For a while now I've been terribly frustrated with my wardrobe. This is partly due to gaining abit of weight since my marriage, partly due to things getting old and tatty and partly due to the sheer boredom of wearing the same styles 6 days a week and rarely having anything new. Every morning I'd look for something to wear and end up feeling like a scruff!
I've been meaning for a long time to sew some things for myself, and been so bogged down in sewing for others I've not had the time. But now I'm free! Its given me lots of time to plan exactly what I'm going to make, in order to make sure the finished products are things I'm actually going to feel good about wearing!
1. Choose things that complement my figure - I'm more of an hour glass now, so i need things that skim my curves rather than hiding them or hugging them.
2. Think about colours - everything I've made for me recently has been blue! While I like blue, I'm not obsessed by it, so I'm trying to avoid making anything blue for the next few items, till my wardrobe's a bit more balanced!
3. Sew outfits! One of the biggest problems I have with my wardrobe is that while I have some nice things, when I put them on I don't feel good. I think this is due to not having 'outfits' - the right top and bottom (or dress), jacket or cardigan (its cold where I work!), shoes, belt, jewlery etc! So I'm assigning things to outfits - my plan is to photograph things as outfits and list the elements, so when I'm half asleep and have 10 minutes to get out the door i can grab everything off the list and know that I'll have that 'got it together' look I'm longing for.
4. Make things that fit, and which work with the LDS definition of modest clothing.
So, with all that in mind, i present Butterick 5559! I chose this pattern because I thought the shape of the dress and the angled tucks would work well for my figure, and because the elbow length sleeves and thick ponte roma fabric would keep me warm without the need for a cardigan on top. I went for the dark purple fabric which turned out to be a pretty good match for my purple heels (which I never wear because they don't match anything else), so thats great!
In order to make sure I ended up with something that fit this time, I prewashed the fabric (I never used to do this until I made this dress and it shrank about 6" in length after a couple of washes). I checked the finished measurements on the pattern and discovered that (even thoguht the pattern for a knit) it allowed for 2" of ease, so I went down 1 size from the reccommended. I also made a mock up of the top, and discovered that the fit was good but the neckline was a little too wide for modesty. To solve this, I added 2.5" at the shoulder seam and drew a smooth curve down to meet the original neckline. If you do this, don't forget to adjust the neck facing edge too (I did!) I made the skirt 3.5" longer to hit me just above the knee - I'm about 5'6" tall.
I'm really pleased with this dress - I feel great wearing it! Then extra time making pattern adjustments and toile's goes gainst my instinct to do things quickly, but there's no doubt that I'm, much happier with the end result - in fact, if i'd made this with no adjustment I would probably have had to give it away due to modesty issues.
I've been meaning for a long time to sew some things for myself, and been so bogged down in sewing for others I've not had the time. But now I'm free! Its given me lots of time to plan exactly what I'm going to make, in order to make sure the finished products are things I'm actually going to feel good about wearing!
1. Choose things that complement my figure - I'm more of an hour glass now, so i need things that skim my curves rather than hiding them or hugging them.
2. Think about colours - everything I've made for me recently has been blue! While I like blue, I'm not obsessed by it, so I'm trying to avoid making anything blue for the next few items, till my wardrobe's a bit more balanced!
3. Sew outfits! One of the biggest problems I have with my wardrobe is that while I have some nice things, when I put them on I don't feel good. I think this is due to not having 'outfits' - the right top and bottom (or dress), jacket or cardigan (its cold where I work!), shoes, belt, jewlery etc! So I'm assigning things to outfits - my plan is to photograph things as outfits and list the elements, so when I'm half asleep and have 10 minutes to get out the door i can grab everything off the list and know that I'll have that 'got it together' look I'm longing for.
4. Make things that fit, and which work with the LDS definition of modest clothing.
So, with all that in mind, i present Butterick 5559! I chose this pattern because I thought the shape of the dress and the angled tucks would work well for my figure, and because the elbow length sleeves and thick ponte roma fabric would keep me warm without the need for a cardigan on top. I went for the dark purple fabric which turned out to be a pretty good match for my purple heels (which I never wear because they don't match anything else), so thats great!
In order to make sure I ended up with something that fit this time, I prewashed the fabric (I never used to do this until I made this dress and it shrank about 6" in length after a couple of washes). I checked the finished measurements on the pattern and discovered that (even thoguht the pattern for a knit) it allowed for 2" of ease, so I went down 1 size from the reccommended. I also made a mock up of the top, and discovered that the fit was good but the neckline was a little too wide for modesty. To solve this, I added 2.5" at the shoulder seam and drew a smooth curve down to meet the original neckline. If you do this, don't forget to adjust the neck facing edge too (I did!) I made the skirt 3.5" longer to hit me just above the knee - I'm about 5'6" tall.
I'm really pleased with this dress - I feel great wearing it! Then extra time making pattern adjustments and toile's goes gainst my instinct to do things quickly, but there's no doubt that I'm, much happier with the end result - in fact, if i'd made this with no adjustment I would probably have had to give it away due to modesty issues.
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