Wednesday 1 August 2012

W.i.P. - My Hen Night Dress (5)

Lily's Quilts

Is it August already? Really? Time has been flying lately. Anyway, look what's nearly finished!


The only thing left to do is the hem which I'll stitch by hand this evening but I'll count it as a finish, ok?

Remember that I was still trying to figure out how to get rid of this diagonal wrinkle?


I improved it by shortening the straps by 3.5cm (slightly less than 1.5'') which not only straightened the bodice but also brought up the neckline and made it more snug. It was a wonderful last minute epiphany.


Please ignore the pin, water soluble pen marks, the only partly done up zipper, and my bra straps. I'll add something to secure them. Between, I've used a hidden zipper instead of an all purpose one because I prefer the tidier look. I'm so so happy with the results! It's hard to express just how much without sounding ridiculous, but I've finally managed to make myself a dress, fitted to my measurements and liking nonetheless. This is exactly what started my sewing exploitations two years ago! I wanted to have a fitting dress again. Eeep!!

There's one minor alteration I'd add when making the pattern a second time around (and I can totally see myself doing that!) - take out a smidgen of width out of the back bodice piece, or better increase the seam allowances to keep the seam centred whilst taking out width overall. Can you see the wrinkle in the back in the above picture? It's not that exaggerated when I'm not trying to take a picture of myself and I doubt anyone will notice, really. It's just a little excess width which will allow me to tuck in properly on Saturday. ;-)

I'll try to get somebody to take a good full body shot of me in the dress so you can have a better look if you want to?

After focusing on pillows, skirts, and this dress for what feels like forever I'm back onto a larger quilting project - a baby quilt for good friends expecting a bundle of joy in November. How would you like a sneak peak?



WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Stats for the Week

Finished Projects - 2
Scalloped Hem Skirt
Hen Night Dress

Ongoing Projects - 6
EPP hexies - 29 finished flower
Polaroid blocks Tote
EPP parallelograms/stars
Kirby pillow - needs borders, batting, quilting, and backing
Viking Baby quilt - started cutting
Wedding clutch - pattern made

Planning Stage - 4
Wedding Anniversary quilt
ET Phone Home EPP project
Moe Moe's Star quilt
Chair cushions for my sister

Whoop - quite the progress made and it feels g-r-e-a-t!

I've got no sewing planned given the weekend's anticipated shenanigans but I'm looking forward to read up on all the wonderful things that I'm sure you'll have come up with by next week.

Happy sewing!



18 comments:

  1. Gorgeous dress - I have bought some clothing books intending to make myself a new wardrobe but my machine remains unused.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great job! I'd love a full body shot! The style seems to really suit you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks great! hope you have a lovely time at the weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is that Viking fabric or Wickie fabric?
    It'll look great, I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your dress looks beautiful! Well done!!

    Oh my goodness, how cute is that Viking fabric!! Can't wait to see what you make!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the Viking fabric.

    I didn't see the fencing aftermath but I heard about it. I had been watching fencing since I had taken a few lessons once but quit when the American man I was watching was acting stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful dress and love the viking print! Can't wait to see the finished baby quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's a pretty dress! Perfect call on using the invisible zipper. A "regular" one just wouldn't look good there, would it?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your dress looks gorgeous. That bodice is so flattering!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The dress is turning out great. Love your fabric for it :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love that viking fabric! And your dress looks lovely :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your dress looks great. I hope to get up to that skill level one day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The dress is gorgeous! Thanks for linking up to WIP Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great job on the dress!! And I am lovin that viking fabric for a baby quilt...how cute!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a beautiful dress! Congratulations :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very impressive! Would love to be able to do that. Thanks for linking up to TGIFF. :)

    ReplyDelete