the Sewn Thing: Built By Wendy/ Simplicity 3835

here it is. unironed hem and all. i was a little worried when making this dress that it was less quirky, and more raggedy-ann, but i've decided i like it. a lot. this was me wearing it out on a 32C/ 100F night (ah, summer). it was much cuter with black tights and ballet slippers, which is how i wore it on sunday night. there's no real tricks or quirks with the pattern, save that i'd recommend gathering the neckline most over the shoulders and in the centre front, and less around the raglan seams. just to make it sit super-nice.


scared of the lapped zipper instructions in the pattern, i tried the tutorial on how to put in zippers that's in Sew U. it recommends taping the zip in place with stickytape. Worst. Idea. Ever. well, not quite. but not as great as it initially seemed. the stickytape moves, then sticks to something else, so the zip goes out of place. also the tape stuck to my machine arm as i sewed the fabric. this meant it either a) got all bunched up and sticky so the fabric wouldn't feed any further or b) got sucked into the feed dogs, causing a sticky mess than prevented the fabric from feeding any further. i'll stick to pins in future.

i've managed to get badly coloured boy to stop snapping incredibly utilitarian photos of me. see how this one is kind of composed? my entreaties to 'take a nice photo' never produced results. turns out the magic words were 'Honey, pretend you're filming me and compose the shot properly'. magically he learns the rule of thirds. it also prompts him to suddenly volunteer to bring home the big, expensive still cameras with manual focus from university for when i need to take blog photos. i think i will try chatting to his film-self more often.

but back to my dress: my favourite bit is the contrast lining on the elbow ties.


the elbow ties are insanely, ridiculously fiddly, but worth it, i think.

i'm going to make another of these dresses. maybe in a dark checked cotton.