Sometimes the best pattern is the one you have in your stash. Or in this case, the two!
For my brother’s wedding I wanted to make my own version of the cami / slip dress trend that would work for my figure. I wanted to make V9278 but didn’t have time to have it sent out to me. (I’d left sewing my dress to the last minute after doing the wedding dress and groom’s jacket). I hunted through my stash and found V1428 and my beloved V9000!I’m bottom heavy so a classic one piece slip dress would need to be heavily graded at the side seams to work. Instead I decided if I added a waist seam and flared skirt if would work much better. That meant I could use the under bodice from V1428 which is designed to have a lace bodice over the top. And I repeated a previous hack where I removed the panel seams from the V9000 skirt to make a front and back skirt.My beautiful new sister-in-law invited me to walk with her brother down the aisle ahead of her entrance. We agreed I would wear green, a traditional wedding colour in Afghanistan. I sent her photos of all my green fabrics. The best match was an emerald green floral by John Kaldor. I can’t quite pin down the name of it as I bought it about 6 years ago! (Here is the same print on a different fabric base). It’s a satin backed crepe so felt amazing to wear on the inside of the garment.
I cut both the front and back of the dress on the fold and put an invisible zipper in the side seam. With lightweight fabrics I like to use ultra lightweight zips but they don’t come in many colours. For instance, I had to use white on this dress. So I used nail varnish to paint the puller to match and I had extra incentive to make sure my zip really was invisible!Hemming a full skirt like this in a fabric which has a lot of bias stretch is a total pain in the butt. The hem drops more dramatically than other fabric types. I hate it every time but thankfully had borrowed my Mum’s Newey chalk pump marker. This tool lets you blow a line of chalk at a set level. You rotate and keep pressing the hand pump. Then you have a even chalk line to follow all around.
When you mash two patterns together like this you need to make sure the seam lines are going to meet. The skirt and bodice should have the same circumference. And the side seams should be in the same place. You should measure or “walk” the seam lines of the front bodice and front skirt to check they are the same length if they are then the side seams will match. But you might need to remove from one piece and add to it’s partner to move the seam line.I made a size 14 in each pattern and luckily my seam lines matched up! I think it fits pretty great. Plus the wedding was a total success, more on that another time.
Thought you looked stunning in this green floral number. With the weather hitting 30 degrees, you look a cool cutie.
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