Pattern Description:
Close-fitting, low neckline bodice and cap sleeves, gathered in front of upper bodice, darted at waistline, flared skirt with release pleats at waistline seam, below mid-calf length and front buttoned closure.
Pattern Sizing:
i made a size 10 bodice, with a few adjustments, and a size 12 skirt.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
close enough for government work!
Were the instructions easy to follow?
yes, i had no issues at all with the instructions.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
i thought the bodice was fun with some visual interest and i love a pleated skirt, but mostly i made the pattern on a whim when i thought i had the right fabric.
Fabric Used:
cotton print from Mood
Cutting:
here’s where things got exciting. i’d picked up this adorable cotton from Mood earlier last summer with plans for making it into a housedress. and then i had one of those flashes of inspiration/brilliance/insanity where suddenly in your head you see the fabric and the pattern perfectly and veered back to V2960. except i only had 2 yards. and Mood was out of the fabric. so: the skirt got shorter (above the knee, just below mini-skirt length). bye-bye, facings. hello, bias tape! i had just squeaked everything in to a crosswise-folded length of fabric when i realized that one of the skirt pieces was slightly off-grain. and that there was no way to straighten the grainline and still fit everything onto the fabric.
Construction:
firstly, i decided to interface the lower bodice panels with a bit of fusible. i really wanted them to be firm and structured. to cover up the interfacing, i lined the lower bodice with a cute hot-pink-magenta bemberg. i finished the inside seams with a pink bias tape and left off the facings, as mentioned, finishing the major seams at the neck, back and armscye/cap sleeves with pink “quilt binding” bias tape. in retrospect, i really should have been more diligent about things like thread matching, and the inside is a bit of a hot mess, but overall it’s highly satisfactory (and not the fault of the pattern).
pleating the skirt: it seemed so easy, and yet i seem to be incapable of attaching a pleated skirt cleanly to either a waistband or a bodice. i had some major issues here with bits of the skirt getting caught up in the needle. since the original construction of this dress, i’ve gotten more committed to hand- and machine-basting my pleats up at the waistband for a cleaner finish.
the hem: maybe it is just me and my off-grain skirt panels, but the hem on this skirt got a bit wonky as i let it hang to stretch out–because wow, did bits of it stretch! the longest pieces of skirt were at the sides, dipping inches lower than either the CF or the CB seams.
lining: the skirt is a bit flat so i finished the hem with 1/2″ horsehair braid and a cute hot pink pleated trim. see my comment about the hot mess above–it’s far from perfect, but it’s completely cute and wearable.
more photos/comments posted at puu's door of time