Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Finished Project: Estate Sale Dress

This project kind of popped up out of nowhere. It doesn't really relate to my warmer weather wardrobe plans, but sometimes you've just gotta go where inspiration takes you.

I started it on an impulse, did not plan it to death, and am finding myself rather pleased with the results. As Gillian noted recently, quick, impulsive creating sometimes pans out well and other times it falls flat. In this case, I think it worked in my favor. Not planning this project out too much helped me enjoy the sewing process on this simply constructed dress, kept me from stressing about working with plaid for the first time, and boosted my morale a bit, too.

McCall 9735 - view C


I used the plaid fabric, some navy bias tape, and McCall 9735 all from my recent estate sale haul. Now, I technically made this dress in April (with my Ginger and my Easter Egg blouse, that makes 3 finished pieces for the month...yay!), even though I'm debuting it in May.


Here she is! (the collar looks rather uneven in this photo, but I promise it's just an illusion.

Let's get down to some details about this dress, shall we?

I opted for version C -- SLEEVELESS! (I'm still pretty much over set-in sleeves) I think this will make it a good casual summer dress that can easily be paired with one of my ever-present cardigans. Now, speaking of the sleevelessness of this baby, at the last minute I decided to use bias tape to finish the armholes instead of just as armhole facing.  I'd even cut out the actual armhole facings with the pattern pieces, but now they're hanging out in my scrap basket - oh, well. The way I did the bias tape kind of extended the edge of the armhole over onto the shoulder a bit, so they're verging on cap sleeves of sorts, which I actually like.

I did end up using the neck facing pieces, but not as facings! I combined the front and back pieces to create a little collar and faced the inner neckline with more bias tape.


Bias tape bound armholes.

Collar!

As soon as I'd decided to make this pattern, I knew I wanted a belt involved, or else I'd just feel like a frumpy, plaid blob. Instead of opting for the exact belt option in the pattern, complete with buckle and eyelets, I just used a strip of fabric to make a little sash/tie. This helped eliminate the baggy tent-like aspect the pattern design, sans belt, had going on.


From the back - the belt/waist tie definitely helps give this dress some shape.


I was inspired by the soft, lightweight, linen-y feel of the plaid and wanted a casual warm weather dress (I haven't switched out my winter wardrobe, since the weather here has been all over the place. All my spring/summer clothes are still hiding in a bin). I love how comfortable this dress is. Part of that is due to the loose fit, though I'm considering making a couple of darts/tucks in the front bodice near the waist to keep it from looking super blousey on top - at the same time, though, I don't really care! like it anyway.


Might eliminate some extra bulk in bodice with more darts or tucks.

Now, about working with plaid...matching up the stripes in this project wasn't totally horrible, but I'd still call it a fail, mainly because I just couldn't really be bothered to care. If I'd been really trying, I'd say I did my best, but...I didn't. I did work to at least acknowledge the placement of stripes when I was aligning the pattern pieces on the fabric before cutting, but I didn't match anything along the seams. The bust darts plus the long french(?) darts combined to kind of make plaid-matching impossible, or at least not worth it for me. I came close, but then failed at matching the plaids at the center back zip, but, like I said, I'm not sweating it! I've noticed it's not terribly uncommon for inexpensive RTW garments to not bother with matching plaids and prints at seams, so for this quick project, I don't mind and don't expect to get any weird looks when parading around in my somewhat miss-matched plaid creation - or at least not due to my lack of matching stripes.

Is it even possible to match plaids on side seams of an A-line skirt??


Also of note for this project, I was finally able to install an invisible zipper with my regular zipper foot and not have it look totally bunchy, blatant/un-invisible, and gross! yay.

I promise I'll do an official fashion show with this dress and my Ginger(s) - I'm hoping to have a denim one in the works very soon - once I can get some photos of me actually wearing them.

Also, up next, I'm going to be picking one or two of these dress patterns from my stash to make so I can have a pretty new dress (or dresses!) to wear to the two back-to-back weddings I'll be attending this summer. What do you think? I've numbered them one through four, so feel free to vote on which one or two you think I should make!


As always, please excuse the crappy photo! Bonus points to anyone who recognizes the vintage McCall pattern. :)

28 comments:

  1. Plaid dress is very cute. As for matching plaids, one of my readers told me ready to wear no longer bothers with matching them so we should give ourselves a break! She gave me this bit of wisdom when I'd had a similar result, largely due to not over planning! As for the weddings, I like number 1. I'm a sucker for a bateau neckline!

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    1. Thanks, Dee! I figure if RTW doesn't bother, why should I?!...unless I particularly feel like it, which is a whole other story...

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  2. I love your plaid dress! And my vote is for #3 Is that a cut out? And I really like it with the flow-y bottom half. (sorry I don't know the technical term!) :-).

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    1. Thanks, Claire!
      There is some kind of a cut-out thing going on with #3. If I can muster up the courage to tackle it, I'll definitely go with the full, flowy skirt!

