Here's the first finished piece of my Summer Sewing. Yay! One down, six to go. I'm really looking forward to all of my sewing projects. I will not be sewing in order so be prepared for some surprises! This is a great summer dress with its casual painted stripes and cheeky cut out shoulders. The weather here has been cloudy in the morning and sunny and warmish in the afternoon. I'm hoping I'll get the chance to wear this dress soon. Maybe for a happy hour by the beach with oysters and bloody mary's. What could be better?
The pattern is from the book Built by Wendy Dresses by Wendy Mullin. I've had the book for quite a while. When I opened the pattern pieces and found they were uncut, I was completely shocked. I had looked over the book so many times before I thought I must have made something from it. The "Bow Wow" dress is the one that has been calling to me ever since I first bought the book. At the same time, I was apprehensive about the location of the slits because it would make it hard to wear a bra without the straps sewing. But I'd wanted to make this design for so long, I decided to take the plunge.
I cut the size for my bust (a large) but I think I could have gone down a size. Alterations may be in order. The shape is very simple and and it was quite easy to construct, as is common with BBW patterns. So alterations would not be too difficult. The dress is not exactly like the drawing which could just be my sizing issue. In the drawing the shoulders are much tighter and the slits are not gaping.
Above I'm wearing it without the belt and you can see it's not fitted. I'm considering adding some darts at the waist, front and back. Wearing the belt (see below) does help bring in the dress and show off the waist but it's not a smooth line.
The trickiest part was painting over the seams and the invisible zipper. The paint tended to pool up around the bumps so I tried to pull it smooth when painting those sections. I used Jacquard white fabric paint with some water added and a stiff paintbrush.
So, what do you think of the dress? Should I make some alterations? Add some darts? Would you ever paint stripes onto one of your creations?
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I think you might be able to even go down 2 sizes at the shoulders and bust? The sleeves seem way too big.
ReplyDeleteI like how it's oversized! Personally, I might shorten it, but I often shorten things too much accidentally.
ReplyDeleteThe couple dresses I made from BBW Dresses book were also too big for my measurements. There seems to be a lot of ease built in to her patterns. However, I like the fit of your dress and it seems perfect for summer.
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