12.8.15

Craftsy square neck dress

I am making my way through the dresses in Suzy Furrer's craftsy course "Patternmaking + design: creative necklines".  This is the fourth dress I have made - I haven't actually worn the second and third dresses yet and so have not got around to photographing them yet.  This queue jumper is a fitted dress with a square neckline and an a-line skirt.

 I didn't actually muslin the skirt after I drafted it and it is not as sticky out a-line as I was expecting.  The dress also ended up a little closer fitting than I expected.  Theoretically, I have included about 4 cm of ease at the waist, bust and hips, but it doesn't feel like it.





The fabric is a cotton drill from Tessuti.  I wish I had cut it so that less of the green colour was near my face, but I wasn't really thinking about it when I was cutting.


This drafting exercise was about drafting a neckline with corners...I think I have hit my corners pretty sharply!  I don't have a necklace that works very well with this neckline though.

 

The back neckline also has corners.  I got carried away and added corners to the back armhole as well.  I used an invisible zip.  I would have preferred a lapped zipper for this design, but I didn't have a normal zipper the right colour and length and I don't have good quality zips available to me locally.  I recently bought a new sewing machine (more on that in a later post) and the invisible zip foot that came with it works pretty well, which I am happy about.


 Now that I have made 4 dresses as part of the course, as well as a Burda dress that I also have not shown you, and an emergency dress for my daughter, I am getting quicker at making dresses.  For this one, I drafted the bodice and made up a muslin in one short "school day"  and drafted the skirt, cut out and sewed the dress on a second "school day".  Admittedly, it is not a complicated dress.  I am trying to put aside one school day a week to work on the drafting course, which should equate to drafting and sewing a pattern every 2 weeks.  However, family stuff gets in the way and there are always other things to do on my drafting day...looking back, it has taken 16 weeks to make the last 3 dresses instead of the planned 6 weeks.  Still, I am excited that I can finally make fitted dresses that do fit....feels like I have achieved a very big item on my sewing bucket list...one that I was worried would forever elude me.

Do you have a sewing bucket list?  For the big stuff, not the every season want-to-sew stuff?  What's on your list?



8 comments:

Gail said...

Oh to live in warm climate. Love this dress - print is sensational and the style suits you perfectly.

Bonnie @ sewplus.blogspot.com said...

Love your dress & fabric. Great job!
See me @ www.sewplus.blogspot.com

Summer Flies said...

Your dress is lovely. I have always loved square necklines but I really love the back and the square armholes are so gorgeous. You are doing great in the dress making challenge you set yourself. I'm keen on seeing your new sewing machine. Sewing bucket list?.... I have an Issey Miyake jacket I want to play with (muslin and fit) and I'm waiting for a fitting course to come up - I'm on the list :)

Rebecca G said...

What a great dress! I love your repeating corners, they make such a lovely back bodice, nd the whole things fits so beautifully. high fives. :)

Crab and Bee said...

I've been really into square necklines recently - very inspiring! And I like what you did with the back arm scye.

Robyn said...

Your corners look great - I really like the square neckline, it's something a little bit different and can really change the look of a dress or top.

liza jane said...

Ooh, I love all the corners! I love a square neckline, too. I'm excited to see what else you've made from this class.

Annie said...

Love square necklines; they are so flattering to most everyone. Nice fit and a very becoming dress. I admire your skills!