Mommy gets a new dress!

So our  family reunion was on Saturday and it was wonderful to see everyone! Its so great that we all still get together like that once a year. Last year's reunion was so hot, and this year I was determined not to melt like I did then. Let me tell you that being pregnant last year also probably had something to do with it.

 So I decided to make myself a madras plaid shirt dress. The madras plaid I found was 100% lightweight cotton and boy did it keep me cool. While it was still warm, I didn't get sticky. I also happen to love madras plaid. The boys each have several pairs of shorts out of it.

I used McCall's pattern 5437 for the dress, and while I know that I'm a big girl, I don't see why pattern companies insist on selling patterns that are nothing more than glorified sacks, but a belt easily rectifies this problem. In fact, you'll notice that that's exactly what  the model did on the pattern front, but there is no pattern for a belt.

So I get everything cut out, only I didn't get enough fabric to acommodate the 4" I'd have to lengthen the dress...... for a while I considered going with no collar on the dress, but in the end I decided I really wanted it.  Back to Hancock I go. Luckily, they still had the same plaid, and I took all the rest that they had. So now I'm back in business.

The pattern doesn't have very many pieces which is nice, because it also means that it should be fairly simple to put together, and while this was very true, the pieces that are there are very long. There were 5 pieces all together. After I got all of the pieces cut out, I decided that I did not want a 3/4 sleeve for the dress. So I whacked off 6" on the sleeve, and ended up with a sleeve that fell right at my elbow. Perfect!

Now I can get to sewing. There's nothing out of the ordinary when sewing up this dress, but as I was sewing it up, I realized that there was a lot of plaid, and I wanted to break it up. So I decided that on the collar I'd add some trim and then around the sleeves. I played with a couple of ideas for the color and sleeve. At one point I was thinking of making little loop-de-loops, but the bias tape that I was using was not playing entirely nicely, so I just ended up with keeping it simple.

The sleeve trim I just placed an inch above the hem and sewed straight around, but with the collar I ended up folding the bias tape so that the 'right' side was always on top. I used a rayon thread for the trim, because it has a nice sheen and made sure to keep my stitches right at the very edge of the tape. I like the effect that it gives.

I did this dress up proper and all by hand sewing all of the facings to the seam allowances. Usually, I'd cheat and just stitch in the ditch to get it done quick and easy, but not this time. Apparently I like hand sewing at 11pm  on a Friday. And no, I'm not showing a lot of leg here. That's from my knee down. I have freakishly long legs. Legs up to my shoulders as my Bumpa used to say. :) How do you like my new shoes? They are uber comfortable and soft. I've never had a pair of new shoes that didn't make my feet hurt a little until they were broken in, but these babies, well, I ended up with one blister on top of my foot, which may or may not have been their fault, but there was no pain, and I didn't discover the blister until this AM, so who knows where it's from. 

So are you ready to see how short waisted I am? Ok, lets go. These pictures were taken after we got home from the reunion but even after all the wear and what not the dress still hung nicely, but I began to notice that it was a bit looser in areas. Either I didn't notice or the fabric relaxed, both of which are probably true, but I ended up having my Mom take new measurements on me, and low-and-behold they were slightly different. I am sitting squarely in between two sizes. Terrific. I have a solution for the next dress though! I will cut out the smaller size dress and  then take 3/8" seams rather than 5/8" that way it'll give me the little bit of room that I need. Of course, this won't work on all patterns, and some patterns I'll have to cut out the bigger size, but if the ease is there then I can fudge it.

So here's the dress!  Look at that, I'm sad because the dress doesn't fit at all without a belt. Like I said....a sack.

Here's the dress after adding a belt. Much better! Yes, my waist really is that high. I know....it's unnatural but it's what God gave me. Please avert your eyes to the very white legs of mine. For some reason my shins will not tan, and every summer it makes me so mad, but there's nothing I can do about it. :)

Anyways, I hope you all had a good weekend. I have to get back to sewing as I've got another pillow in the works for you guys!

Have a great day and enjoy yourselves!