Simplicity 1880: The 2-In-1 Sewalong

Despite not having a ton of time to sew this week, I still managed to get my Sewalong dress done. Yay! It really was just stitching it up, since I had already done all of the muslin and alteration work.

The pattern is Simplicity 1880, which is a Project Runway pattern with an impressive number of options. The skirt is the same flared 4 gore skirt, but there are 2 bodice options (wrap and shirtwaist) and 3 different sleeves that can be interchanged for different looks.

The fabric I used is a rayon woven from fabric.com. They called it "shirting" and it does have the crispness of a shirting, but being rayon, it has a lovely drape, really perfect for this dress. I did make quite a few alterations to get this to work for me. I did a 3/4 inch FBA, which is less that I generally need. I rotated the dart into the shoulder gathers and removed the extra waist fullness by adding 1/4 inch to each of the three pleats at the waist. I also increased the wrap overlap just a little. I removed about 1/2 inch above the bust, which is typical for me.

The back required a lot more work. The original muslin was insanely poofy in the back. While I appreciate that the designers wanted to echo the shape of the front with the pleats and gathers, it was just more volume than I liked. To fix it, I narrowed the back pattern piece by 3/8 inch, eliminating one of the pleats and decreasing the gathers significantly. I also shortened the back about 5/8 inch. I think the result is still in keeping with the general feel of the dress, but I like the shape much better for me.

The only alteration I needed to do to the skirt was to add about 3 inches to the length. Lately I have really liked my skirts to hit just below the knee, so that was where I put this one. I think it adds to the 1940s vibe the dress has.

The other major change I made was to fully like the dress. I never have good luck with facings on a wrap dress, and I prefer a full lining anyway. The lining is Joann's "pongee" lining, and it is actually pretty nice for polyester. In my head, I concocted this complicated lining method that involved lining the yoke and bodice pieces separately. Fortunately, Melanie of Queen of the Flies posted her method on her blog and it was a snap! You can see how much I lengthened the skirt in this pic. I cut the lining to the original pattern length and just serged it.

I'm so glad I took the opportunity to participate in this SAL! Thank you, Sunni for hosting and for all of the wonderful help along the way. I would totally have skipped out on this pattern otherwise, and I really love it! I also met a bunch of great new bloggers to add to my feed. Love that!

2-in-1 Sew-A-Long: Fabric

I really appreciate all of the input about on the post about fabric for my dress. I'd been leaning pretty strongly toward the animal print, but you all got me thinking more about the floral. I really love bold, abstract florals, and I had pretty much decided that was the way I was going to go. Then I was perusing my closet and realized that I already have a floral dress with a wrap bodice.

This is the Fantasia dress by Sew Chic Patterns. I made it a few years ago (and posted about it here), but I haven't worn it much, as it isn't nursing friendly. Laura posted on her blog about wearing hers to the grocery store and it reminded me of how much I love mine. I do love this dress, but really how many shiny satin abstract floral wrap dresses does one girl need in her wardrobe??

So, I was starting to lean back in the direction of the animal print, when a big box from fabric.com arrived, and in it was the most perfect polka dot rayon in the world.

It might be love.

2-in-1 Sew-A-Long: Simplicity 1880 muslin

I had a little down time while making the wedding dress, while I was awaiting a sleeve fitting, so I knocked together a muslin of Simplicity 1880 for the 2-in-1 Sewalong over at A Fashionable Stitch. I'm really liking this pattern, although there are a few things I'm not so keen on.

The first thing I did was a quick tissue fit on my dressform, which told me I'd need a 3/4 inch FBA. That's not a huge one for me, so we're already ahead as far as that goes. I always have to shorten the front bodice above the bust, but this pattern only needed a teeny wedge taken out, which was also nice. The picture is the altered pattern, pinned to my dressform. I wasn't sure how I liked the pleats/gathers, so I knew I'd need a real muslin.

Here is the front. I'm actually really pleased with how it fits. The neckline looks a little high, but I didn't remove the seam allowances, so it will be 5/8 inch lower in the final version. I moved the front waist pleats closer to center front, since my fullness in that area is forward and the pleats were nearly in my armpit. I also concentrated the shoulder gathers a bit more to the front as well. I'm happy with the way that the skirt fits.

From the side, it still isn't bad, although my waist seam is dipping a bit toward the back. Sorry that's hard to see between the bright white fabric and my arm in the way. You can also get an idea of how blousy the back is. The skirt hem is nice and level though, despite the back and front pattern pieces being the same. I added 1 inch to the length and I think I like it as it sits unhemmed, so I'll add a bit more as a hem allowance.

From the back - ick. I've already shortened the back 1/2 inch, but you can see it is still much too long and much too full. I'm really not digging the pleats at the waist back there. I understand the design element of balancing the front pleats, but I don't find them flattering at all. I think I'm going to totally eliminate the pleats at the bottom and remove a small amount of fullness at the top. I do need a bit of ease there, as my back is pretty broad.

Thanks to everyone who has weighed in so far about my fabric options! If you haven't yet posted an opinion, I'd love it if you'd pop over and let me know what you think. I'd also love any input you have about the fit. Anything you'd do differently than I mentioned?