Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Sew: Simplicity 2580, View C, Midnight Goddess


I needed this dress like a woman walking away from a one night stand who needs satisfaction after being underwhelmed.

This dress, for me, is like a deep red merlot from Hunt Cellars in Paso Robles. It's like a cooking and techniques class at Williams-Sonoma, where the presenter is friendly and gives you extra portions to taste. It's like a smile and conversation with a nice guy that has a friendly large dog and no wedding ring.

Yes, it's just that good.

After the horrible bastard child fail of Sew: Mashup Fail= Simplicity 3503 halter bodice with Simplicity 2580 waist and skirt combo, I needed something to reaffirm my ability to sit in front of a sewing machine and construct a wearable piece of work.


Hopefully, I will be putting the Uniquely You cover onto the dress form soon. Then, I can actually use the dress form for what it was purchased for. Well, once I can pull myself away from the beautiful and shapely contrast it gives my photos.




What was once a 60" width of fabric that stopped my eye with its beautiful deep color has turned into a rather beautiful dress. However, working with a fabric with so much spandex in it is enough to make you go batshit mad. I need to remember to mark a ton of lines on the side I deem the wrong side BEFORE cutting. Otherwise, I am guaranteed to spent 15 minutes flipping fabric back and forth, endlessly wondering which side is the wrong side and thinking my mind is playing tricks on me after deciding.

Another great tip? I cut the figuring out time for the cowl down to 20 minutes. NOW I truly get it. The next time I make this dress, I'll do a photo tutorial. I just wanted to get the hang of it first before teaching others.

Pattern Review Review: http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?readreview=1&reviewnum=61820


Project:

Simplicity 3503

Medium:

Sewing

Description:

Misses formal dresses in 2 lengths with different top choices. View C.

Pattern Sizing:

20 bodice, 20 - 22 gradient from below bust to hip.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yes! Added bonus, after reading the instruction over again for this project, I realized EXACTLY what the facing instructions meant. Unfortunately, this knit had way too much stretch for top stitching and installing the arm facings as recommended.

Sourcing:

1.75 yards (yet again, should have just gotten 2 yards due to inevitable shrinking) from JoAnn's Etc.

True to Illustration

Oh yeeahhhh.....

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

  1. Didn't face the armholes as recommended. I finished one and immediately ripped the stitching apart while watching streaming "Archer" episodes at 3am. Top stitching and stretchy knit do not go together without a serger.

Tips and Techniques:

  • Didn't need any. The only tricky part was remembering how to do the cowl. Like I said before, I'll do a picture tutorial next time I do this pattern, as it's super easy and fun once you get it.

Things I Would Change If I Made It Again:


Ha! Fabric with an actual, clear to see wrong / right side. I'm going to go to Mood Fabrics on Pico and see what they have soon.

Conclusion:

This dress is hot. I'll most likely make another version within the next month. It's perfect for me.


3 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I just made a dress in that color!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I absolutely love the color and the style! I want to find more fabrics in the same deep purple color scheme. It's so vibrant and beautiful and really sets off darker skin tones well. Plus, I can wear my favorite NARS eyeshadow duo, Rated Rn (green and blue) with it.

    ReplyDelete