A (mostly) black day dress

In the next part of my #makenine sewing project (which may be turning into a make eight) I’ve recently completed a more formal version of the Avid Seamstress Day Dress.  Although, I don’t know if I would describe the dress as coming from their pattern once you consider all modifications that I made. 

To begin with, the bodice is entirely different and comes from the bodice pattern drafting class I did at Ray Stitch, in London, in May this year.  I’m still not entirely happy with it – in particular, I’m not sure if the arm hole is deep enough.  I think I need to try on some ready to wear clothes and probably deepen the arm hole by about 1cm. 

I did the pleated skirt variation, using the tutorial on the Avid Seamstress blog.  Do not use the tutorial – it is incredibly verbose and unclear and the numbers did not work for me.  Further, I think the skirt pattern needs to be cut wider to enable deeper pleats. 

Ultimately, this dress is a great option for occasions, rather than a work dress because it’s quite restrictive through the sleeves (which is why I think the arm hole isn’t deep enough!) 

I absolutely adore the fabric – the Nani Iro sateen is lovely, and the print is fantastic.  The metallic areas do feel a little thicker or firmer, but looks wonderful, so definitely worth it.  I’ve bought another print from the fabric line for another dress.

Groove on

Last summer in London, over a year ago now, I followed in the footsteps of my lovely friend Juju Vail and created a knock off of a Cos t-shirt swing dress. I wasn’t thrilled with the result because I thought it needed to be tighter over my bust to avoid the impression of being pregnant! Nevertheless, I still really liked the idea so was excited when a couple of indie sewing pattern designers released patterns – the Groove dress by Made It Pattern (based in the UK) and the even more voluminous Ebony dress by Closet Case Files. The key feature of both patterns was negative ease over the bust and then FLARE. I chose the Made It option, supporting a fellow UK person and the swing was more to my taste than the super mega flare on the Ebony skirt.

As I mentioned in my Make Nine planning post, I intended to create a toile using some grey marle viscose jersey fabric, but I didn’t have enough, so I went straight to the good stuff.  I cut out the straight hem version to a length that I knew would be too long but I wanted options.I loved the neckline treatment in the pattern, I think it’s very neat in appearance and though it’s a little fiddly it was worth it. 

Back in Australia, I’ve since sewn up a wintry version using a seater knit fabric with ¾ sleeves.  I call this one my secret pyjama dress.  The fabric is amazingly soft with good recovery but the fabric/pattern combo doesn’t look like pyjamas – so I can wear it to work on casual Fridays.  And I managed it out of 2m of 1.5m wide fabric. I also sewed a tee shirt version in some black merino jersey. Really comfy with a pair of jeans, or shorts as the weather continue to improve I hope. 

I’ve got plans for one more at this stage – a high-low hem tee shirt version with some black/floral jersey.  Watch this space!

Flattering

The concept of ‘flattering’ clothes is problematic. What does it really mean to describe an item as flattering?  It seems as though flattering is a concept that means what you are wearing is something that highlights parts of your body that are conventionally considered attractive – shorter skirt if you have ‘good’ legs, or a nipped in waist to give the illusion of an hourglass shaped figure.

Certainly, I’ve internalised this concept of flattering.  I generally choose dresses and skirts with a defined waist and scoop or v neckline on top as these are styles that I think are flattering.  I find it very difficult to choose an item of clothing that I think won’t flatter me – particularly so when I sew or make a garment.  I want the time invested in the making process to be ‘worth it’, and I want to wear that garment for years to come.

On occasion, I am swayed by a gorgeous photo online, or a pattern launch and I decide to throw caution to the wine and make something that is objectively unflattering. 

I recently made a Blaire Dress and a Blaire Shirt (a StyleArc pattern).  No waist shaping, no negative ease over the bust, not a preferred neckline.  I chose beautifully soft cotton lawn fabric for each version – Liberty tana lawn for the skirt.  I did slightly alter the pattern before I made it (lengthened the shirt) but didn’t change any of the unflattering elements.

I wore the dress on our stopover in Kuala Lumpur on the way back from London to Melbourne, and it was incredibly comfortable in such humidity.  I did feel different whilst wearing it – cognisant that it wasn’t something that another person would consider flattering on me, and I sought more reassurance from Geoff that I looked good while wearing it.

I’ve struggled to find ways of wearing the shirt – I feel that the curved hem is difficult as I don’t want to expose skin of my midriff. I left of the under layer because the print I chose is quite busy, and I didn’t want to create a heavy feeling in such lovely fabric.

Making and wearing conventionally unflattering garments has been a real challenge.  I didn’t expect that I would feel different when I wore the garment. I think it’s a worthwhile issue to continue to explore – if a garment fills a hole in my closet, or is something I’d like to try, I’m going to give it a go – make it in nice fabric, try and wear it in different ways ad challenge myself to think differently.