{"id":400,"date":"2020-08-25T20:09:51","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T20:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/sewing\/?p=400"},"modified":"2020-08-26T18:03:45","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T18:03:45","slug":"rivermont-and-holyoke-dresses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/sewing\/2020\/08\/25\/rivermont-and-holyoke-dresses\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivermont and Holyoke dresses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cashmerette Holyoke sundress in red Tencel twill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I guess I’m on a little bit of a Cashmerette kick, huh? They had a sale awhile back and I’ve been appreciating their high-quality basics drafted for curvy people such as myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

It has been hot<\/em> here in L.A. I mean, it could be worse: we went to visit my parents in Napa last week (after isolation and testing) and it was about 10 degrees hotter there (and currently on fire, but I digress). Still, it is humid and in the high 80s and low 90s around here. We’re blessedly fairly close to the ocean, which helps, but we have no air conditioning, so we have spent a fair amount of time draping ourselves lethargically around the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such weather, I find that I want to wear something that touches my skin as little as possible. I’ve been wearing jeans constantly since we started quarantine, but suddenly they felt plastered to my legs, adhered with a layer of sweat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-pregnancy, most of my existing sundresses are too tight to be comfortable. Cashmerette’s Holyoke<\/a> sundress seemed like it met a lot of my criteria: thick straps to cover bra straps, pockets, and a floaty, not-too-fitted shape. The fabric I chose is a red Tencel twill from APC Fabrics<\/a>. (APC also has a storefront on its website, but the prices on its Etsy store are consistently lower, with cheaper shipping.) The Tencel is beautiful quality, with a really nice weight and drape, comes in a wonderful range of colors, is surprisingly affordable, and arrived very quickly. (It helps that APC is located here in L.A., I’m sure.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can see that the point of the apex is sitting quite a bit higher than my natural apex, wreaking all kinds of havoc in the bodice’s fit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I made a muslin, and I’m really glad I did. As you can sort of see in the image above, the apex of the bodice was, as it often is for me, way too high, resulting in pooching around my chest, the fabric straining in the wrong place, and gaping at the armscye. I would have been so disappointed if the finished garment had these issues! The fix is not too tricky<\/a>: I lowered the apex by an inch and a half and trued the lines of the princess seams. It was hard to tell with my first muslin whether I also needed an FBA, but I was satisfied with the fit of the second muslin. Lowering that apex makes an enormous difference for me. As I’ve mentioned<\/a>, it goes a long way in explaining why I’ve had trouble with the fit of store-bought clothing, especially empire-waist dresses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that fix, the actual construction of the garment was pretty straightforward, with the exception that I ran out of fabric before I’d managed to cut all the skirt pieces. That’s what I get for completely ignoring the cutting diagrams. Fortunately, APC quickly supplied me with a couple extra yards. I went with flat-felled seams and chose to sew down the button placket, rather than make functional buttonholes. (The Holyoke has elastic in the back waistband that makes it possible to pull on over the head.) I actually regret that a little, since I completely forgot about the need for nursing access; I wish I’d made the bodice buttons functional, if nothing else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But I really am happy with the finished garment. It’s basically all I want to wear: it has the floaty feel I was looking for, it’s long enough that I don’t need to worry about how recently I’ve shaved my legs, and the big pockets are perfect for carrying around mom-stuff. As you can imagine, I’m already thinking about a second one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dora has yet to outgrow her desire to twin with me whenever possible. (I know I’ll be sad when she inevitably does!) She was enchanted with the length of my dress and requested a similarly long version for herself. I really could have drafted her something from an existing pattern or the Building Block Dress<\/a><\/em> book, but I wasn’t feeling quite up to the challenge, so I purchased a pattern instead: the Knotty Dress<\/a>, by Bebekins Patterns. I can no longer really recall the chain of logic that drew me to this particular pattern, except perhaps that it seemed relatively simple, without a lot of bells and whistles. In the end, I didn’t exactly have enough fabric to make Dora a maxi-length dress, especially after I made a boneheaded cutting mistake. But she ended up totally thrilled with the spinny circle skirt and LOVES the knotted front. (It’s actually reversible, so the knot can also be worn in the back.) The knot in the front is perhaps slightly<\/em> more risqu\u00e9 than I’d ideally like for a seven-year-old girl, but she loves it and so if someone doesn’t like it, it’s their problem, not hers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Probably best not to get into the Great Hairbrushing Wars that have characterized this entire quarantine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I like the last Rivermont dress<\/a> I made, but it was obvious that the fabric I used was too lightweight. It drapes at the sides rather than keeping its structure, and the lines of anything worn underneath are more visible than I’d like. So I was eager to try another version, this one in a cotton-Lycra ponte I’d gotten from Nick of Time Textiles, during a sale. (I believe this is it<\/a>; you really can’t beat $6.50\/yard, even without a sale.) The ponte is nice: it’s pretty heavyweight and the dull finish gives it a somewhat more casual feel, like a sweatshirt might have. And because it has no polyester, it shouldn’t pill, unlike some other pontes I’ve brought home. (Never again!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The necklace is by Ruby Olive. I always prefer necklaces that look like something a kindergartener might dream up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As expected, I was much <\/em>happier with this second version of the Rivermont. I made a straight size 16, with no changes, and the additional structure makes the dress much more comfortable. And of course the pockets are wonderfully large! An excellent basic black dress that looks polished but feels like pajamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of those pockets, though: I have one piece of advice for anyone making the Rivermont: BASTE THE SIDE SEAMS FIRST. If the front of the pockets aren’t pulled tight enough into the waist and side seams, the top of the pockets pooches out in exactly the place you wish it didn’t (if you’re me). I made the mistake of charging in with my serger and had to do a bunch of seam-ripping and tugging and correcting to get the pockets to lie flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Happily, the payoff of all that extra effort is worth it, since I’m very pleased with the final product. I had the unbidden, somewhat shocking thought, while looking at the modeled photographs: This is exactly how I want to look<\/em>. It’s a nice change from a lifetime of cursing and trying to change what I look like. For this, I’m very thankful for taking up sewing, since something about the effort of making my clothes helps me to feel as though the entire finished package is worth admiring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what’s next? I am feeling the need for casual tank tops that are not too form-fitting, and am thinking of whipping some up by modifying Wendy Ward’s pattern, from her knits book. Chunky little Davy is in desperate need of bigger clothes, having fit into his 3-6-month onesies for approximately two days. And I think that, if I can make it fit, I’ll finally use the Atelier Brunette viscose I’ve been hoarding to make a shorter version of the Holyoke dress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I guess I’m on a little bit of a Cashmerette kick, huh? They had a sale awhile back and I’ve been appreciating their high-quality basics drafted for curvy people such … <\/p>\n

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