Pattern fitting, Part 2

This week I had my second and last class in fitting and sewing the Perfect Shift Dress with Mandy from Fit2Sew. My homework was to sew the waist and bust darts and when doing so, I realised they looked awful. My mistake was that at the points my darts stopped too suddenly and were not straight but curved. So we corrected that and Mandy showed me how to properly press a dart – there are so many steps to it!

Then we pinned the dress together for a final fitting and realised that the left side of my body is smaller than the right one. So we adjusted that by pinning out more fabric on the left side. Also, there was slightly too much fabric on my back. But we were able to adjust that by redrawing the sleeve seams. Then it was finally time to sew the dress together at side and shoulder seams, which was quickly done. Even quicker was to finish the seams with the overlocker (did I say already that I want one for Christmas?).

Next I stitched the neckline facing on and then it was sleeve setting time. How long did it take me? Two hours maybe? It was really frustrating! The first sleeve went in without to many problems (which might be because Mandy pinned half of it) and the second one was just a nightmare. I pinned and pinned, stitched it together, ripped out the stitches, pinned again, stitched, ripped and then Mandy took over and fixed it. I might have gotten there eventually by myself but not during class time. I think it actually might be a good idea to pin only one sleeve per day. Are you good with pinning sleeves? Is it normal that it is quite frustrating? And most important, will I get better with practise?

Class was over and the only task I had left was hand sewing. I have to admit that my hand sewing skills are non-existent. That’s why I love my sewing machine, right?! So the task ahead was to sew the hem, finish the zipper opening and attach hook and eye. Mandy estimated it would take me about 1 hour (she did not know about my poor hand sewing skills) and so, when I arrived home (after 8 hours of sewing) I started to catch stitch my hem because I really wanted to wear that dress the next day.  One and a half hours later I finished the zipper opening, had a shower, went to bed – with my sewing – and attached the hook and eye. Problem was, the hook and eye were to loose. Tired and defeated I finally fell asleep just to wake up the next morning at 5 am to rip out the stitches around hook and eye and put it together properly. One final ironing session and I could wear the dress to work, yeah! 

Here are some photos showing the lining (ignore the creases please, I was sitting all day in it):

At work I proudly presented my dress and bathed in compliments, hihi. I am so happy with the result and I am sure I will make the dress again maybe this time with a collar! I love my fabric and I love that I have interlined it - it is so nice to feel the silk on the skin (this is my first silky garment ever). The dress is perfect for the hot summer weather and will also go well with leggings and bolero at cooler days.