And then it was a dress

I made a dress out of that delightful bird fabric this weekend. Honestly, I can decide if I love it or hate it.

I ended up using Mail Order 4843, an old standby from last year, instead of the no bows allowed dress. I was all settled on the no bows then had a last minute change of heart and thought that the collar on that one with some piping would be really cute. It also seemed easier and quicker and since I had a lot of other work to do this weekend, I figured that would be beneficial.

Well, the piping and that collar feel almost too “waitress uniform” and the fabric seems more 60s while I used a late 40s pattern. That’s one of my pet peeves — fabric that doesn’t match up to the era of the pattern. I don’t know, maybe I’m being too critical. I can’t help by feel that my first instinct, Mail Order 4936, was the correct one. I guess I can always buy more of this fabric and make it again. See, using fabric right away can be a good thing!

The fit of the dress came out pretty nicely though — however these photos are making it look less flattering that it feels in real life. Now that the warm weather is coming back and I’m wearing my dresses from a year ago, I am realizing that my general fitting aesthetic used to be circus tent. Seriously, some of my old dresses fit like they are three sizes too big. I don’t think I’ve lost that much weight in the last year, so I think I just was intentionally making my clothes fit really loosely. It could also be that I made most of then in the middle of summer when it was 100+ degrees in our apartment and the idea of close-fitting clothes seemed horrific.

In any event, my dresses now seem to fit me better. I credit my husband for encouraging me not to hide in giant clothing all the time. I love me a good muu muu as much as the next old lady from Florida, but when someone mistakes your dress for maternity wear, it’s time to rethink your tailoring practices. That actually happened, by the way. Horrifying.

Anyhow, I think I mostly like the dress. It will be a good standby for summer and it’s clearly in my apparent color pallet for the season. I have been all over the turquoise lately for some reason. Even my brown dress had it in it. Yes, those are the same buttons, in a size larger, that I used on my brown dress.

I do like how the piping on the pockets turned out though.

So, what do you think? Should I remake this in 4936? I could  take the collars off completely and give it a plain v-neck. Or is it good as it is and I’m being too critical?