Sewing pattern review - BWOF 07-2009-120

I'm not actually sure why I made this dress. Let's see - Tany's top was very inspirational. I was looking for a quick, easy project, which this was (sort of.) Also helping was the fact that I had the fabric handy. Finally, I definitely have a personal style that's sort of boring, and I thought this dress would jolt me out of it.

All of which remain true.

But then, I look at this dress and ask - where would I wear it, really? (Blog readers, if you exist. Please comment! Should this dress be worn at all? And if so, where?)

Anyway, all of that aside, construction details.


Fabric: A gift from my mom's friend. She went to India, and got me two saris to cut up. (I think my mom is getting heartily sick of me going into her closet and stroking her saris covetously.) This was a bit of one of them.

It is a polyester chiffon-like fabric, a giant PIA to work with. Slipped like crazy, so it is a good thing this pattern will tolerate that kind of thing. I lined it with a solid green rayon-ish fabric. (Which I happened to have lying around, score!)

Pattern: BWOF 07-2009-120. A weird mix of views A & B. I wanted a dress, but with short sleeves.

Pattern adjustments: A fair bit. When I first made this up, in a size 38, it was huge on me, and perfectly shapeless. I took 2-3 inches off the sides, to get it to present shape. I followed their instructions about adding elastic, since I really needed it. My sleeves aren't also as much off-the-shoulder as the patterns, because I took inches off the side, which ended up shortening the sleeves.

Also, since I lined it, I didn't bother with bias strips at the neck, I just sewed the lining together with the fabric at the neck, right sides together, flipped, and top-stitched.

Time taken: This is generally quick, but it took me a couple of evenings because I was fiddling around with it, trying to avoid the shapeless effect, and doing things to prevent the fabric from fraying like the devil (FrayStitch.)

Good things: Well, it does take me outside my clothing rut. Also, sewing a BWOF pattern the same month? Haven't done that in about a year, I think. This pattern is also pretty easy to put together, which is good.

Bad things: Where do I wear this? Really? Where? My life needs more martini-drinking with girlfriends, I think.

Post-script: I'm loosely tempted to make this again, in a sheer black. I won't, since I own about 10 black dresses. But I am tempted.

Also, I do realize I'm wearing it off the wrong shoulder. Who knew? I've never worn an off-the-shoulder anything before.

Pattern review - Simplicity 2933

It honestly doesn't get easier than this. This dress has no sleeves, minimal fitting - it went together like a breeze, and I really like it.

Let's see - a bit more detail.

Fabric: A gift from my aunt. (People who have figured out that the best gift to get me is fabric - those people are awesome. Well, fabric & beer.) She bought it in India, it is a synthetic with really nice drape. I figured it would fray like crazy, and accordingly took precautions - my side seams are French seams.

Pattern: Simplicity 2933 - view A.

Pattern adjustments: This has the potential to be a bit mu-mu-ish, so I cut a size 8, and it fits pretty well. To give context, my normal Simplicity size is 8-10 on top, and 10-12 at the bottom. I took an inch off at the torso, and inches off the hem to get it to hit above the knee.

Time taken: Not long. This was pretty straightforward. An evening's worth? Spread over several, my life is crazy.

Good things: The fabric - I love it!!!! Plus, honestly, while I think it avoids looking mu-mu-ish, it is really easy-fitting, so remarkably comfortable.

Bad things: A tiny little thing, and something that happens to me in RTW as well - there's a bit of excess fabric in the underarm area. If I wanted to bother, it would be an easy enough fix, but honestly, I'm too lazy.

Overall though - I really like this dress, it feels easy and effortless, and that fits perfectly into my life.

Sewing Updates

The dark red BWOF dress really grew on me. I wore it out, and got a ton of compliments on it. And after musing on it, I decided I really liked the fit. It hid all the bumps, and showed all the curves. :)

I realized my picture was pretty blurry & terrible. Here's a close up of the fabric. It is darker than this, and I really like the orange lines running through it.



And since I'm still working on my third dress (sigh!), and don't have pictures of that to share, I'll show you this skirt instead. It is Simplicity 4036, and only took me about 4 months to shop for and insert the zipper. The fabric was a Fabricland remnant, ~$2.50 or so, and I'm incredibly happy with the way it turned out.

Two new dresses

The second version of BWOF 02-2009-124. I took the inch off the torso, which seemed to make it too loose through the waist... I think this dress needs something - it feels very monotone. Opinions, please?



And the second version of Simplicity 2896. This time, with back darts.



This was Canada Day sewing (and finishing up.) I have at-least one more dress planned for this weekend, so, here's to hoping I'll find time to sew.