After some months off, I’ve finally managed to post a new finished garment! Black is not exactly the right colour for spring (I guess you expected something brightly coloured), but you have to consider that I started to trace the pattern at the beginning of February and I hoped to finish it just in time for the end of the winter season, in order to wear it over February and March… I managed to finish to sew it up only two weeks ago!
However the fabric is light-weight, it’s a viscose crêpe from my stash, so I’ve worn it a lot in these days, despite the dark colour. Anyway, black, as we all know, is always on trend!
I chose the Aubépine Dress by Deer and Doe (I bought the paper pattern on their website). I didn’t want to make a muslin or baste the dress in order to test the fit, seen that it has a quite loose and relaxed silhouette, so I decided to sew a size 40 to be sure. If I could go back, maybe I could have chosen size 38, because the garment is a little bit large for my bust.
The dress has a lined bodice and skirt. I chose to keep both the linings, because the fabric I used is see-through.
I modified the original pattern in this way:
- SLEEVES: I find the elbow-length sleeve a little bit uncomfortable, if I wear the dress with a cardigan or a coat/jacket in particular, so I decided to lengthen it to the wrist. I chose Version B on the pattern and I lengthened the sleeve by 18 cm;
- DRESS AND LINING HEM: after sewing the dress up, I chose to shorten the skirt by 10 cm. Therefore I shortened the lining by 5 cm (in order to not have it visible from the outside).
If I could go back, I would also have changed the dart apex position. Being the dress in a larger size, the apex is too low for my bust.
Once I cut the fabric, before starting to sew the dress, I finished every edge with my serger, to prevent them from fraying, being the crêpe a fabric that easily frays. If you haven’t got a serger you can use a thin stripe of a very light fusible interfacing on the edge/seam allowance (es. a cotton batiste or knit fusible interfacing), outside the sewing line.
Then I sewed the dress and the lining, following the instructions. In addiction, I sewed a knit stay tape on the neckline (front and back), as usual, to stabilise the seam and to prevent it from stretching. I sewed the sleeves and hemmed the dress in the end.
I didn’t follow the instruction for the hem of the skirt and the lining, I pin-hemmed them (you can find how to sew a pin hem here).
Despite some little defects, that are due to not having tested the bodice before sewing it up, I like this dress a lot and it’s very comfortable! This fabric is perfect both in winter, worn with a cardigan, and in early spring. I wish I would have sewed it up in time for the end of the winter, so that I could have worn it more!
1 comment
that is so pretty! you should make it up again for summer.