Friday 5 April 2013

First Dress Finished! :)

Well it took a while to complete but at last it's finished.  And as you see I didn't add arms, but instead used bits of fabric to face the insides of the arm holes.  I had thought these pieces were to make cap sleeves, but turns out I know nothing, and after much head-scratching I realised they were little unseen pieces!


I have learned a load of stuff on the way whilst doing this dress:  The zip was the first invisible zip I've attempted (and believe me it is far from invisible, but I think it's tolerably okay now that I've ironed it hard!).  I also had to wrestle with that curly hem foot thing... and with a little help from Utube and several yards of practice on fabric scraps, I finally got the hem done without too much stretching...


 And please ignore the funny faces - it is not easy to take photos in a mirror... and I thought I'd been so careful to avoid all the surrounding clutter!


 In the two photos below, I thought I'd try on a little poncho thing I bought in a sale years ago, but never wore.  I think it works with this dress okay... even though my face forgot to show it!


 Anyway,  I admit I'm pleased with the outcome of this dress, although to be honest the fabric disguises quite a few less than perfect joins.


I also love the fact I lined it - because it gives it a weight and warmth that the fabric alone would have been missing.  So I think I'll wear this....

Now, if you happen to be curious to read some of my ponderings along the way  - links to previous posts relating to the dress are given below.

And as you will see from the dates, the whole project took some time to come to fruition!

Aspiring Towards Dressmaking - Help!

Cutting out the Pieces for my Dress!!

A Little Progress on the Dress

Interim Dress Pictures - Add Sleeves or No?

Thanks for looking....  now I wonder what I'll try next.

13 comments:

  1. Sally, it looks lovely and only you know the flaws in the garment - and if you have a good look at RTW garments, you'll see they have lots of imperfections as well.

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    1. Thank you... ;) Just worked out RTW = Ready to Wear! LOL... took me while...

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    2. Doesn't matter Sally, you got there in the end! There are lots of acronyms out there in sewing blogland that have me quite stumped :)

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  2. Well done Sally - your dress looks great and just in time for warm(er) sunny weather. Lined too! Hard act to follow......

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    1. Sun today is nice... and I will wear the dress out next week because himself and I are taking a short break away because we both have significant birthdays this year - his in March and mine in April. ;)

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  3. Congratulations on finishing your first dress! I think it looks great on you, so I hope you get to wear it. SWAP (sewing with a plan) and TNT (tried and tested) were 2 acronyms that puzzled me for ages!

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    1. SWAP ! Ah ha! Although one has to ask when would you ever sew without a plan in mind?

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  4. This is your first dress! It's beautiful!! IT took me a while to get used to the terms used on sewing sites but it's so fun to be part of it all.

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    1. Thanks Diana...and Yes to the whole sewing community online.. ;)

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  5. I think your dress is fantastic! Lovely shape and you look great in it. I am watching the Sewing Bee too and enjoying it, though my sewing is a little different at present. Aggie from the forum here!

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    1. Thanks Mermaid/Aggie! I wore the dress on our mini-break and it felt good to do so.... Thanks for visiting. :-)

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  6. Having seen the dress in the flesh I can add that it is beautiful & sit very well on you much better than RTW .

    Well done , can't wait to see your next creation.

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