Wow, it’s been awhile, huh? It’s been a busy year. Rather than manically attempt to get caught up, I’ll just share the latest dress I made: the Colette (AKA Seamwork) Prudence.
I’d bought this pattern some time ago but hadn’t cracked it open until I was trying to decide what to do with this fabric from Spoonflower. The custom-fabric site was discontinuing its “silky faille” substrate and offering a substantial discount to use up the remainder, so I spent a birthday gift certificate on three yards of the Birds and Blooms Chinoiserie in Apple. I think the print is really beautiful. The fabric itself is actually polyester and not very breathable, which makes this dress hot on a summer day. I think it would be better in something like rayon (although I do like the vividness of this print on this substrate).
I took some time to decide on what to do with the fabric, but finally settled on the Colette Prudence, which I’ve always liked the look of, particularly the collar. It’s actually pretty simple to sew—nothing was very challenging. I enlarged the bust by an inch, using instructions here. (It was kind of hard to find instructions for a bodice with this particular dart arrangement.)
The issue with this pattern is the sleeves. They’re grown on, as you can see, and even without the FBA, they’re very wide, tending to leave the underarm area on display. With the FBA, they’re even wider, and I ended up sewing up an extra inch or so on the sides. I do wish this pattern had set-in sleeves: you can see that because of the way this bodice is cut, there’s some pretty unavoidable wrinkling at the underarm.
I did add pockets, since I’ve discovered I just won’t wear anything that doesn’t have them. I should really say “pocket,” singular, since the dress has a side zip and I just couldn’t get my head around how to add a pocket to a zip. Having added the zipper and thought about it, though, I think it would actually be easy enough to do: I’d sew the pocket pieces together before stitching the sides together, treating the pocket edges as one piece. I think this tutorial from Threads recommends something like this. (Incidentally, I recommend this low-profile pocket tutorial from Threads; I’d been having trouble with gaping pockets and found these techniques very helpful. I think the keys are strategic interfacing, clipping, and understitching.)
You don’t need to add a button to the collar, but I liked the look of it, so made a self-fabric button from a kit. The loop actually gave me some trouble: I couldn’t quite figure out how to do the stitch chain they recommend, so I ended up with a loop of embroidery thread. That turned out to be a mistake, since the thread twines around the button and makes it difficult to undo.
I was kind of undecided about this dress as I tried it on during various stages of construction. The underarm issue bugs me and the bodice shaping could be better. But in the end I decided I liked it, and it made a great dress to wear on my birthday! I think it will also be nice in the colder months, with tights and a cardigan. I’m not sure I’ll make it again, though. I love the collar, but the sleeve issue is annoying.