Dr. Frankestein had failures

Some days you just need to step away from the sewing machine and do something else. I had the day off work and planned to spend the whole day sewing. I think I might have even imagined I’d finish more than one project. Maybe if I had started one of the other projects first, I could have avoided this disaster.

But I wanted to make something out of this wool blend crepe before it turned into summer again. I had figured out what I wanted to do with it and bought some great turquoise trim and buttons. I was really excited about the combination. I just needed to figure out which pattern to use with it.

I decided on Advance 9553, but then I almost immediately changed my mind, thinking that the collar would be too childish-looking.

I was considering good old Advance 2878, even though it seemed too simple for the already somewhat plain fabric. But I kept thinking of this one dress I used to have that was grey with little bits of bright red trim. I loved the look of it so much, but it just never fit me right so I was thinking I’d try to make something similar. I didn’t want to make it with the straight skirt, so I Frankensteined the skirt from Mail Order 4843 onto it.

The fabric is much thicker and heavier than I usually work with, so it was taking me longer than usual to put it together. It also was really fray-happy and left a mess as I was working.

I finally got most of it together, put the zipper in and tried it on (pre-hemming). I knew immediately it was a failure. The sleeves are way too loose for this heavy fabric and the simple cut of this pattern makes for an Amish-looking dress. A very unflattering Amish-looking dress.

Uhg. I can’t believe I am even posting that photo, but I’m hoping that writing about this will help me stop being depressed about what a failure it is so far. Yes, so far. I am not giving up. I really love the fabric, as fussy as it is, so I’m going to try to either make a new bodice, or change the sleeves to set-in ones, giving it more structure.

Hope springs eternal. To be continued…