I finally finished the dress yesterday! Woohoo!! I’m quite happy with it and I think it fits pretty darn close to perfectly.
I decided to just machine sew in my invisible zipper. I handpicked it for the first side and a half, but I just wasn’t totally happy with it, so it ripped it out and ran it through the machine.
Even though I added 3″ to the hem length, I still didn’t have that much fabric left to do the hem with, so I pulled out some of my vintage thrift-store-score lace hem tape and sewed that on. I then blind stitched the hem tape to the dress. It’s one of my best machine-blind-hem jobs so far.
I ended up with a bit of a bulge at the bottom of the zipper installation, which required some fiddling to get rid of, but I managed to get rid of it in the end. It was because I switched from a 5/8″ seam allowance at the skirt back to a 1/4″ seam allowance at the zipper (the dress was a little bit tight).
I ended up using my french curve to draw a line and transition from the skirt seam to the zipper seam, and I sewed along this line. It worked! And I learned something…although I vaguely remember learning this last year too…hopefully it sticks this time.
I also need to remember to pull my tripod out to take better FO pics.
I’m so happy with how the dress turned out, and it’s already hanging up in my closet. The only things I think I’d do next time would be to shorten the length of the waist pieces by 1/2″ to 1″ and make the skirt pieces even longer. Probably another 2-3 inches if I’m shortening the waist length.
I might also put some darts in at the top of the back, because there seems to be just a touch too much fabric right at the top of the dress.
All in all, I think I’m going to make this dress again!
Gorgeous!! I’ve seen the same fabric used by Ric Yuenn and Blushing , both downtown (Vancouver). I have it in pink, and am so jealous that you got it on clearance!
Oooh, really? Cool. I love this fabric. I made a skirt out of it last year in the more blue shade and I picked up more of that color at Fabricana recently for another dress. I think they had pink left too…I might be back for more…LOL!
Looks absolutely fabulous, Chrissy!!!
Thanks Uli!
beautiful fabric and excellent fit!
Thank you!!
Absolutely beautiful. A very classic dress
Thank you BeaJay!!
What gorgeous dress to start spring. I love the lace details. I wish I was patient enough to do that to my hems. I am always so eager to be done with the hem. I can take a cue from you. Looks great.
Thank you Melizza!!
You’ve done a gorgeous job on finishing – I love the fabric on you too – looks great! I hope you get to wear this lots!!
Thanks Rachel!
Every time you post about this dress, I’m just in awe of the beautiful fabric. It was a good choice to keep the dress’s design simple to allow for the fabric to be the star here. You look great in this dress, too. It fits like a dream. Congratulations on such a great garment!
Thank you Sophia!
Your dress is beautiful. I saw your pic on Butterick.com on facebook.
Thanks Leslie!
Love the dress and the fabric is fantastic.
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