If the Dress Fits...

 
I have a challenging body shape. That's not me being critical or lacking self confidence, it's just the way it is. I'm definitely a pear-shape, small on top, bigger on the bottom. I actually really like my figure (although at the moment I could probably tighten it up a bit in spots), but it isn't easy to dress. I have to buy my bathing suits and lingerie sets as separates because my bottom is so much bigger than my top, and dresses are also difficult to buy. They're usually either too tight on my hips or too loose on my waist and chest. My mother has made many alterations for me over the years.



Sewing runs in my family. My grandmother sewed square dancing costumes for her and my grandfather for many years, and later in life she made her own doll clothes. My aunt made me a teddy bear when I was little and makes clothes for my cousins now. My mother has been sewing for years as well. She made lots of clothes for herself when she was young and also made many, many outfits for my sister and I when we were small. They all had/have sewing machines, but I never really got into it. When my grandmother passed away, my uncle and his wife took her sewing machine. A few years ago they asked me if I wanted it since they never used it, and I said sure. It's really nice and has its own table and I did manage to make a few sets of curtains that didn't totally suck, but that was about the extent of my efforts.
 
I have been going to Fabricville with my mother for years. I have this nasty habit of buying patterns and material and never completing the projects. Fabricville had a big sale last spring, 10 patterns for $10 so I got 10 and picked out the material to do 3 of them. The problem with patterns is that I never fit one pattern size, which is especially challenging because most patterns come sizes 4-16 and then 16+. My top is usually a 16, so I'm frequently screwed. Even this pattern needed to be modified to make the skirt fit my hips. I didn't know how it would turn out, but I love the finished product.

I swear, at times, I thought this item was going to be the death of me. I started a couple of pieces of clothing sometime in the spring, but at the time my stress levels were pretty high and patience levels were very low, so I could only do a few steps at a time before I (and my mother) got too frustrated to continue. When my mother's sewing machine went on the fritz and mine was still in storage I gave up, but since my sewing machine is back with me I decided to pick it up again. Patterns confuse the hell out of me, so I needed my mom to sit with me so I could ask her questions, but I did it all myself (except for one part of the slit in the back).

This is the pattern I used. My imagination isn't always the greatest, so I bought material that looked pretty similar to the fabric in this picture. I made the dress on the model, except for the belt. My zipper foot went kaput and I couldn't sew on the piping, so I just wore the dress without it. Not sure I'll make it at all now.

This is what I started with. As you can see, I had already done most of the work.

 

Pattern instructions which I swear were written in a foreign language. Thankfully my mom understand that language.








 

This is the sewing machine that once belonged to my grandmother. It's from the 50's or 60's and still works like a dream. Until it didn't. And remember that my mother's sewing machine isn't working either. At this point I was ready to give up.

And then my mom remembered this little gem. Not high tech but it gets the job done. It stopped working too at one point, but Mom was able to fix it.









This is my stitch ripper. When the sewing machine stopped working it would just sew all these loopy stitches which I had to take out over and over. I ended up having to sew the zipper in by hand. And I'm a pretty slow hand stitcher. 





 



Coming into the home stretch! Sewing the hem was the last step. Also by hand, which also took me a while.

And here's the finished dress! It's a bit wrinkled at this point and half my makeup had probably sweated off, because I forgot to get my picture taken before I left for my friend's wedding reception, and I danced my butt off while I was there! I've now been inspired to make some more of the pieces I have patterns for. Once my sewing machine gets fixed that is. If I have to hand sew anymore projects I'll be 50 before they're done!