March finishes

March has been a "process" month--lots of handwork on large items--so I don't have many finished items to record.

The first two are both functional and experimental.  There was a need for some cropped camis, so I thought I'd try my hand at drafting a simple pattern.  It was quite challenging considering that it is such a simple garment.  Still, it has to be comfortable, and that means not only getting the correct fit (the easy part), but also getting the elastic right.  I definitely need more practice working with elastic.

The white one uses a picot edge foldover elastic.  It initially fit well, and it looks quite pretty, but the elastic appears to have shrunk after washing, so it's now too tight under the arms and around the torso.  Alterations will be needed.  The beige one doesn't look so pretty, but it's much more comfortable to wear.  This one has a much firmer lingerie elastic encased within the folded edge of the fabric  It still fits very comfortably after washing.  They definitely look better on than they do laying flat.

My other finish is this dress for Keira.  It's made from Simplicity 2265.

I can't say that I was impressed with the pattern instructions.  This should have been a relatively easy dress to make, but the needlessly confusing constructions led to a lot of seam ripping and resewing.  Nor did it help when terminology changed midway through the pattern.  For example, at one point instructions began to refer to a 'slip', but after much re-reading of the pattern, it became evident that they had simply stopped referring to the lining as a lining and decided to call it a slip. It's not a slip, but if they wanted to call it one, they could at least have done it consistently. 

The dress is made from a lovely Valori Wells cotton from the Wrenly line, and it's lined with lawn.  The ribbon bow is removable (I sewed it to a brooch pin) so that it could come off for washing, or when not wanted. Under the bow, the bodice has a cute little tuck, so it looks pretty either way.  The petal sleeves are very pretty, as it the button-up back.  I sewed a strip of gathered tulle folded lengthwise (with the folded edge to the bottom of the lining and the stitching along the cut edge of the tulle) to the outside of the lining so that it was between the lining and the skirt.  This kept the poky cut edges from being scratchy against her legs, and gave the skirt poof while staying comfortable.

The dress turned out well, and she really likes it, so I guess it was worth the bother, but I wouldn't make this pattern again.