Though I do all kinds of crafts and needlework and sewing, it's been a while since I've jumped back into making clothes. But I have an excellent excuse to do some sewing now. Our Jodie is ready for some maternity dresses.
She bought a pattern online that we printed out and taped together. Since I'm out of practice and it's a new pattern, we decided to make a "muslin" first ... make a dress from inexpensive fabric (in our case, some old curtains from our Post Falls house!). Usually, muslins are finished just enough to check fit and make alterations, but not actually worn.
The first thing we needed to change was the neckline and shoulder slope. I turned the jewel neckline into a V neckline. Then I drafted a neck facing instead of using a bias binding as called for in the pattern.
I sewed the rest of the dress together and had Jodie try it on. More alterations were needed. The pocket placement was far too low. The front was still too big, so needed to be narrowed.
Even though we didn't make this muslin to be worn, Jodie thought she might as well wear it anyway -- at least around the house. It's pretty sheer so she'll put a tank top and bike shorts or slip underneath.
I made a pleat in the front of the bodice and sewed buttons in place for decoration.
To make the "real" dresses, we bought some sheets at a thrift store. The color is quite pretty. The fabric was awful to work with. It was some kind of poly-blend that was very soft to the touch, but frayed terribly. I relearned a few sewing techniques along the way, including a seam finish, interfacing at the neckline, under stitching, and stitch-in-the-ditch.
I made this dress with the new pattern alterations. The top fits much better now and the pockets are almost in the right spot. It's wearable, anyway.
I'll be making at least one more dress from this pattern out of more thrifted fabric Jodie chose. And possibly a matching dress for Abby.
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