Sometimes I am like a dog with a bone.
Can you stand one more round of Menagerie dress photos? No? sorrynotsorry.
Yesterday I finished another rayon version of M7353 (photos to come later this week when it is supposed to get very warm) and it occurred to me that there still might be a way to salvage my sad-sack Menagerie dress.
I really hate to waste good fabric. My problems with the dress were several-fold. I had tried to fix the first two a few weeks ago by shortening the sleeves and hem and moving the pockets, but the shorter hem looked really odd, so I let that out again. I still didn't want to wear the dress, however. I decided that the silhouette was the problem.
As my M7353 is my most-worn silhouette this season, I thought it might be possible to mimic the lines by removing all the bust tucks and elastic shaping and inserting a bias bound waist casing on the inside of the dress and then putting elastic inside, ala the M7353. I removed the wonky pockets a few weeks ago because they were seriously saggy, off center, and just not functional.
I think this fix might have saved the dress! I get that the print doesn't read well at a distance, and the resulting color is maybe not the most flattering thing I own, but I really like the lines of this dress now. I'm going to see if I have some scraps to make inseam pockets, but if not, I'll live. (I'm also officially to the part of the year where I do not know what to put on my feet, hence the dodgy foot wear choices). I'm going to try it on my Painted Roses dress too and see if that doesn't help me like that dress again. I took out all the shaping last night and am going to see if I have time to insert a waist casing today.
It is also May 1, which means Me-Made-May is officially off to the races. Most of my clothes are me-made at this point and well documented here, so I don't know how much I'll photograph this year. That said, I always find things to think about in the process of Me Made May, so we'll see. In any case, I should probably dub this month "Save All The Rayons" month. Ha!
I also made a jersey dress for Ponchik two weeks ago out of the Cotton+Steel octopus fabric:
That girl and her octopus obsession. I used the Gloria dress pattern from an etsy seller (it is very basic) and put box pleats on the skirt instead of gathering because I find it less fussy and the finish better. I attached the front and backs of the skirts to the bodice and then sewed a long side seam instead of attaching the skirt in the round, which I also like better for construction. I used a neck facing rather than a band because I like the way it looks and is also less frustrating to finish nicely.
My only complaints about this jersey are that the hem wants to flip up constantly, despite careful pressing, and I made the mistake of using cotton thread to sew it (it was the only color in my bin that matched!), so the waist seam isn't very sturdy; I've had to repair it a couple of times already. I'll probably just reinforce the whole seam with poly thread this time.
Today is Boo's birthday, so I have to frost a layer cake, decorate the table, and wrap some presents! Wheee!!
