Danielle dress update

Danielle bodice---re-sewn, no longer caving in! Darts remain a little wonky.

Ok, quick post and then back to work!

I ripped and re-sewed the bodice-to-“waist” band seam; in my effort to match the darts in the top with the pleats in the skirt some ease had crept in, which was allowing the centre of the bodice to collapse over my not-so-generous bust. Re-sewing the seam helped, even though it required the sacrifice of my perfectly-aligned darts and pleats. The side seams are now slightly off as well. And y’know what—I don’t care as long as the bust looks great! Which I don’t know if I’ve quite achieved, but it’s a lot better (especially with the bullet-proof bra underneath. If I can get the whole thing snugged in properly with the zip, I think it’ll look fine.

Incidentally, it looks like I’m going to need inch-wide seam allowances on the

Danielle fitting---note the "design element" contrast pleat at centre front. 🙂

centre back to get it to fit snugly across the zipper. Considering I’ve already taken in the dress 1/2″ to 1″ at various places (bodice 1/2″ at each side, skirt 1″ at centre front (due to my cutting booboo, though I adjusted the pleats to gain some of that back), I almost wonder if I could’ve gotten away with a size 34. My measurements suggest a 36, but this is a dress that looks best FITTED (except at the waist, hence my love of the pattern!)

You can just see a peek of my “design feature” at the centre front of the skirt. Like? Also note my complete lack of pattern matching! I can just about wrap my head around trying to match stripes—I’ll give it a go when I use my wool or denim pinstripes—but a pattern like this? Not happening. I wouldn’t’ve had enough fabric anyway, right?

I am tempted to lower the neckline a bit, but if I’m going to wear it over a bra I’d better not.

If I make a dress like this again, I’d be really tempted to use my princess-seamed vest pattern for the bodice. The lines are the same, but the fit is tweaked to be perfect on me, and have I mentioned that I like princess seams? All I’d have to do is switch the opening from front to back and maybe mess with the seam allowances a touch.

What do you think—sleeves or no sleeves?