Bubblegum Chic

In case you thought I had a problem with loud patterns, this post will disabuse you.

This is the latest dress I have made, using a pattern from Sew U Home Stretch by Wendy Mullin (aka Built By Wendy).



Although it looks shapeless here, it is actually attractively form fitted on my (curvy) frame. In fact, I do wish I'd waited to cut 10 inches from the hem (on the pattern's suggestion - it was a variation on the "basic dress") till I realized that it wasn't going to fit loosely like it appeared to in the picture. Alas, it's vaguely sexpot. I will need to tone that down with some lame leggings (or jeggings - Lord I hate that term) and maybe an asymmetrical cardi. In the summer, with chic slides, it will be a perfect weight.

Speaking of weight (or gauge), this fabric was a bitch to sew. It's so thin it's ridiculous (yet another reason it fits so closely). So next time I make it, I will use a more assertive jersey. Oh, and I'll probably make it 5 inches longer.

Note to anyone who may buy the book and make the dress pattern enclosed: It's cut small. I mean, not insanely small, but when working with knits - which I sew most often - I have found that I need to go down a size - or at least I must be much more conservative than with woven patterns (sometimes, in which, I can be 6 sizes higher than I would be in RTW). This pattern I cut in a medium, and I wouldn't want to go any smaller. So happy to see that, unlike my last pattern, this one is cut for a narrow frame.

Here's the belt I made - to which I added a button, because I wanted to try a buttonhole on stretch fabric. BTW, it's pretty finicky, just as the experts advise, but by no means impossible. Mine's not even because I had some issues with my machine (you can't use a walking foot with a button foot and this button hole really required both). The belt is interfaced because the fabric has no structure of its own. Still, you can see gravity dragging the button hole down here...

See, you live you learn. Stay tuned for the next go 'round...