After a few months of making quilts on my new sewing machine, with some success at small projects (baby quilts), I decided that I could probably sew some clothes, too. Joanne's had a sale on Vogue patterns last weekend, so I went and picked out a dress pattern that said "very easy" and bought some lovely periwinkle blue linen that I love (and I got it for only $4.99/yd). I've never sewed clothing before, but I thought, "what the hay--I have a PhD, so I should be able to read the instructions and figure out how to make a 'very easy' pattern."
On Sunday afternoon, I cut out my dress and stitched up the bodice. Had to puzzle over some of the instructions but finally interpreted them correctly. Tried on the bodice and it seemed pretty loose, but of course it was still open in the back and didn't have the skirt attached.
On Monday evening, I stitched up the skirt and attached it to the bodice. Then I had to sew in the zipper (gulp!). It took some thinking (and a little time spent with my seam ripper), but I finally got the zipper in beautifully! Yay! I was feeling so proud of myself. I still had some hand finishing work to do, but my dress was nearly done.
THEN, I tried it on. :-(
It fits like a feed sack. I adjusted the pattern for petite, but the shoulders are loose and the bodice hangs much too low. The V-neck comes down half way to my navel. The skirt is the right length but about a half-mile too wide. :-( I'm so disappointed. I think I'll stick to quilts from now on and buy my clothes where I can try them on first. Apparently, I'm better at two-dimensional patterns.
Accomplished sewers out there, is there anything I can do to salvage my dress, or should I just cut it up and use the scraps for quilts? Tips and consolation gladly accepted. :oops: