I’ve sewn quite a number of things since I last posted, but some of them have been a bit disappointing, even though I enjoyed the process. (A too-big wrap dress is weirdly unflattering, it turns out!) Today I took a couple of hours to finish off a pink Etta dress, made out of a coral pink cotton-Lycra from The Fabric Store’s L.A. location.
I thought this fabric was really pretty and soft when I ran across it. (The Fabric Store is so associated with merino wool, but I’ve found such nice fabric from other substrates there.) It’s fairly sturdy and has some subtle darker undertones when you look at it more closely. I wasn’t sure what to do with it until it occurred to me that it could be a good match for the Etta dress, which calls for something that’s both sturdy and stretchy.
Since this was my second time sewing this dress, the process was pretty smooth. Way smoother than the last version, since I didn’t bother trying to line it. (I do have to say that I wear that blue dress at every opportunity — I love it and feel confident in it.) After I pulled the completed dress on, I had a moment of wishing I had an inch or so more of ease in the hips — this seems to have come out tighter than the last version, for some reason, and I’m not used to wearing dresses that are this tight. Still, I think it looks fine in these photos, so maybe it’s OK. In any case, the stretch makes it super comfy and easy to wear.
It was a relief to repeat a dress and not have to worry about fitting, since I’d worked that out last time. The adjustments I made were all about fitting my Low Bustline, AKA Saggy Rack, and the bodice fits really well, I think. I do feel some constriction at the armpits. I wonder if that’s just an unavoidable property of cap sleeves, or if there’s something I could do about that.
Lined dresses are wonderful, and it would be great if this were lined, but it was NOT WORTH the hassle last time, and I’m happy with this dress as it is.
Next up: Dora (of course) wants a dress to match, and I really need some tops in my wardrobe. I have designs on the ruffled top in the Named Patterns book, to go with this fantastic Nani Iro fabric I splurged on a few months ago.