Thursday, September 10, 2009

Simplicity 3085

I decided to make a dress from one of the two patterns I won back in June, Simplicity 3085. I found an old plaid that I'd bought a while ago and thought that it would go really well with the general design of this dress.

From The Year 2050

It ended up being a bit big on me, as the pattern was for a bust 35, but it's kind of like having a comfortable house dress instead of a totally fashionable day dress. It still has a really interesting look and is nice to wear around.

From The Year 2050

The only real problem I had in this dress - besides almost not having enough fabric and having to cut the collar in two pieces instead of on a fold - was the bottom part of the button detail. It's supposed to mirror the top where it just juts out slightly for the buttons, but the details were awkward and now it just kind of bunches up there. I couldn't get it to point like the top does, no matter how I tried. If I remake this, I'll try to figure out my own way of doing it instead of reading the directions exactly, as they were really quite confusing anyhow.

I also ran out of enough fabric to make the pockets, so I made it out of some leftover orange polka dot you might recognize. I like them, though. They make me feel kind of like I have the pockets of an old timey hobo. (I also originally put those in the waist seam backwards so that my hands would have to go backwards to sit in them. That was an easy fix.)

From The Year 2050

Through this project I've also become a more confident buttonhole-er and that's a very exciting possibility! I really like the fabric of this dress and I'll probably wear it out anyhow, just putting a belt around the waist to tighten it up. It was generally an enjoyable and simple dress to sew, except for that one teeny detail. There's pleating above and below the waist and I think it's generally a very pretty pattern.

4 comments:

  1. Aw it's adorable! I love 50's/early 60's style house dresses, they're both pretty and super comfy. Great jorb on the buttons too, those are a pain in the butt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's cute! I had a similar problem with the bottom of the button placket when I made Vogue 2960. It's terrifying to "cut to the dot"! I'm in the middle of making 2960 again and I just went through the weirdness you are dealing with.

    If you want to, I think you can make yours lay a little flatter with a few tiny snips and some hand sewing. I found that using a pointy flat tool (ever tried a small screwdriver?) to poke the fabric into a good square corner was key. Then it's just a matter of cutting a tiny bit more toward the dot until you get it right and wiggling the fabric to flatten it out. I usually do a little hand sewing to reinforce the straight seam right below the complicated bit.

    Here's my first version of Vogue 2960 (http://chronicallyuncool.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-wore-petticoat-to-mall.html). The new one will be posted soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. really good job on lining up your plaid top and bottom. I looks good.

    ReplyDelete