Tropical Print Dress, BWOF 6/2010 dress #123

Tropical disaster dress......

You'd think a dress that has two pieces would be easy for any sewer to execute with no problem.  That is where you are wrong (or I was wrong).  If you have any degree of smug confidence that is where you begin to disregard the instructions and trouble ensues......

Maybe it's the translation of instructions from German to English or maybe it's because I had two glasses of Chardonnay while attempting this dress, but each step I had to redo or fix.   Actually, I didn't have any wine while making this dress.  Only good 'ol Crystal Light, but it has so far been fraught with peril. Ah, the drama.....
So the dress comes in 38-46.  I cut a 40. The dress comes in two iterations- one with pockets and lace trim and one w/out pockets and lace trim.  So I traced the pieces and anyone who has traced off these pages knows it's a trick of the eye to find the right lines and follow them. But, the weird thing was that at the bottom hem of the front piece, instead of a solid line, there are just arrows coming down the side seam.  I had no idea what this meant so I just connected them across and made that the hem line.   Well it turns out that this length garners me a pattern piece that is about 4" too short to match up with the side seam. 

So I had to piece in a panel to extend the length to meet the other piece.  Because of the print, you can't even detect it in photos or in person.  Even that, didn't help my micro mini length that is exacerbated when belted.  And I didn't find it out till later. 

Anyway, you follow the first step and it says to "neaten seams" which I read as trim seams.  Then I connected connect the front to the back  at the back yoke area and reread the first step "neaten seams" which meant that I cut off the BLEEPing seams that were supposed to be the casing for the elastic. UGH!

So, I fixed that by making a makeshift casing out of bias tape.  That didn't work great and the casing kept slipping out of the stitching which makes it weird to gather the elastic.  I ended up having to pull out the elastic twice and put it in again for that reason.

After rushing to finish this so I could take it on my OSU weekend visit to Corvallis, it finished up ok, without further issues.  Looks pretty cute, but I'm not wild about it.  It's kinda boring and doesn't really do anything for me.  I really dig this fabric but, think it deserves a less sackish dress.

                                        KKG pledge sisters, class of '90 L-R: Traci, Sheila, me, Kim
Here we are on the steps of the OSU MU- that was closed, darnit.  As you can see I'm hunching, perhaps due to the french fries I ate for lunch (as an entire meal- as if I were still in college) or maybe to attempt to make my mini look less micro.

                                                         KKG pledge sisters, class of '90 L-R:Sheila, me, Kim, Melissa
 I don't have pics of me in it from the back but in hindsight it was 95 degrees, and this was quite comfortable.  I usually need something covering my shoulders and chest for sun shade reasons and the fabric was breathable and didn't stick to me. My thighs did stick to the booth in the restaurant but that's gonna happen.

Here's the back view on the form.  The moral of my story is not to be so smug that I know everything and read the directions more carefully, don't watch re-runs of Criminal Minds while sewing, and cut the attitude lady.

Wow, I think I just opened a can of whoop ass on myself. Where did that come from?
 
Post script- What a fine looking group of ladies.  AND, I never realized how much shorter I was than all my friends.  Note to self, meet shorter friends so I look taller or wear heals.