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  3. gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!! I;m so jealous that u have made such a cute dress! And with collars!! gah!!!!! ove to see pics of u wearing it!!!! U will look so nice in it!! I think u did pretty well at the plaid matching :)

    xoxox Neeno

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    1. Thanks, Neeno! I'll try to get a good photo of me actually wearing the dress soon!

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  4. Love the new dress! I should try something a-line too. Something quick and easy and not too many pieces. I also immediately checked my closet and Dee was right, no one matches plaid. I was surprised I never noticed it before.

    You should go for the McCalls, it's from your banner!

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    1. Winner! you're right, the vintage McCall pattern illustration is in my banner. I'm really leaning towards sewing it...it's just been languishing in my stash. I'm a little scared of the tie/cut-out thing going on at the neckline, though.

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  5. Ooh, I love the #1 New Look! I always prefer sleeveless dresses in the summer, and that one has such a sweet silhouette.

    Love the plaid dress! It's way cute-- good plaid matching, too! Way to go, girl!

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    1. Thanks, Ginger!
      Also, I don't know if my comment published over on your blog (I always seem to have issues!), but I'm extremely jealous of your new SERGER!

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  6. Super adorableface. I love this. Very cute. And PLEASE make McCalls 4581! I don't know why it's even a question.

    strugglesewsastraightseam.wordpress.com

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  7. Your plaid dress is so cute, really, great job. It looks perfect for Spring to Summer weather. I think you should do the McCalls, I like the fuller skirt.

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  8. Cute new dress! Can't wait for you to model it. Love that you used the facings for a collar.

    You can match plaids to some degree on A-line side seams if you align the plaid pattern front and back with the side seam notches (those little diamond shapes on seams, if your pattern has notches, commercial patterns used to). Otherwise you can make your own by measuring down the side seams of front & back the same distance, maybe 6 inches, marking the pattern and using that as the spot to align the fabric plaid pattern when you lay out front & back. (Does that even make any sense? Haha -- I know what I mean but it's hard to explain.) I think matching plaids or not correlates to whether you want a casual or more tailored vibe for a garment.

    I vote for number 1 and in the style photo'd. It looks very Mad-Men-Megan (sp?) to me. But you'll look fab in any & all!

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    1. Thanks LuAnne! Great tip for matching plaid (it does make sense!). I think you're spot on about the matchyness of the plaid correlating to whether you're looking for more casual or more sleek and tailored in your finished piece.

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  9. I am in love with this dress Sue!! Bias Armholes + Collar = definite win :)
    As for the pattern choice, go for the McCalls!!

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  10. It looks GREAT! I'm in love with how casual and cute it looks, without being twee! I want one! (Seriously, I'm trying hard not to head straight for the fabric store!)
    I like all the patterns you are considering... but I"m with the people above who said you should make #3 to match your blog header! No one at the wedding would have to know that you've matched yourself and your blog, but WE'D know and love you for it! (bonus points if you make it in red and white too!)

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  11. Your dress is adorable! Great work!
    My vote is for a combination of #4 - the top - and the full skirt of the dress on the left of #3. Can't wait to see what you pick!

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  12. Wow! I really love the plaid dress. The collar you added is inspired and also the tie! It really lifts the whole look. SOooo cuute :)
    I vote for number 1. I think both 1 and 4 are simply elegant :)

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  13. ^^Gillian, "w/out being twee" HA!

    Is it just me, but don't #1 and #2 look very, very similar, with #1 having more variations?
    Anywho, I really can't offer much of an opinion without seeing possible fabric choices as well...Where's it at, lady?!?
    But, this new plaid number you got here, is quite adorable, perfect for that VA summer weather y'all have coming up!

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  14. Very nice dress - it looks very lightweight and summery - I can't wait to see it modelled! For the wedding my vote is either 3 or 1.

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  15. Beautiful! I love these sort of simple everyday dresses. They're just so practical! My vote for the next project would be 3 - that neckline is just stunning, isn't it?

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  16. New follower here! Love the dress!! I'm fairly new to sewing and I'm loving all the vintage! I vote #1 because it's on my list and I'm dying to see someone else make it and hear how it goes.
    Love your blog, be sure to check mine out!

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  17. Very cute dress! I love the fabric and the collar is very pretty! I also have the devil of a time matching plaids in A-line skirts. No idea if it can be done, but the back looks great!

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  18. Another great piece you made there! :-)
    Quick question: how do you get the collar to lay flat like that without any top-stitching?
    Thanks! :-)
    Marjan

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    1. I think the trick on this particular dress was the bias tape facing I used inside the neckline. I ended up stitching the bottom edge of it down to the actual dress fabric, but you can't see it because the collar covers the stitching. If this were a more formal project, I'd probably have understitchd just underneath the collar only where it would be hidden (and not all the way around on the bottom edge of the facing, like I did here). I hope that makes sense!

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  19. Great dress for summer. As for the weddings, #3 would have to be my favourite but I like them all.

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  20. That plaid dress turned out beautifully! For your next project, I like the full-skirted red/floral in #4, also the full-skirted dress in #3.

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  21. What a fabulous summer dress. I picture long walks in the park, or picnics, when I see it.

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