Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Refashion #25 // Dress #4 :: Slightly Purple Person

Egad! She's putting up a FO! And egad! It's sewn! It's a refashion! And miracle of all miracles ... it's a dress! And purple?

Before:


After:





Tutorial here. Wow, can I just say that this took awhile. I am nothing if not a ridiculously meticulous refashioner. But I really like all the details that I put into this, even the ones that nobody would notice but me. The fact that I aligned the pleats with the princess seams. Or staystitched the waist. Used matching bias binding on the armholes, flipped to the outside for coordinated effect. And the yo yo's are fun, fun, fun, in their slightly asymmetrical way (which is the only way I know how to roll!) Because I'm realizing that the clothing I wear most often is the ones that make me smile when I see them hanging in the closet ... and so if it takes me 3x's as long to make those types of garments ... well, I'd rather have 1/3 as many handmades if it means a precious number of favorites. I'm content to thrift the rest.


I do have a question for you all, though. Check out this saginess in the back:






Granted, part of this may be due to how I was standing in the photo. But! I think there may still be excess at the top. Should I dart it out? Do a slash-and-slide? Do we think it's because I didn't interface the facing? It gapes a bit at the top back, but I've made so few dresses/blouses that I don't really know what to do with that. I tend to have a broad back but I guess I don't have broad shoulders ... suggestions? You all are more experienced with this than I am!




Definitely loving this one. Looking forward to warmer weather to bring it out. So Mr. Sun, I'm lookin' for you!

8 comments:

Ali said...

Lovely! A great dress that you can wear to both work and (pretty) play :)


I have a problem with back sagginess too and I'm not sure how to fix it. I've resorted to taking out vertical tucks in the muslin stage to merely pinched in the neckline so it lays flat. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

P.S. I'm doing a bodice drafting workshop that might just cover this very thing on May 30 (Memorial Day), lemme know if you'd like to join, I'll get you the deets. There's some moolah involved, but given all my torso related fitting issues, I figure it's an investment.

Sigrid said...

Very cute look. I see you made a nice zipper going all the way down the back too.

I'm no fitting expert, and sometimes have this problem too. It's interesting looking at vintage patterns because they all have back shoulder darts. I think if the garment has a lot of ease through out the body, it can just hang off the shoulders with little fitting. But once the fabric is fitted lower down on the torso it will pull the excess in the shoulders out of alignment. Long way of saying, I think you need neck darts, just because you have a pretty typical back.

Alessa said...

Very cute dress! You look really good in those kind of neutrals, and I love the added playfulness of the flowery fabric and the yoyos. :)
Sadly, no suggestions about the sagginess...

Jodi Wade said...

Pretty dress! I love the yoyos.

Violet said...

Great transformation. I wish I could wear stuff on my upper bodice but I already have far too much bulk up that way...

Stephanie N. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stephanie N. said...

Ooh, I like it! Especially the brown with the purple, and the neck detail.

Zonnah said...

Very cute! I wish I had an answer for you.