Thursday, February 24, 2011

Attempting a Frankenpattern - the finale



Yes, this was supposed to be done a week ago. There's a perfectly good reason for that - but I've whined enough about the situation to everyone who'll listen to me, and honestly, even I'm a bit sick of all the whining. Let's just say - unlike most times - this time, I had a good excuse.

Re: the dress - whoa! I really need to learn to make French seams accurately. I think I take in more from the side-seams than I should. This dress is tight! Like, unwearable tight. (It might also be a sign to lay off the chips and chocolate, and re-acquaint myself with my gym. I will choose to blame the French seams instead.)

Anyway - I took photos wearing it, mostly because hanger shots are boring. I'm not going to wear it anytime soon - not until I lose 10 pounds or so. (And it is short! But I'm cool with that, though it makes it non-work-appropriate.)

I made the sleeve view on the right, as you can see. Greater coverage seemed desirable, seeing how skimpy the rest of this dress is.

Apart from learning that I need to double-check my French-seams, what else did I learn on this project?

1. Measure joining seams. As I mentioned before, the waist width on the top pattern is very different from the waist width on the skirt. About a minute with a tape measure would have revealed this to me, but I was too impatient to get cutting.
2. Experiment! Patterns are a guide. You can do what you want. I'm not an expert by any means (see the measuring thing above) but I've put together a skirt and a top, I know how to do that, so a Frankenpattern isn't actually any more work.

Edited to add: A BHAG update - this was all from stash. The black & white fabric I bought 2 years ago? at Walmart. I used some cream cotton voile lining that I bought in India in Feb, 2010, and some lace for the inside hem that I've had forever. I feel pretty good about this.

4 comments:

Clio said...

One word for you: Spanx. What did women do before Spanx?

Great job - I really think the dress looks pretty great on you.

SewOm said...

It looks really good on you. Congrats on finishing your first frankenpattern and on using fabric from your stash.

Summerset said...

I think it turned out really well! You've learned a lot from this experience. I would suggest basting and then trying on before committing to those seams, especially french seams.

Anonymous said...

Wear that dress for me while i'm going down on you