FF: The Dress.

Hi Friends! I'm currently in a cabin in the mountains of the high desert--yes, there are mountains and even green stuff in the high desert, which sounds like a crazy incompatibility, but it's true!--and while I hadn't intended to take a bloggy absence, this is only the second time I've opened my computer since I've been gone.

However, I promised you photos, and now I'm delivering because I'm sweet like that. I finished a dress! That I wore! To a wedding--eep!

I used the Jamie Dress by Sis Boom. The pattern was ridiculously easy (even for me!) to follow, and the instructions and pictures were perfect. I used a voile from Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush line, and it feels divine. I did make one pattern modification, and that was to fully line the skirt as well as the bodice since the fabric is rather sheer.

Fun fact! For about a kajillion years, I thought voile was pronounced to rhyme with toile. I guess seven years of French lessons will do that to you, right? But it meant that when I said I was working with voile, no one knew what that was. (I still think it should be pronounced to rhyme with toile, but I'll get over it--probably next year sometime.)

The only problem I found with this dress was my own inexperience with garment sewing. (This came out again recently when I had another go at a skirt, which I'll share soon, cross my heart.) I had read a pattern review that suggested making the bodice piece one size larger than my measurements suggested because the bodice ran small. When I made the muslin, I originally used the larger bust measurement, which was much too large, but I thought the rest of the bodice worked well enough, so I cut into my voile and pieced it using the smaller bust measurement. I now wish I had made the size that my measurements recommended. I don't think the dress looks bad, but I think the correct size would "fit" a lot better. What this means though, is that my dress is nice and roomy, and very very comfortable, so all in all, it's not a bad thing. I'm learning about fit when it comes to apparel, and while that's a difficult concept to grasp, I'm hoping to get there!

The zipper insertion was a piece of cake--no, really--and that was probably the most complicated piece of the pattern. Of course, I had to finish off the ensemble with a bolero sweater and red shoes.

Have you made a Jamie Dress? I want to hear about it! I'd like to make some additional dresses this summer, so if you have any good pattern suggestions, hit it up in the comments! (Though, please remember my garment sewing inexperience.)

I'll be back sometime in the next couple of days with a picture of something very very exciting. But that's all I'm saying! You'll just have to wait and see!