Sewing diary 7/27/24
Amarena dress is on pause for now. Was not loving how the muslin was turning out on my hips. I will probably keep the bodice construction (which has great darts for large chests!) and sleeves but completely hack the skirt.
I have been working this week on the Sewing Therapy Tie Dress, which looks very flattering on the creator (above) and on some other people on Instagram. It did not look flattering on me, even two sizes down. Thank goodness I made a test muslin!
So! I finally thought fuck it, these are my clothes I can make them the way I want. I took the paper pattern and compared it to a couple of similarly constructed dresses from Uniqlo that I love and that I think fit me well.
I cut the side panel to take out about five inches overall and give it a waistline and a curve from the waist to the armhole. It was previously a completely straight line from armpit to skirt, which looked awful untied and bunched oddly when tied at the sides.
I also cinched the skirt in the same amount at the waistband then graded it out to give it a lot more fullness, probably six inches all together, plus a few inches extra length. This makes sense because I am several inches taller than the creator. I also deepened the V of the neckline, again using a dress I like as the model.
I half-ass tested this new waistline and side seam on my muslin and it seems like it'll work out. I am unfortunately out of muslin fabric now so I can't cut another one with my new pattern pieces to fully test it. I think I'm just going to cut into my main fabric and pray....
Speaking of, I have this GORGEOUS Merchant and Mills Tartlet Stripe Linen as my real fabric. It's sold out on their site so I got it from an independent shop. I loooooove it and am hopeful that I bought enough to also get a shirt out of it after this dress. We'll see.
Wish me luck!
