!