Despite How It Looks, I’m Not Attending a Toga Party
Sewing / Posted on December 14th, 2009
It seems as if all my single friends and family members are getting married in 2010 and the fancy clothes section of my closet is sadly depleted, being taken over by jeans and t-shirts.
I’ve started making muslins of some possibilities. The first one is this dress from the May 2009 Burda:
The dress appealed to me for its no-frills, figure-hugging silhouette. It reminded me of something a glamorous movie star would wear. After I made the muslin, I was reminded of why I hadn’t worn this type of dress much before. I certainly won’t be dancing like this!
I know, not being able to do that would suck all the fun out of a wedding, now wouldn’t it?
Anyway, I’m sure you’re dying to see the muslin…or is it that you just can’t wait to see me parading around in a cut up old bed sheet? Who am I to disappoint?
Here’s the front of the dress…
…which has an oddly flattening effect on my chest. I thought this was supposed to be a va-va-voom sort of dress…
I think this needs a small swayback alteration too.
Is it normal to have a big poofy front when you sit down? Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t worn fitted skirts like this much before…
The sleeves feel fine when I move my arms in most directions, except forward. Is there something I can do to fix this?
So, what do you think? Should I make this dress out of something other than a bedsheet? Or would something else be more flattering?
No matter what, this was a fun thing to make! I love making pleats and darts. The gussets beneath the kimono sleeves were new to me as well. I’ll need to perfect my technique with those before cutting into anything fancier though. They’re kind of tricky.
Posted by 
December 14th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Amy, I don’t think it’s very flattering on you. The pleats both at the skirt waist and at the bust are not complimenting your cute figure at all. I think you may need to skip this one altogether and find something that will look great on you, even in bed sheet fabric. However, if you do really want to continue with this one, yes–do the swayback adjustment.
I didn’t know you had a blog. I’m off to add you to my blogroll.
December 15th, 2009 at 5:13 am
I agree with the swayback adjustment. I do like this style of dress, and yes they do tend to puff in front on me when I sit, but I’ve got an hourglass shape that accommodates the pook of my belly when I am in that position (it’s called fat…but hey), but I’ve never been sure if it was my body or the skirt, but I sat an thought about it and all of my straight skirts do it to a degree (I’m no where near as thin as you, so the puff effect is less on me as well). One thing you may want to look at is the ease overall in the hips, because that much poof is almost acting as if it is too big in that area, and you need to decrease it, or add deeper/more darts to the front.
It looks like you did do a good job, but I think this dress may have been designed more for a heavier and bustier woman. Pleats like this don’t do much for my bust, other then point out, why yes, they DO turn corners before I do if I’m not careful, and I can afford a minimizing effect without noticing it.
December 15th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I actually don’t think this looks bad at all- it’s probably just the bedsheet that’s throwing you off, no? Anything with short sleeves is going to look a little grammy-ish when you render it in a flowery bedsheet, I think. I think you’re right that something needs to be taken in in the lower back, but I think the front is very nice. My recommendation (because doesn’t everyone just love unsolicited advice??) – I’d substitute the straight skirt with a fuller one, but keep those luxurious inverted pleats (1960s party dress style!), do it up in a solid jewel tone like fuchsia or amethyst, and pair it with a wide black velvet sash. How smashing would that be for a wedding?
December 18th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I agree with the Selfish Seamstress. I think a pear can totally wear a sheath dress, you just have to tweak the skirt a little to make it work with your proportions. One of my favorite patterns started out as a straight skirted sheath dress, but I widened the skirt hem just a little so it gives me more of an hourglass shape. Try cutting the skirt muslin with a simple A-line (I used the skirt from S2307) and then slim it down until it looks good on you.
Here’s a couple examples of sheath dresses I’ve made:
http://www.spottedroo.com/sewing/LGDsimple.jpg
http://www.spottedroo.com/sewing/navydressfront.jpg
The Slapdash Sewist also did a great post on flattering shapes for pears, with special attention to narrow skirts:
http://theslapdashsewist.blogspot.com/2009/04/dressing-pear-shape-end-a-line-tyranny.html
December 18th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Oh, another skirt that can work with pear shapes is a pegged one with some (intentional) fullness in the hips. S2550 has similar pleating on the bodice and top of the skirt to the one you made but I thought it was particularly flattering for pears.
Modeled here by my sis:
http://www.spottedroo.com/sewing/rebeccagraydress.jpg