A lesson in fabric choice

I love my original black and white Coco top so much that I decided to make a red one and accordingly bought some striped Ponte Roma from Ebay. It was only a tenner so was worth a punt. Well, when it arrived it wasn't as thick as the (twice as expensive) black and white fabric but was lovely and soft - more like a cotton jersey knit. And it was nice and wide. So I decided in my infinite wisdom to make a Coco dress  instead. It worked out okay in the end but was not without its challenges!

My mistake was using such a stretchy fabric with too much drape and not enough structure. The a-line shape at the bottom especially needs it. Because it's drafted to stick out slightly, when mine didn't? The side seams were an inch lower than the centre front and back. Grr. And it was too long and frumpy looking. And that armscye has gotten all stretched, you can see it in the photo below. See how the armpit doesn't actually GO to my pit? That. And, to top it all, the sleeves themselves are a bit baggy. Which they are in my other Cocos but you really see it in the soft fabric.  Oh, and this was after I'd sewn half the thing with the wrong seam allowance (3/8 instead of 5/8) AND when tracing the pattern hadn't graded the waistline in a size like I did on my tops. And wondered why it was like a tent when I tried it on. *rollseyes* But I fixed all of the mistakes and some of the problems (chopping and reshaping the hem being the biggest.)

But it's skill kinda cute. And is SO comfy and I can wear my new shoes with it. They are Anarchic Mary-Janes by TUK and, yes, they have skull buckles. Whee!

I was hoping to have 5 outfits to wear to work for Me Made May and I'm up at 8 already! With one skirt needing a top and one scarey pattern-matching nightmare shirt waiting in the wings to be sewn. Which means I may get two weeks of me-made outfits before May. Yaas!

Can you tell which photoshoot Chook was available for David Bailey-ing purposes? Heh heh.

Garment Deets:

Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons Coco dress

Fabric: Ponte Roma, polyester/viscose/lycra, 148cm wide x 2metres

Size and changes made: Size 4 graded to size 3 waist, boat neck and full length sleeve. Hem raised by 3 inches and also curved from 5 inches out from center front to side seam by 1 inch (so side seam is 4 inches shorter than pattern)