parent teacher conferences ended last week. and yet, i finished the dress yesterday! sigh.
i really had hoped to finish the dress in time, but the pattern i chose had many issues:
1) the waist was way too skinny. i had to let out the waist by 1/2 inch on both sides, and i let out both back darts. i think i added a total of 5 inches of circumference to the waist. that's like the difference between a 24" waist and a 29" waist. whoa, i'm totally built like a rectangle. sheesh.
2) the pleats where i altered the waist didn't measure up, so i had to invent new pleats to hide the gaps in the pleating. i. hate. making. pleats.
3) the bodice was way too long. there was a line where i could adjust the bodice to fit a petite build. of course, i reduced the bodice length there (this raised the waistline... which ended up still being a bit too low). then, after sewing up the dress, i found that the bust darts were still hanging about an inch to 2 inches too low: essentially the darts were around my ribs. yeah, that just looks weird. so, even though i had neatly attached the collar and wanted to quit, i detached them and reattached them, taking out an inch off the top of the dress' bodice. another good consequence of this action was that the armholes were also shortened and thus the sides of my bra no longer peeked out. hurrah!
all in all, i am pleased with the dress. i don't have any collared dresses. i like the pleating detail (even though making them is such a pain!). ooh, i also love the vintage button i used at the collar... gifted from carin, my colleague who also gave me this fabric!
i'm going to wear it on tuesday, when my spring intensive course presents the flags we've been sewing all this week... yes, i've been teaching sewing lessons at school all this week instead of math! it's been SO much fun! stay tuned for a pic of me in the dress!!
