I have made this dress twice now. The first one is from a poly knit fabric I bought at Joann's. It's purple with gray flowers. The colors look great on me and I get a ton of compliments when I wear the dress. I made it a year or two ago so I don't remember any disasters. I think it went together smoothly. I used my new serger on it. I think it's funny that it doesn't matter which way I put it on; there's no real front or back. Even though this is polyester, it feels nice and it's held up through several washings and still looks good.
So I made version #2 a couple months ago. I love about everything lined so I
thought I would line this version. It's a poly patterned knit from Gorgeous
Fabrics. I got a matching solid fabric (you know how she recommends stuff to go
with what you're looking at), so I thought I'd break up the hypnotic pattern at
the waistband and ruffle. Then I decided to make a strip and bind the sleeve
hems and the neckline.
thought I would line this version. It's a poly patterned knit from Gorgeous
Fabrics. I got a matching solid fabric (you know how she recommends stuff to go
with what you're looking at), so I thought I'd break up the hypnotic pattern at
the waistband and ruffle. Then I decided to make a strip and bind the sleeve
hems and the neckline.
I think it turned out nice looking, but there are a number of disasters
associated with this dress. First the lining. It's this thin fairly inexpensive
white poly knit I get from Joann's for linings with knit. But it was a real pain
to sew the two knit fabrics together. Well, actually it started earlier than the sewing stage, because even though things were cut from exactly the same pattern pieces do you think they were identical? Of course not. I was sewing. The lining was nearly half an inch shorter at the hem. Fortunately, I could shorten the front and back skirts so the lining was enclosed in the seams between all the pieces. I ended up basting all the lining
and fabric pieces together before sewing. Knits are not supposed to be that hard!
Next disaster is that it is slightly tight. Is that because I added the lining? Is it because the white poly is not so stretchy? Is it that I can't tell where in the heck the serger is putting the seam? Is it because I have put on 10 pounds? Who knows?
Another aggravation was that the patterned fabric either stretched in my washer (a front loader, so I don't see why it would) or was stretched when I got it but didn't notice. So there are some areas on it where I can tell things look a little thin.
Final and worst disaster is the neckline. It droops. And it doesn't matter which way I put it on. Something about the binding. I folded over a strip of fabric, serged it to the neckline, folded it over, and straight stitched on my sewing maching two rows. I probably took all the springiness out of the fabric. It's a bummer.
Addendum disaster is that the color is hard to match with anything in my possession but black. And that kinda kills the fresh look of the thing.
associated with this dress. First the lining. It's this thin fairly inexpensive
white poly knit I get from Joann's for linings with knit. But it was a real pain
to sew the two knit fabrics together. Well, actually it started earlier than the sewing stage, because even though things were cut from exactly the same pattern pieces do you think they were identical? Of course not. I was sewing. The lining was nearly half an inch shorter at the hem. Fortunately, I could shorten the front and back skirts so the lining was enclosed in the seams between all the pieces. I ended up basting all the lining
and fabric pieces together before sewing. Knits are not supposed to be that hard!
Next disaster is that it is slightly tight. Is that because I added the lining? Is it because the white poly is not so stretchy? Is it that I can't tell where in the heck the serger is putting the seam? Is it because I have put on 10 pounds? Who knows?
Another aggravation was that the patterned fabric either stretched in my washer (a front loader, so I don't see why it would) or was stretched when I got it but didn't notice. So there are some areas on it where I can tell things look a little thin.
Final and worst disaster is the neckline. It droops. And it doesn't matter which way I put it on. Something about the binding. I folded over a strip of fabric, serged it to the neckline, folded it over, and straight stitched on my sewing maching two rows. I probably took all the springiness out of the fabric. It's a bummer.
Addendum disaster is that the color is hard to match with anything in my possession but black. And that kinda kills the fresh look of the thing.
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