The Dress That Almost Wasn’t

I had months to prepare for husband’s friend’s wedding, no excuses to wait until the last week and a half to start working on the dress I wanted to wear. But that is EXACTLY what happened. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I didn’t even start deciding fabric options until 14 days before the wedding day. My procrastination definitely got the better of me.

Come Monday night, 5 days before the wedding, I was freaking out a bit. I only had a muslin done at this point. I know to some of you, this may sound silly, but when I get stressed out…I pray. I prayed that somehow God would allow me to finish what I had started. And I slept well that night.

I did not worry the following day when I made no progress because I was not feeling well and it was my brother’s birthday.

I did not stress when I was only able to cut out and baste the pattern pieces on Wednesday (T-3 days).

I worried just a bit when we lost power on Thursday for 15 hours – but mostly on how to feed everyone. I did what I could via a flashlight – hand basting the skirt pieces.

And if had begun to worry on Friday, I most definitely would not have finished. Instead, I worked as I could, entertaining L as I went. Then, after all were asleep, I spent 5 hours finishing not one but TWO dresses! Hallelujah!

I did have a few more steps to finish on Saturday, like hem and sew the zipper on L’s dress and add the ties on mine. But, praise God, it was done well before we needed to head out. And I even had time to relax with my husband.

It should have been such a stressful week, but faith that God would deliver me to the end in peace kept me going. And I usually don’t share these things but I could not help but share my journey with you all. Such a trivial thing as making a dress (when I had other options) was provided for, so why would God not provide for other important things.

Now on to sewing matters:

Lessons learned:

• Not all patterns must be made – When I first saw this pattern in Petite Stitchery’s Facebook group, I was in LOVE. I loved the ruffles, the length, and that it was a woven wrap dress. The other wrap dress patterns I have are for knits. I bought it during the release sale last year and was excited to make it.
  
  Now that it’s made, I am not sure it’s entirely for me. The high-low aspect allows for the two sides to separate while sitting more so than straight skirts. I’m not a fan of that. If I make it again, I would straighten out the front skirt pieces and make the front piece that goes under, a tad wider. I would probably also add some snaps inside the seam to keep the shifting to a minimum

• You can definitely use border prints, with a little bit of planning. I had cut the border off before cutting anything else. Then reattach with pleats to accommodate the curves.

• Batch sewing may feel inefficient but it’s worth it. Once all the pieces to my dress were cut, I realized there was enough of the sari and lining to make Lillian a dress. Cutting the pieces; hand basting the sari to the lining; serging all the pieces together and THEN constructing the dresses seemed a bit long winded but the construction is the easiest and fastest part of the sewing process.

Modifications:

Pattern Name: Petite Stitchery Sunflower Wrap Dress

Fabric: I bought this sari from Utsav.com for the sole purpose of making it into a dress.

Lining was from Joann Fabrics after testing out a few different colors. I had to piece together the lining in some spots, but it is not very visible.

Darts: This pattern had waist darts and from a previous make, I knew waist darts didn’t work for me. Off to the side they went. During tissue fitting, I also took out some ease from the armscye, which got moved to the side dart as well.

Length: Removed 1 5/8″ from the bodice and 4.5″ from the skirt.

Shoulders: Did a forward shoulder adjustment because my clothes always move backwards. And while the bodice didn’t shift, the shoulder seam is not in the middle and can be seen in the front. So back to the drawing board for this. If you have any suggestions, I’m open to them!

Pockets: Yup! I added them to the inseam 🙂

Twin dress for Lillian

My magic paring for L is Bella Sunshine bodice from Alice Pleated dress with the E-Beth Loreli Dress skirt.

Size is 4T but with added length.

Modifications:

Length: Added 2″ waist belt between the bodice and skirt

Zipper: Installed an invisible zipper because it is faster for me to sew than the regular zippers. However, I didn’t have a color matching close to the fabric so I used grey. I’m going to paint the zipper pull with some nail polish to match.

Finishings: Facing for the neckline since it already had a lining and binding to finish off the armholes. I will have to go back and finish the seams with binding because L said it was scratchy. The temporary fix was to have her wear a tank top under it but I want a better fix.

Pockets: Yup! I added them to the inseam here too 🙂