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Messages - Francesca

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16
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: August 06, 2019, 11:33:57 AM »
The bright blue is definitely my favourite colour  :loveit: I have had this fabric in my stash for a long time and I'm pleased I finally found a dress to do it justice. I've had a few failures recently with fabrics I really loved and then the dress turned into a disaster. It's solidified my thinking that a toile is always needed and it's always worth perfecting the fit entirely. (I'm thinking about the Sew Over It Doris dress which I spent weeks perfecting but it's one of the nicest fitting dresses I have... I am going to continue to put the effort in rather than rushing to make something quickly).

17
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: August 05, 2019, 20:32:55 PM »
I'm so happy I have! I already have two more fabrics I want to try out this style with. I'm going to make a lilac peplum top version in polyester crepe and a black short dress version in viscose (I think I'll need to rethink the neckline finish on the viscose because the poly crepe can handle being taught without over stretching but I think viscose will need more support).

18
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: August 05, 2019, 18:58:34 PM »
A proper pic, taken before hemming. I need to wear it again (it's just gone in the wash) so I can get a nice picture of it.

19
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: August 03, 2019, 00:45:45 AM »
It's nearly 1am but it's done!

20
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: August 02, 2019, 09:31:19 AM »
I completed the bodice last night and I LOVE it.

Only thing I think needs work is that the sash doesn't hug me as closely as I'd like (might be due to it being such drapey fabric) and I will probably use a few handstitches to grab the top of it and keep it close to the bodice as the top edge sags. But it's only really decorative.


21
OK, I just wanted to check. Thing is I see we have a week to submit photos and so I was going to post a pic after I've worn it (on Saturday 3rd) as I'll be dolled up then. I will have probably hemmed it by then (I have Friday off so I have more time!) so the pics would show it hemmed...

Maybe I'll post a quick snap here showing how it looked at the deadline? I don't want to break the rules. It might be better off I don't enter it if it's still unfinished.

22
Cut and started sewing last night. I'm off work tomorrow, which means I don't have to worry as much about getting things done around the house this evening so I might be able to scrape through to enter it.

@Manuela how strict are you on the garment having to be 100% completed before the deadline. For example, if I only had the hem to go (I'm foreseeing it taking me quite a while to do a narrow hem all round this big skirt in floaty fabric) could I still submit it or does it have to be fully hemmed?

23
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: July 29, 2019, 22:34:12 PM »
Started cutting. Eeek! I had to adjust the sleeves just a little as I cut the armhole a bit wider. I've just realised that I didn't adjust them enough, duh, because I had trimmed the back armhole a little. However I haven't yet cut out the sleeve so I must remember that! (I have cut out the back piece, but luckily I only need to remove not add!)

Also cut the back skirt out, and have now just thought that I intended to pinch out an extra 3cm from the front that I hadn't transferred to the patterns yet so I will have to remember to consider that in the front skirt too. And I just widened it, grr. It does have a pleat though so maybe I should just be lazy and pleat it deeper.

The pattern suggests a full lining but my fabric is very thin and I don't have anything decent to line it with so I am considering going fully unlined and doing a narrow self bias finish on the neckline. Giving the dress a floatier look and also not adding any extra layers as it's already going to be quite warm as it's polyester. I do have plans to make a slip for the future.

24
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: July 29, 2019, 11:56:36 AM »
Oh perhaps I should clarify. I do want it to pull down. It seems to straighten out some of the wrinkling when it does (and I noticed when the wrap is pinned together at the lower edge it's much better.

Thanks for the edging idea, I'll look into that.

25
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: July 29, 2019, 10:31:34 AM »
I did consider that but honestly I don't think I'm going to get a better fit either way here. There isn't really anywhere else I can pinch out to improve fit, just that a gentle pull downwards helps one of the main wrinkles fall out. The sash will cover most of it.

26
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: July 28, 2019, 22:39:08 PM »
I've finally finished the third toile and this is as close to a good fit as I think I am going to get.

It's taught me a lot about fitting a wrap bodice and the challenges. Being full busted but with wide set boobs means that I'm asking the fabric to fall off the bust apex in four directions. Normally you're only asking for three, as the horizontal line between both bust apexes is straight (like a "mono boob" I guess). In woven fabric this is really hard to do but this is pretty close and I'm happy with it. And everything looks worse in white polycotton!

The only thing is I find it wrinkles in the middle a little bit but I think that will be remedied better with a little weight from the skirt pulling it down.

Also the whole thing has a wide sash over the front with a pleat in it so I think the fit on the upper bust is more important.

My next plan is to try and walk the sleeve in and see how much I need to add or remove. If the sleeve is too big I will probably just gather it on the shoulder seam because I'm lazy and it'll work with a flutter sleeve.

Then I just need to measure round the new waist and expand the skirt to accommodate.

27
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: July 25, 2019, 12:56:24 PM »
Toile progress made last night.

I put together the bodice and was pretty happy with how it came out. It needs a fair amount of adjustment but overall it's not too bad.

1) I need to increase the waist a little. It currently only just crosses over as it's supposed to. Not much room for comfort and movement. I will increase 1" only by extending the front wrapping parts by 0.5" each.

2) Gaping fabric around the front. I managed to remedy most of this by raising the shoulders rather than reducing width on the neckline. I was a bit overzealous and took off too much when I sewed this adjustment in place so it's causing some draglines on the upper chest part, but the result is still a reduction of gaping on the neckline.

3) Princess seam fullness. I think my FBA may have been bigger than I needed. I was able to pinch out some excess in the upper fullness of the curve but I was also able to pinch out quite a bit of fabric horizontally, all the way up the dart and across the front neckline.

4) Armhole. The front armhole is a little tight, I think I will scoop some slightly out of the front. The back is good though with my 1" narrow shoulder adjustment.

Ultimately after pinning everything in I am going to go for my old favourite method of drawing in pen on the toile, then unpicking all the pieces and looking at the result on the flat pattern. I sewed the toile with a longer stitch length than normal in order to help with any required unpicking.

I've also got to be careful not to "over fit" and make sure I leave myself a comfortable amount of ease whilst still having a fitted look.

28
In the wardrobe / Re: Birthday Party Dress
« on: July 23, 2019, 11:03:09 AM »
Started on adjustments. 1" removed from the length across the bodice. I need to read through the instructions to see if that might mean I need to adjust the height of the (I think it's going to be a yes). 1" narrow shoulder adjustment, and I also drafted the flutter sleeve.

Next up is the FBA. Never done one on a princess bodice before but looks simple enough.

29
In the wardrobe / Re: James Bond dress
« on: July 21, 2019, 11:58:14 AM »
I will attempt to fix the sideways photos when I'm not on my phone  :[

30
In the wardrobe / Re: James Bond dress
« on: July 21, 2019, 11:57:34 AM »
The event was amazing! Absolutely blown away by it all. My dress was perfect, very comfortable and fit the part exactly. I had no problems running around in secret spy missions

Also someone in the loo queue stopped me and asked me where my dress was from and I got to say "I made it!"

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