Hello! Long time no post, eh? I finally finished this, my latest version of the Emery dress, last night.
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| The Late dress (Christine Haynes Emery) |
It sat for weeks waiting to be hemmed and for the sleeves to be hemmed. And before that it sat for weeks waiting for the sleeves to be set in. It's silly, but the reason I kept putting off finishing it because I was petulant. I was practically sulking about the dress like a kid. Told you it was silly.
You see, in my quest for perfect fit, I did yet more alterations following the Queue dress. Mainly in that I reversed my huge scoop out of the armscyes, and took some excess out of the centre front, plus took the centre back in slightly. Turns out I over adjusted and it's a bit tight across the bust. I was so grumpy when I discovered this. I had measured and measured again, done ANOTHER muslin... and somehow it still didn't fit how it should. I went with it though, because sometimes I'm a lazy seamstress and can't be bothered to start again.
The consolation is that this is super cheap polycotton, not an expensive or precious fabric.
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| The collar |
What with the fabric and colour choice, plus my decision to make the collared version, and the skirt with little box pleats, I started to get the feeling that I looked like I worked in a 1950s Laundromat. Or was wearing a school uniform or something. It felt a little utilitarian. Nothing wrong with that, it just didn't look as glam or effortlessly cool as I had imagined it would. Ah well.
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| Me pleats |
But then something strange happened. I finished it, put it on, and liked it! Really, really liked it! I wore it today to do lovely Sunday today things like go to the library, cook a nice lunch, play with the cat, do a bit of sewing and go to the pub in the evening. Oh, and we booked our wedding reception! Eep!
All day I loved wearing my dress. To start with I was a bit paranoid about the school-uniformy-ness and kept surprising myself by catching my reflection and thinking "ah, nice dress!.
I'm glad I fell in love with it in the end, and even gladder that I finished it rather than binned it before it was done (I have a "no UFO" rule, and I'm determined never to go back to having a massive box full of unfinished stuff!).
I'm already out of my sewing slump though, and I'm onto the next project. Watch this space!
I just banished my nearly finished first Emery to the naughty corner on Friday night. Fitting issues - bodice seems much bigger than the muslin. But I also have a no UFO policy, so I hope I can make it work, glad you got yours sorted!
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. It's so frustrating when somehow the whole thing is a different size / fit to the carefully adjusted muslin! How does that happen?! I hope you can make it work too, I'm sure you can!
DeleteI have been in a blogging slump lately. I haven't been wanting to take any pics if new items.
ReplyDeleteAnd I toooootally know how you feel with alterations. I'm so so so lazy when it comes to doing them if they don't work out the first time I just don't finish. Your dress is lovely though and I think the fit is great too :)
Thank you! I think I'm more critical of my hand-made items. This still fits me better than any of my RTW dresses! Slumps happen, and it takes a lot of effort for me not to berate myself when I'm in a slump! I just always have to remind myself it will get better. I'd love to see your latest makes, I think you should photograph them even if they're not perfect. I bet everyone else will see all their positive points first!
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