A Dress

I have been inspired by A Dress A Day for some time and have now started to make a dress for summer. I found some rayon I had left over after I made Peter a shirt out of it and I thought it would be suitable for a dress. I have a new pattern I have not made before and I want to make this dress in this pink fabric I have. However, I thought instead of making it with a muslin first, I would use this rayon and then, if it doesn’t fit, I won’t be upset about giving it away. Sounds extravagant but really, when the rayon was left over and cheaper than muslin, why not make the prototype in fabric so that if it DOES work, you can wear it?

It is a soft grey rayon that drapes nicely, with small abstract but evenly spaced spots on it. At a distance, you might think it was polka dots (also liked by ADAD). Peter has got quite a bit of wear out of the shirt but I don’t think I will encourage us to wear the two pieces on the same day. I used white thread throughout when making his shirt and have regretted that because it is surprisingly contrasty. I am using some grey thread for the dress which I hope will blend in.

Here’s the pattern - Simplicity 4995 - and I am making the wide skirt in the shorter length with short sleeves. I haven’t decided if I am going to make the belt with the same fabric as even with interfacing, I am not sure it will work with this fabric. I will try it on (if it fits, that is) with one of my regular leather belts and see what it looks like and then make the fabric belt if it is required.

Because I have never used the pattern before, I had to cut all the pieces apart and then iron them. Don’t forget to iron the paper pattern pieces flat with a barely warm iron, otherwise you won’t get an accurate cut.

I had enough fabric to cut out pockets too but when I was unpinning them, I realized that I should have cut the edges of the pocket with pinking shears. Instead, I trimmed them after the fact. The two edges of the pocket are going to be folded over just once and then sewn onto the dress so pinking keeps the future ravelling down. However, once I had sewn the top edge of the pocket to finish it, I realized that this fabric is too drapey to lend itself to this sort of pocket and I am not going to use them after all.