Thank you all for your lovely comments and helpful suggestions to save this dress. For whatever reason, the light in my apartment is weird in the afternoon, hence the arty blue tint in these photos. I think that these photos get close to the idea I had in mind when I started down the road with this dress, but I just don't think I'm going to get there with this dress.
I think that the idea of taking in the shoulders and side seams, maybe even the back seam, would be good... but this is easier said than done because I sewed the entire dress with french seams. Between that and the gathering, I wasn't going to move any seams.
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| French seams, so lovely, so hard to alter. |
In the photo above, you can see the quick save I tried with snaps to overlap the front. This is the outcome, which works if I don't move at all.
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| Front, revisited |
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| Side, revisited |
What happens if I move? It's indecent. There's not enough of an overlap in the skirt for it to stay wrapped when walking, sitting, or with your legs a shoulder's width apart. There also isn't any obvious place to add another snap or button. I will also save you from an unflattering view of the back, where the fabric bunches at my waist because the bodice is still way, way, too big. Oh well. Good idea, possibly. Not so easy to execute.
Well darn! Sometimes it isn't meant to be. Sorry that you put so much time into it especially with the french seams.
ReplyDeleteNot enough overlap is a heinous fault. I'm fond of 'faux wraps' myself, where you have a flap of fabric over a totally closed regular piece of clothing. But then I've usually lived in windy places :-).
ReplyDeleteThat said, you really shouldn't reproach the poor pattern for being blousy in the back, when that's a large part of its design. Look at those gathers top and bottom, you think there's any way that could end up fitted? It's a 40s style, in great part because of that blousy back.
Maybe before you throw it out you should hack it off into a top and see whether you can bear it that way? You may be showing your bra but not your undies??
I keep thinking you should shorten it a lot and wear it with a belt and leggins.
ReplyDeleteFrench seams are not meant to be unpicked! This is the point in sewing where I start to think "who do I know that would fit this dress as it is" because it really is a cute dress, it is just too big for you :(
ReplyDeleteYeah, I just finished a sack. I feel your pain. But I don't think it looks bad just cinched in the previous post!
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