Recently, Hancock Fabrics had a sale on Butterick patterns and I immediately went for 5559, a Maggie London design. I loved the creative placement of the tucks.

Underneath many of those tucks are the darts that give the pieces a nice shape. It’s very clever!

My first version turned out ok:

It’s very, very snug, even after I let it out as much as I could with the seam allowances I had. If I decide to do it again, I’m going to add extra wide side seam allowances to allow me to tweak the fit better.

I had a difficult time lining up the tucks along the sides, but through much seam ripping and re-sewing, achieved a tolerable result:

Job-related exhaustion left me in no state to wrangle with lots of pattern alterations, so I didn’t bother to do my usual petite adjustment for the bodice. I’m fairly sure that would have cleaned up the mess in the back fit:

However, since this is such a body-conscious dress, I will almost always wear a cardigan or jacket over it at work, so that fit issue isn’t one I’m going to fret over right now. Maybe next time!

Knit dresses are great for work. They are almost as comfortable as pajamas and don’t wrinkle. You’ve got to love that.

I would have paired this with heels, but I had hurt my toe pretty badly the night before and could barely walk. Comfy shoes were the order of the day.

I miss reading blogs and sewing! I hope I get back into the swing of things as I adjust to my new schedule.

Thanks for all of your supportive comments in response to my last post. I also appreciated all the suggestions you gave me for creating a work wardrobe. Keep the suggestions coming! Love them.

I’m still reeling from how crazy last week was. On the same day I sent the kids back to school, I had to figure out daycare issues; find transportation to and from work; schedule soccer practices, piano lessons, PTA meetings, my husband’s social and work commitments…and how to put dinner on the table in a timely fashion.

I want to bury my head in the sand.

I’m sure things will get easier with time. If not, I’m running off to Antarctica to huddle on the ice with penguins.

So, not much sewing was accomplished. I laundered some fabrics. I traced off a pattern. I did finish one dress though and love it!

This is Simplicity 4074. It’s a great pattern. I’ve made a knit skirt once last year and decided to try the dress. It worked out great! I’m contemplating another. The only problem with it is it requires more yardage than I typically buy for knits. So, while I have a ton of knit fabric on my hands, I can’t use much of it for this dress. I’ll have to go shopping. Bummer…not!

What’s next? I have no flipping idea. I can’t decide whether a better use of my time would be to make dresses or to work on separates. I could use both. Right now, I’m just going to (try to) take a deep breath, relax and work when inspiration hits.

One thing is for certain. Life is never dull…and it’s expensive. I’m contemplating going back to work to help out with all the expenses, but of course I have to consider the cost of childcare and updating my wardrobe. At one time, I had little to no casual clothing. Then, I quit my job and my wardrobe gradually changed from office-y wools and silks to home-y cottons and denims.

I may have found temporary employment starting about a week from now, which means I either have to go shopping (ick) or sew like a mad woman (preferable). The ironic thing is I had decided not to join Self-Stitched September, because I didn’t want to feel pressured with my sewing. I wanted to take things slower and work on special details and more complicated patterns. Now, I’m trying to figure out how I can crank out office-appropriate wear in a short time frame.

Here’s my current plan:

1. Simple dress using Simplicity 2703.

Simplicity 2703

I have some nice polyester (that’s not an oxymoron in this case) shantung, which might work nicely for this.

polyester shantung

2. Next up would be a pair of black gabardine pants using Vogue 1051.

Vogue 1051

3. I’d also like to make a classic wrap dress using some Anne Klein knit fabric I picked up yesterday.

Simplicity 4074

Anne Klein knit fabric

I seriously doubt I’ll make ALL of this before I start, but perhaps I could alter the patterns and have them cut out so I can work on them during the weekends or days off.