Pattern: Lisette Attache dress
Size: 12
Fabric: Crepe de Chine from Clothspot
When I first laid eyes on this fabric I thought we were meant to be. Together forever. BFFs. I heart autumn, it obviously hearts autumn, too. It's crepe de chine, I love crepe de chine. See? On paper, we're a perfect match.
But things turned sour, as they so often do in whirlwind romances. Don't get me wrong, it still looks beautiful, drapes like a dream, feels great against my skin. But, it was a total witch to work with. It frays LOADS, won't press for love nor money, is quite slippery to sew with, and refuses to be hemmed without looking ridiculous. The skirt, I hemmed with some bright yellow bias binding in the end. It was meant to be orange, of which I had 2.5m left after edging the neckline, but apparently that wasn't enough for the skirt which is longer than the longest thing you can imagine in the world! So I used yellow as that's all I had in a sufficient length. It's jolly though, I like it. And I'll pretend it was an intentional design feature.
The sleeves caused me the most trouble. They're cut on the bias, so when I turned under the hems they just stuck up, like ski jumps. Comical, ugly ski jumps. I tried all sorts of different methods, but nothing worked. In the end, I cut them shorter and that seems to work, due to where they sit on my shoulders. Phew.
I switched the lapped zip for an invisible one, because the "I refuse to be pressed" fabric did not lend itself to lapping.
I love the dress now the pain of making it is over. It hangs and swishes beautifully. Oh, and spins quite well, too.
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