Sew Chic Tia Dress

To brighten up this dreary day, a sunny floral dress!

I absolutely fell in love when I saw this version of the Tia Dress Pattern from Sew Chic. 

Look how bright she looks in all that fog!  It's like a ray of flowery sunshine!

The pattern back from Sew Chic

I loved everything, the vintage cut, the large florals, the sweetheart neckline.  So, of course, I had to make my own version!  I already had some lovely, similar cotton floral in my stash from Fabric.com with bias tape from JoAnn Fabric.  I did decide to slightly stray from my inspiration, so instead of using red as the contrast, I used turqoise.

Here's my version!

The Front of the Dress.

I learned a little too late that Sew Chic's sizing includes very little, if any, wearing ease!  I cut out the size I measured out to, which was about a 4.  I ended up having to take out both side seams at least a quarter of an inch.  It still looks darling on, but now I know to pay attention next time I sew a Sew Chic pattern!

The Back of the Dress

Detail of the Front

Interestingly, even though the dress as a whole was a bit too small, the bust pieces had to be taken in.  What I mean is the two seams that split each boob in half had to be taken in.  It was fairly easy to do and not completely unexpected for my endearingly boyish figure.  

Pocket Detail

 I really enjoy the pockets, but putting on the blue bias tape absolutely mystified me.  I don't know if I was just having a blonde moment or what, but I could not figure it out for the life of me.  I ended up doing one pocket and then finally realized what I did wrong.  Oh well!

Detail of sleeve

 The the sleeves were a little too small, too.  Once again, if I had made a larger size...

Detail of the zipper

I have to admit, this zipper has brought me no honor.  Obviously, not my finest work.  To be fair, I'm pretty sure both my sewing machine and fabric had a vendetta against me the day I tried to put it in.  Nothing was cooperating!  And I hate regular zippers (INVISIBLE ZIPPERS FOR LYFE, YO). And my fabric was probably a little too thick (it was almost canvas weight).  What can I say, I lived, I learned.

Overall, I would still recommend this pattern for those of us who actually read directions (unlike my lovely, direction-skipping self).  It turned out beautifully despite all the errors on my part.  Make sure to take into account the amount of ease you have and don't use fabric that's too thick!

Until next time!

The Gretchen

Burda 6969 - Summer Dress

In honor of throw-back Thursday, a blog post dedicated to my stellar skillz in procrastination!

But actually.  If there was a procrastination olympics I'd be a gold medalist.  But that can wait until later.

Anyways, a while back I started AND finished Burda 6969.  I apologize, the link doesn't go to the Simplicity site where I originally found it, it goes to PatternReview.com (but it can also be purchased there, if you so choose).  As a side note, I've been having some problems accessing Simplicity Pattern's new website.  I can't seem to open in it google chrome on either my computer or phone.  It seems weird, but maybe my electronics are finally revolting against me and this is their first step towards taking over the world.  Who knows.

But I digress.  Here is a picture of the pattern:



And here is my version!

I am SO proud of how I got the black dots centered!!

I will say that I am not entirely pleased with how it turned out from the side.  I felt that maybe it was a bit too wide in the waist.  It floats away from my midsection, making me look a tad bit like a cocoon.  The times I have worn this dress, I added a black belt to give it more shape.

The back.  Also very proud of centering the dots here!

LOOK AT HOW MATCHED UP THEY ARE.  If pride is a sin, I apologize, but LORD look at that!

Detail of the front keyhole.

 I do find the keyhole very endearing, but I wish it wasn't quite as low on my bust.  Actually, the whole neckline sits very low.  I have to be very careful with how I lean forward in this dress!  I attempted to shorten the straps, but I also didn't want to unduly restrict my arm movement (gotta be free if If want to retain my status as an honorary pterodactyl).

A zoomed out shot of the front.  Just in case you forgot what it looks like.

Overall, this pattern was not very difficult.  I didn't bother making any adjustments or muslins because I knew it wouldn't be very fitted.  If I were to make it again, I think I would make a muslin to fix the low cut nature and the bubbly-ness of the waist.  But it's great if you want a quick project and are cool with belting it!

The fabric I used is a silk from Hancock Fabrics.  It was not quite opaque enough to retain my modesty and the eyelets were little peep-holes, so I ended up lining the whole dress.  The pattern doesn't call for it, but it was easy to add (just to the front and the back, no need to do the straps).

Until next time!

The Gretchen