Simplicity 2187 Finished: Verdict is Yes and No


The dress is finished and I like it, so that gets a Yes. I also cut and finished a black Ottobre tee with 3/4 sleeves and I like it too, so another Yes. The problem is, I don't think I really like them together. Hence the No in the blog title.

The dress really needs something underneath due to the low neckline and low-cut armholes. I'm just not sure yet if black is the right color here.I was originally thinking black tee underneath with black tights but now I'm second-guessing that. My first choice would be a tee the same shade of teal as in the dress print, but the odds of finding that in either fabric or RTW are about zero. So maybe white? But I really don't want to make a white tee right now since I have other things on my list. Maybe I've got something shoved in a drawer that I've forgotten about. I think I'll have a look after dinner. (Are you sufficiently bored with my internal monologue yet?)

So, let's move on to some close-ups ...

Murphy's Law is that the tee turned out perfectly without really trying. Some of my best binding in a while. I did interface the binding strip before feeding it through the binder on my CS machine since the black fabric is a thinnish rayon knit which I know from experience needs a little help with extra body for the binding.


The sash is great and holds its shape, since I did my fusible interfacing jigsaw puzzle shown last post. Love. LOVE the pockets. The pocket edges got some Design Plus fusible lightweight bias strips in the facing seam. (I was obviously on a fusible interfacing bender during this construction.)


The shoulder gathers. If there's a next time for this pattern (and there very well may be since it's a nice pattern and goes together quickly, and only uses 2 yds), I will move those more to the center, but as-is, they'll do for a first make.


Rear view. The back bodice blouses over the sash, which looks nice in real life but kinda skimpy here in this pic.


Inside view. Fold-over facings for the crossover. Which I fused in place with Steam-a-Seam Lite (see bender comment above) to discourage floppage.


No real need to serge/finish the edges since it's a knit, but I just think it looks better.


The back neckline is finished with purchased wide bias binding, per the pattern. The pattern also instructs to finish the sleeve/armhole openings the same way but (1) I was short on binding and (2) a simple turn under and coverstitch was more than adequate. And easier. ;-)


The tee. Black photographs so horribly, so forgive the pixelation. As you can see, I stuck on a trim I found while searching out the bias tape. It was the perfect length for the front neckline. I didn't trim the length at all. Hopefully, it will wash OK.


See what I mean about the binding? Perfection, and on the first pass with no testing. I should've known I wouldn't like the tee with the dress just from that.


In other sewing news ...

Two weekends ago, I made my friend her Halloween costume. Easy sewing, so I didn't mind. Plus she paid me. :-) She went as "Sexy Pebbles" ... with her Bam-Bam, of course. Fun!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Itch to Stitch Nottingham - My thoughts

Image
How does so much time go by between posts?? I really always intend to post more often but then either my sewjo disappears or my blogjo (is that a thing?) does, or both. And then I make excuses to myself or figure no one wants to just read about my day-to-day, especially with no pics! But anyway ... here I am. And I sewed! (I thought this pic was both creepy and hilarious, in a 'The Shining' sort of way.) This past Memorial Day Weekend was the most productive I've been in a short time in months! I made two tops and three skirts. Yay! Today, I'm going to talk about the Nottingham top from Itch to Stitch. Link to pattern  here   ( not an affiliate link) . This is the first Itch to Stitch pattern I've actually sewn. I've bought a few and downloaded the freebies and they are in my queue but see comment about sewjo above. Plus Magpie Syndrome. I know ... preaching to the choir! :-) But I love me a twisty top and so this one jumped into first position. Overall, the ...
Read more

HP Nexus T-Shirt Dress

Image
Happy End of November! And, yep, it's been a while. Again. I've sewn a number of things over the last few months and have at least one more blog post in the wings with photos loaded and waiting, so hopefully I'll get that published soon too. Today, however, I'm going backwards and starting with what I made most recently. As in, last weekend. The photos are kind of meh and as usual include some from the work bathroom but … hey … that's me. So, let's get started. Spoiler alert — I'm not thrilled with this pattern. The pattern is the HotPatterns Nexus T-Shirt Dress, pattern shown below. I bought the downloadable PDF version. Pros for HP PDFs — no trimming. You just butt the edges and tape. Cons - No layers, so in places you end up with a million indiscernible lines overlapping in place. And the pieces are not laid out with printer limitations in mind, so near the edges there is usually something missing. Mostly,  you can work around this. Sometimes, it's hi...
Read more

Cashmerettte Rivermont Review

Image
I know, it's crazy. Two blog posts from me within days ;-) Here I am in my Cashmerette Rivermont dress. In the bathroom at work. So classy. My face says it all, no? Obligatory pattern cover. And line drawings. And size chart. Since I don't fit into any one size on the size chart, I do the morph-o-roo between a few sizes. Following the Cashmerette instructions to choose by my bust size doesn't work for me. I end up with a too-wide neckline and a bodice that falls off my shoulders. So, I pick for my bust size but ALSO for my upper chest/shoulder size by blending smaller for those areas. For Rivermont, that meant between 14-16 (C/D cup) at neck/upper chest and underarm, outward to the 20 at waist/hip. Kind of like my "cheater FBA" but in this instance it's my "cheater NSA" ( narrow shoulder adjustment). (And OMG, now that I've typed NSA twice, should I be worried? Hah .) You can see what I did looking at the yellow highlighting below. This gives m...
Read more