The pattern matching isn't great at the top, improves as I move down the fabric. This is one crazy pattern to try to align.
This is a securely-attached zipper that nonetheless looks like crap. This is what I'm talking about trying to resolve in this post...
The goal here was to a) match the rather difficult pattern and b) create a summer dress the kid could enjoy (should the weather ever actually improve).Alas, I didn't excel on either account.
For starters, I'm going to level with you: I loathe matching patterns. I rarely do it, preferring to deal with solid colours (even if in very tricky fabrics), or huge florals, neither of which demand the precision of this cotton lawn.
But I saw this fabric a while ago. It was in the $2.99 bin and it was compellingly lovely. It even has a nice smidge of stretch, odd for straight cotton.
It didn't occur that it would be a freakin' bitch to match for the following reasons:
- The pattern is very regular.
- The pattern is neither small enough nor large enough to be inconsequential.
- The pattern is extremely complex. Almost filigree.
- Back diamond darts really screw with how a pattern lies at a centre back seam.
The second domain of failure was in fit. While I cut the 8 (which accords with her bust, waist, hip measurements), and lengthened it substantively, I discovered at the end that (even with a mere .25 inch turn-up hem) this thing is already too short for my kid.
Note: Today my not quite 11-year old fit into a pair of size 14 skinny jeans from The Gap. The legs are not actually skinny on her (and, thankfully, the button elastic allows us to pull in the waist circumference), but the length is just right. Jeez.
Other than the zipper finishing, I'm very pleased with my workmanship on this garment - a plus given all the things that didn't quite work.
So, I'm remaking it right now in lovely, predictable, solid-shade denim. I added another 3.5 inches onto the bottom (in addition to the extra 2 inches I applied to the first attempt). It looks like it will fit, even in June!
Thank goodness for young, tiny nieces. Or this would just depress me.
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