Dear Constant Reader,
I bet you’ve been wondering what happened to my Fit & Flair dress! When last we left our heroine, she just had to tack down the neck facing and hem the skirt. Well, and then I had to take in the darts in the back even more because the bodice was bagging on me.
The hemming was a bit of a pain. Well, the hemming itself was perfectly fine, if tedious. It was making sure the full circle skirt was even all ’round. My Little Friend has a hem marker, but I’ll be damned if I can figure it out. I ended up using an unglamourous measuring tape, but it did come out nice and even.
Ta da!
Look, I even made a cute belt. True confession: it was supposed to have a buckle, but I forgot to add enough extra fabric, so it snaps instead. And I have a vintage brooch to add some interest like a faux buckle. And there was a plan (and material) for a pink crinoline.
But I’m not happy with the dress. In fact, I’m down right frustrated. It doesn’t fit well. The skirt is great but the bodice hangs badly off my shoulders. If you look at the picture, you can sort of see how the neckline is standing away from the mannequin’s body and you can see her camisole straps showing. It’s even worse on me.
Before you ask, no, I didn’t make a mock-up before I began. I’ve never had any problems with Folkwear patterns before. Butterick is another story…
I have no idea how to adjust the fit. It’s the sleeves that are the problem. They are cut in one piece with the bodice so there’s no armscye (or anything) to adjust. And I really don’t want to make adjustments to the center front as I did all that tricky pattern matching. I had Marion Hunt of Vixens Ahoy and Mimi Mischief, skilled seamstresses both, take a look at it and they were pretty baffled.
My only recourse may be to make a new bodice, from a different pattern, and mate it with the skirt. I suppose I could take off the bodice and add a waistband to the skirt and have it stand alone.
I’m very disappointed.
Grumpily yours,
I’m going to have to take a hiatus from the Fit & Flair project, which is a shame because it is so close to finished. At the left, you can see the neck facing sewn on, but not yet turned to the inside and tacked down. That’s since been done. And the sleeves are hemmed (by hand, of course). Technically all that’s left to do is hem the skirt. The dress wants to hang for a little before measuring the hem, but given my schedule, I think it’s going to hang for a good long while before I get to it.
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 