Inspiration dress w/ New Look 6863

Shift dresses are simple, however they offer a polished and put together look. You can wear it with a jacket or without one, pair it with funky jewelry or jazzy belt, kick azz pumps or wedges and off you go. The shift dress is a classic piece that can be worn from season to season, and year after year, basically its a garment that never goes out of style.

Last week while on my lunch break I browsed at The Loft and came across a simple black dress that caught my fancy. A day or two later while on break, a young lady that I chat with every once in a while had on a black shift dress and I called her out on it - I told her that dress looked fabulous on her. She stated she'd purchased it at The Loft and knew I had to have one. I also realized I did not own a black dress, and for that matter have not worn a black dress in years.... sheesh I think a decade is more like it.

Slub Knit Dress with Pockets

I wanted a dress that I could just put on and go without too much fuss, but have that polished look. I searched through my patterns for something similar to the Inspiration dress and came across New Look 6863, noting that I'd purchased the pattern for my daughter. The pattern size is from 6 - 16 and figured I could do the size 14, but then noticed the garment bust measurement for a size 6 is 40-1/2"... I had to grab my specs to make sure I was reading right. Sure 'nuff the number was right. Then I checked PR and it was reviewed once and noted that the dress has a lot of ease.

There was a process of elimination before making the dress. I did View C which included pockets, pocket drawstring, and tie-ends, once the pieces were eliminated I was on my way. There is pleating at the front and back neckline which is a cute detail and thought it close enough to the inspiration dress which has pleating at the yoke seam in the front and back.

I used a black knit and decided not to line it since I would wear a full slip under it. The garment went together effortlessly, more so since I'd eliminated a few pieces. The pattern has front and back facings which I was suppose to interface, but decided it wasn't necessary. I attached the facings as instructed, basted stiched and checked fit and didn't like how high the neckline was, so went ahead and attached the facings to the rightside of the neckline and then folded to the inside, which finished off the neckline and at the same time gave me the right height. To ensure the facings laid flat on the underside I did another row of stitching along the neckline. All the seams were serged and for the sleeve hem and dress hem folded under and final stitched.

Conclusion..... Looooooooooooove the dress. It worked just the way I envisioned - put on, accessorize and go without too much fuss and at the same time have a polished look.

Butterick 5181

Another maxi-dress using Butterick 5181, Misses Dress with lined, close-fitting bodice and slightly flared skirt in three lengths, above mid-knee, lower calf or below ankle. The fabric is 100% cotton in black w/cream dots (from Walmart) and the midriff band is red polyester/cotton blend (from Fulton Fabrics).

I underlined the bodice with black polyester lining and the midriff with the same red fashion fabric. Serged all the seams and for the neckline and armholes folded to the wrong side and stitched twice. Noticing that the neck line was low, I sewed past the end mark for the neckline. Oh' how could I forget, in the process of sewing up the bodice & midriff I inadvertently sewed the back seam, thereby forgetting about the zipper (another episode of forgetting something!!! sheesh).

I considered removing the stitches, but in a heart beat decided to try it on and to my surprise I was able to get it over my head & my arms through and proceeded with the skirt portion. The back is a mirror image of the front, that I can't really tell the front from the back... (I need to stop watching tv while sewing and of course I do not have any more sewing labels...humbug, I'll eventually slap a crochet label in it...lol)

The skirt on the other hand was a total PITA... The skirt pieces included front panel cut on the fold and the back - cut in 2 pieces and each of the back pieces sewed to either side of the front panel. There was just way too much fabric, I thought my first dress had too much fabric, but this was extreme. I again avoided the gathering and removed an exorbitant amount of fabric from the skirt, not sure how much, but it was more than the first one.

Dress Issues:

Once I'd completed the dress, I noticed the armholes are too low and had to fumble around for the right bra that wouldn't show in the event I wanted to raise my hands in the air and shake 'em like I just don't care...lol

Another thing of note, I have crows feet along the upper part of either side of the bodice and thinking it may be due to sewing the lining and fashion fabric off kilter.

Lastly, in the process of shaving off massive skirt fabric I inadvertently tapered the skirt a tad too much, but able to walk without looking like I was ramrod straight...haha

The end result... after parading around in it like some sort of diva with its lil hiccups, the dress is wearable and it looks like I have hips....yeah. However it will become a short dress (with all the on and off again rain, if I happen to get caught in it and need to leap over a puddle in that dress it wouldn't be a pretty sight - so a short dress it will be).

Off to start another project with the TV turned OFFFFFF!!!.. lol