Friday, January 28, 2011

A New Dress for Me - Simplicity 2338


This is my latest project for myself.  The dress took a little while to sew up because I decided to line the whole thing (except arms) and I made a muslin to check the fit.  I was very pleased with the results of my effort.  After my muslin fit well, I made no changes to the pattern except for the lining.  This pattern had been sitting in my sewing room for awhile and I just had to do something with it.  I thought it was gorgeous.  It does run a little on the small side through the shoulders compared to other patterns, so think about going up in size ( I did).  I used a plum colored brushed twill that had a great drape.  It would normally be too stiff for this dress, but it must have a little synthetic something in it to drape.  The heavier fabric did cause me a little trouble in pressing the seams open well.





I didn't want this dress to cling, so I lined it.  It already had facings around the neckline which I chose to use in the fashion fabric.  As you can see in the picture above, I stitched the facing to the lining and continued on to sew up both the dress and lining separately until I put in the zipper.  My only warning is to interface the facing around the center neckline.  No fabric has enough stiffness to stand up straight without it.




For those of you wondering what my muslin looked like, here it is.  I made the dress without any facings or zipper.  I didn't finish any seams, but tested the fit.  I had to make two sizes to find a fit that would allow the dress to flow freely from the shoulders. I used a cheap fabric that I found for $1/yard. 

I hope you are inspired to start a new project!  
I have almost completed another quick dress for myself this week!
Happy Sewing!

3 comments:

  1. Very nice. I wish I had the nerve to sew for me. But first, I would have to take my measurements, and that is a very scary thought.

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  2. This looks great on you. I love the color and the style. Thanks for the heads up about the shoulders being on the small side- that's good to know. Great job!

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  3. I'm looking at this dress to make my Mother of the Bride dress for my daughter's wedding. I was considering a silk charmeuse with a bit of stretch...will do the sleeveless view with the color. Thought I might completely self-line the bodice. What do you think?

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