Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Second Frock by Friday.....FAIL!!

Looks decent for being a FAIL doesn't it? There are several reasons it's a fail, though it is fixable. After having a friend over for lunch (who's way more fashion savvy than I am) we came up with some good ideas. (Don't look at my hair, I just combed it out and it was still drying.)
First off, I'm wearing the belt too low, it needs to be higher up on my natural waist, but that's not why it's a fail. And after posting all about it here, I changed the skirt back to the original pattern with the elastic in the hem instead of widening it, the A-line skirt does not look good with the top part. The entire pattern would need to be altered to get it to look good as an A-line skirt. That FAIL part was fixed. After finishing the sleeve caps for a second time, the armhole is still too gaping for me to wear it comfortably. FAIL!!
This pic shows the gaping armhole the first time I finished it. It also shows how the sleeve cap did not line up with my shoulder, so I had to cut the top pieces to a smaller size. The third time around...not sure when that will be....I'm just going to remove the sleeve cap altogether and line the whole sleeve opening with single fold bias tape made from the polkadot fabric. Wish me luck!
This pic shows how large the largest size is on me. I mis-measured the whole thing. I'm not sure what size the finished dress ended up being. Below is the pic I took to compare the largest size to a more fitted size (possibly the smallest). The first FAILURE I did was to mis-cut the button placket way back in the beginning of June because I didn't read the placket tutorial's instructions closely and was off by just a 1/4"!!! AND I READ THEM NUMEROUS TIMES AS I WAS CONSTRUCTING IT!!! I was so mad at myself for that mistake. It's a very well written tutorial by Rachel Writes and it was very clear on how to create the placket. Just be warned that it's a placket which shows the accent fabric on the front of the dress, it does not hide it inside as the one on Grosgrain's does. I ended up patching the bottom of the placket with the polka dot fabric matching up the pattern so that it blends right in.
See my lazy cat on the bed?? And the boys wrestling?? Well, I'm off to sew a friends dress for her cousin's wedding. I've got to redo the back pieces since they were an inch too small. If I'm on top of it, I may blog about it soon too!! Happy sewing!

2 comments:

Rachel said...

I don't think it's a fail. It's a cute dress. I, too, was frustrated with the way the arms/sleeves fit on my dress. That's why I haven't photographed it yet :)

But overall the dress is cute. I think you're focusing on small points and other people will see the pretty print and good workmanship.

Rachel said...

I just reread your post. I like the idea of using bias tape. Maybe I'll do the same to mine...