Welcome back everyone. Today is an exciting day, as today we are sharing with you our finished Macarons for the 1pattern7bloggers project. We showed you out inspiration and fabric last week, and today, the dress! (Apologies in advance for how picture heavy this post is)
I am really happy with the way my dress turned out. I could have picked an easier lace to work with, but at the time I couldn't find any other laces that I liked (although have seen some since). The lace is quick a thick (and heavy) guipure lace so it was quite tricky to (wo)manhandle the seams into place.
To make the dress the way I wanted to, I had to change up the construction slightly because I'd changed the bodice. I changed the pieces so that the lace for the bodice was all one piece, and then I had the green satin underneath in the style lines of the macaron (although changed slightly, as they were a bit low on me as drafted).
I stitched along the top of the satin underlining and the lining to finish that edge, and then hand basted the satin underlining to the lace (shown above).
After that I stitched up the darts and then treated it just like a normal bodice piece.
The bodice underwent some quite substantial changes to get it to fit. What I ended up doing was actually basically the same as my last 1pattern7bloggers dress and a few dresses since, kind of merging the pattern with my bodice block. I then made up a muslin of the bodice and altered the sweetheart style-lines so that sat in the right spot (ie they covered my bra). This last bit was done with the highly technical technique of drawing on the muslin with a biro while I was wearing it.
The last change I made was to alter the sleeves so that they had a straight hem and I could use the edge of the lace at the sleeve hem, along with using it along the hem of the dress.
I am really happy with the way my dress turned out. I could have picked an easier lace to work with, but at the time I couldn't find any other laces that I liked (although have seen some since). The lace is quick a thick (and heavy) guipure lace so it was quite tricky to (wo)manhandle the seams into place.
To make the dress the way I wanted to, I had to change up the construction slightly because I'd changed the bodice. I changed the pieces so that the lace for the bodice was all one piece, and then I had the green satin underneath in the style lines of the macaron (although changed slightly, as they were a bit low on me as drafted).
I stitched along the top of the satin underlining and the lining to finish that edge, and then hand basted the satin underlining to the lace (shown above).
After that I stitched up the darts and then treated it just like a normal bodice piece.
The bodice underwent some quite substantial changes to get it to fit. What I ended up doing was actually basically the same as my last 1pattern7bloggers dress and a few dresses since, kind of merging the pattern with my bodice block. I then made up a muslin of the bodice and altered the sweetheart style-lines so that sat in the right spot (ie they covered my bra). This last bit was done with the highly technical technique of drawing on the muslin with a biro while I was wearing it.
The last change I made was to alter the sleeves so that they had a straight hem and I could use the edge of the lace at the sleeve hem, along with using it along the hem of the dress.
I included the skirt as drafted... including the pockets inside one of the pleats, not that you'd know by looking at it...
Isn't that just really clever!! It's a sneaky trick I think I'll be using on future projects, that's for sure.
I finished off the hem of the underlining with my new rolled hem foot, isn't it just perfect?? Such a revelation, I can't believe I took so long to get the foot.
I'm still not entirely convinced by the shape of the skirt on me though, I'm not completely sure it's the most flattering silhouette.
Although partly I think that's because I could have nipped the waist in a little more than I did. However that was a deliberate decision not to, as I'm planning on wearing this to Frocktails next weekend, and since we're going out for a delicious dinner I thought a tight waistband would be a rookie mistake!
I finished the seam allowances of the lace and the neckline with black silk organza to try and make the lace that bit neater. It's the first time I've actually used silk organza and I'm very happy with how well it turned out.
And the last construction detail I wanted to share is the hand-picked zip that I added. It's definitely not the best I've ever done. But it's heaps better than a machine stitched zip would have been. It was a bit too tricky for me to try doing a lapped zip with the lace (as I've had less experience with them), so I stuck with a centred zip. It's a little gapey in spots, but it's down the side so it's less visible anyway, right?
I'd like to say thank you to Sarah for taking these photos for me, and wanted to make sure to include this shot of the back of the dress, as she wanted me to share it so you could see the perfectly symmetrical top edge of the underlining...
Anyway, I'm sure you're all just waiting for the announcement of the winners of the massive combined giveaway!
Firstly, another enormous thank you to all the generous sponsors of the giveaway:
The winners are:
- Lill wins the Macaron Pattern thanks to Colette Patterns
- Josephine wins the Macaron Pattern thanks to Guthrie & Ghani
- Macinic Macaron Pattern thanks to Stitch 56
- Elizabeth wins the Pattern of your choice thanks to Sew Squirrel
- Kathleen S wins the Colette Pattern of your choice thanks to Indie Stitches
- Joanne wins the Colette Pattern of your choice thanks to The Haby Goddess
- Amy wins the $20 gift voucher thanks to Fabric Worm
- Sew Charleston wins the $30 gift voucher thanks to A Fashionable Stitch
The winners should receive an email from one of the 7 of us in the very near future to organise getting contact details for your prizes.
- Marie from A Stitching Odyssey
- Reana Louise from Reana Louise
- Kat from Petticoats and Peplums
- Jen from Jennifer Lauren Vintage
- Amy from Sewing Through the Motions
- Sam from Buckingham Road
