First Project of 2008

I guess starting out the year using a TNT dress pattern definitely signifies how my sewing is going to progress this year...because that's just what I did! This dress came into being after one of my latest fabric purchases arrived from Fabric Mart.

This fabric:

And this jumper/dress idea:

Somehow became this:

Fabric:

2.5 yards of midnight blue & black crepe wool, rayon and cotton blend

Lining:

2.5 yards of printed polyester charmeuse - also from Fabric Mart

Notions:

22" zipper

2 yards of rayon hem tape

I made this dress using my TNT dress pattern consisting of some of the pieces from a sleeveless dress that I made last summer and some of the pieces from the Chanel dress. When I'm sewing from an idea, I am basically free-styling especially since each incarnation is new and uncharted territory. I don't know if I thought the construction through well-enough with this dress or if it was just a case of the unpredictability of actual construction, but I ended up doing a lot of hand sewing during the process to make this dress work.

Bodice:
I used the v-neckline and overlapping front bodice pieces for this dress. The first dresses that I made using these bodice fronts were loosely fitted which was fine for casual summer dressing but not what I wanted for this look. So my first alteration was to take two small tucks in the bodice piece, of about 1/4 inch so that the top would lay closer to my chest wall.

The back bodice piece was also loose on the summer dresses so I used the back yoke piece and back bodice piece from the Chanel dress for this version. Using these pieces would insure that the back hugged my neck and upper back.

Piping was added to the neckline from the lining fabric. This came about quite by accident. After I had inserted the lining but before it was pressed into place, it overlapped the front and it gave a really plain bodice front a little zip. I liked it so I pressed it down like that and then stitched it flat.

The bodice and skirt pieces were cut with the stripes running vertically while the waistband was cut with the stripes running horizontally. Again this was a design detail added to give the dress interest. However, during the first fitting, I noticed that it actually added a slimming effect to the dress.

Sleeves:

I used the sleeves from the Chanel dress for this version...a shorter sleeve with a band added. Originally the band's fabric was going to be cut horizontally but somewhere in the cutting process I neglected to do that! *smile* However, I did add a piece of flat piping (slightly larger than what was used in the bodice) to the sleeves before adding the band to the bottom of the sleeve.

The sleeves were lined with the polyester charmeuse using a lining method that I learned from Nancy Zieman of Nancy's Notions. The lining and fashion fabric were sewn together at the hemline. Then the side seam was sewn and the lining was flipped inside. I just had to insure that none of the lining fabric was hanging from the bottom of the sleeve...careful pressing and pulling the lining up a little solved this challenge.

Lining the dress:
Most of my hand stitching occurred during the lining insertion. After adding the lining to the bodice pieces I had to figure out a way to add the band and skirt lining pieces to the dress. I ended up hand stitching the entire skirt lining into the dress at the waistline and at the zipper tape. To make sure that the dress would not fall apart - hey I haven't hand stitched an entire lining in quite some time! - I let it hang for a day. When I woke up in the morning and it was still together I felt it was safe to proceed!

Extra Details:

The dress has side slits instead of a center back slit. Just doing something a little different so that each version of the dress doesn't look the same.

I had a real challenge with the bodice fronts meeting and pulling. After I stitched the two pieces together, I noticed some serious pulling happening only on one side. The stitches were ripped out and I finally decided to just tack the fronts together in key places. I'm not sure that I solved the problem, I just "made it work!"

There are three things that I love about this dress...

1. It has some weight to it...meaning that I won't be cold in it. The wool blend fabric is a medium weight fabric and then the polyester charmeuse lining adds to the heft of the dress.

2. I love how the polyester charmeuse lining feels in this dress. It's like slipping into a nightgown. I bought three of those polyester fabrics from Fabric Mart and now think I should have bought one of each pattern especially since they were only $1.99 per yard.

3. This dress as photographed with pearls will be so appropriate in my workplace. It has that "Corporate Chicness" that I am striving to attain in my work gear and will be perfect in any work situation. Plus I'm not dialing up the same ole, same ole that my peers are wearing.

So that is my first project of 2008, you can see more pictures of the construction process in my Flickr photo album. I have two unfinished garments from 2007 that I really should work on but honestly I don't know if I will. I haven't decided whether to let inspiration move me for my next piece or obligation. Guess that will be tomorrow's post!