Current project

A year or two ago I bought a dress similar to this from Mela Loves London.

I LOVE that dress.  I have a thing for spotty fabric.  I've worn and better worn my spotty dress and it's finally protested and given up.  Boo!  The stitching's come away under the arms (again).  I've already repaired it once, but I think it's beyond hope now.  There is a point to this story by the way.  One of the reasons I started sewing was because I'd love to be able to just make a dress or outfit for myself.  You know, with no particular thought or planning, but just see something and think "I can make that".  I've made a few dresses for myself but most of them haven't been what you'd call roaring successes.  Of  those that have been relatively successful two were versions of the Crepe dress by Colette Patterns

which is a wrap dress and one I drafted myself last year.  These are the only ones that have been worn in public.  The main problem seems to be that I'm just completely the wrong shape for commercial patterns.  I'd have to make so many adjustments to them that I end up with something that bears no resemblance to the original design.  I'm short (5' 3") and a lot more curvy than your average sewing pattern allows for.  I do often have the same problem with off the peg clothes too.  If it's not stretchy and it fits at the waist there's no way it's going to fit around my bust and hips.  If something fits my bust and hips it makes me look shapeless and as if I have no waist.  I think the way forward (for sewing at least) is to draft my own patterns.  Then, hopefully, everything will fit where it should.

Back to my spotty dress.  Last year I bought some black and white spotty fabric

with the intention of making something similar to my favourite dress.  Of course it never happened.  Then my dress died.  Something had to be done.  I should point out here that I love vintage inspired dresses.  I could happily spend hours browsing on Modcloth.    Last weekend I decided that I had a few weeks free between other projects.  Surely now was the ideal time to use that spotty fabric. By then my original thoughts for design (a straight copy of the Mela Loves London dress) had morphed into something more retro looking.  I'd also decided I wanted to do a double collar, something like this from New Look.

Armed with my bodice block I set to work.  I changed my block to just have darts coming from the waist (I've no idea why, it just seemed like a good idea at the time.  I drafted a cap sleeve pattern using this tutorial.  I then (shock horror) made a toile.  Well part of one anyway.

This is my dressmaker's dummy.  My other half calls her Headless Sandra.  I think I need to come up with a better name for her.  She wears a manky old t-shirt to accommodate the padding that she needs to make her more like me.  She's not as well endowed as I am!  The darts at the bust aren't as pointy in the real bodice, it's made of a much softer fabric.  Don't worry, I'm not going for a Madonna look.

And that's my sleeve.  I'm so proud.  No, seriously.  Other Half kept laughing at me as I looked over to admire my sleeve.

On to the scary part.  Cutting out the real fabric.  It usually takes me a few days to work up courage to do that.  But this time I just went for it.  I drafted my collar using instructions from Gertie's book.  I made two layers of collar, slightly different sizes.  I interfaced the top layer of each collar and sewed them on to the neckline.  It was then I realised I hadn't put interfacing on the neckline of the bodice itself.  This means that the neckline's stretched a little bit.  I wouldn't recommend trying to iron interfacing on to the neckline of a bodice after the collar's been sewn on.  It was interesting to say the least.  And it's patched in places.  Never mind, no-one's going to see once it's lined.  Because the neckline had already expanded the carefully drafted collar doesn't meet centre front and back anymore.  I quite like it with the gap.  If anyone asks, it's a design feature.

 I didn't have the dress sat right on the mannequin, hence the baggy side.  It does sit better in real life.

 I'm very proud of my collar.

  Now I just need to add a skirt, lining and zip.  I'll keep you posted.