Spring Dress--Summer Dress

A couple of months ago I started this spring dress over here. It didn't go so well. I just couldn't get the bodice to fit me right. I basted it in and ripped it out at least three times. Then I threw it on the "I don't want to think about it right now" pile and let it sit there a while.

The Wise and Bearded One has good design sense and tried to help me out by pinning a couple of seams for me. But....well, he's just not that into sewing. I had seen a few people making their own dressforms out there on the internets and I thought that maybe having a dress form to pin the dress on would help me get a better fit. One strange evening the Wise One obliged me and wrapped me in two rolls of duct tape. You'd think that might be oddly sensual, but trust me, it's not. It's tedious and hot and sticky. But when we were finished, there it was---my very own oddly Deb-shaped dress form. (Believe me, there is no better incentive for losing some weight than seeing your tummy cast in shiny silver duct tape).

The dress form did help. I finally got the bodice to basically fit. I didn't like the sleeve options that came with the pattern and I ended up cutting the shoulder exactly where I wanted it to land and binding it with bias tape. Why haven't I used bias tape more? It went on like a charm and added just a touch of contrast.

So here's the final product--no longer a spring dress, but a summer dress. It looks a little '50s house dress-ish to me and I'm not a huge fan of that look. But...it's finished. And it's actually really comfortable and I'll probably wear it on the rare hot Oregon day. It's just good enough that I am encouraged to try sewing a few more clothing pieces in the coming months. Maybe.