The Second Dress: Simplicity 2444

Ok, this dress technically took a day and a half. I started at 9pm, sewed for a few hours, then spent about an hour finishing it up today. Moral of the story? Start sewing earlier than 9pm.

Of course, if you have a day job, I challenge you to start sewing before 9pm. I'm not sure how Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are going to play out. I have to work, of course, and on Tuesday and Thursday, I have social engagements that involve beer. I'll have, at best, two hours to sew, but post-beer. And this is what happened the last time I sewed after drinking beer. :)


Now, the dress, and a review.

Pattern: Simplicity 2444. A recent pattern acquisition, bought when Simplicity patterns were $2.22 at Fabricland. This is as low as it gets in Canada, and I splurged and bought 7 patterns. I should at least try to use them, right? Instead of shamelessly hoarding?

Fabric: Cotton, bought in WalMart when I visited my brother in South Carolina. I paid $2 a yard for it. This fabric has been aging in my stash for a year and a half now, so I'm quite pleased to pull it out and use it.

Construction notes: I actually pulled the instructions out for this one. They were fine.

Here's what I should have done differently.

- After cutting a size 8 bodice, grading to a size 12 at waist and down, I read the pattern sheet, and noticed the bodice size 8 had a finished measurement of 34.5 inches. Major oops, leaving me a half-inch of ease. I therefore took my seam allowances down to a quarter inch, but this bodice is still quite snug. Next time, I'll read before cutting. (Or try to.)

- I should have taken a half-inch off the width of the shoulder. Now, I know I need to do this in almost every pattern. Why I constantly forget, I have no idea. The sleeve is falling off a tiny bit, but it isn't a major oops.

Here the alterations I made. They worked out well.

- I took an inch off the bodice length to petite-size it. No lines on the pattern, but straightforward nonetheless.
- I took 4 inches off the skirt length as well.

Likes/Dislikes: I love this dress! I love the color on me, and I love the skirt, it feels full, but still flattering. Also, pockets? Super-useful.

Post-script:

I need to scramble to finish a dress today. have intervening dinner plans, and honestly, my house looks like a tornado touched down right in the middle. Still, 7 in 7 is still on, I haven't yet given up.