Simplicity 1873 is probably the second oldest UFO in the cupboard (the other is a Vogue coat which was cut out two years ago!). It's not my usual style but I decided that it would be just the thing to wear to my cousins (April 2013) wedding. It was 99% finished when it got thrown in the back of the cupboard.
On the morning of the wedding I tried it on to finish the hem and - finally - noticed that the back was ridiculously big. I tried a few different darts but I just didn't have the time to keep messing with it before the wedding. Then it turned cold and this got put aside. To fix the back I took a two inch dart starting at the back neckline and running it down parallel to the dart at the base of the bodice. That's a whopping four inches removed from the back neckline. After such a long break from the dress it only took me about 15 minutes to finish it.
Aside from the back fitting issues the dress went together really easily. I cut a 14 adding an extra inch of length through the body and an extra 2.5 inches to the skirt hem. I also cut the skirt front and side as one continuous piece and I removed some of the skirt fullness by folding out one of the pleats from the side skirt panel and from the skirt back. This is one very full skirt.
The fabric is a navy spotted cotton sateen from Spotlight several years ago. I love the finished dress. I think the fitted waist is very flattering and the full skirt is very fun. I've just purchased the Flora pattern and some more cotton sateen so I think they'll be more dresses like this in the future :)
10 comments:
Sweet dress!
This is perfect on you!
Congratulations on finishing a UFO! It looks great. It's amazing how close we usually are when we set them aside. I have a couple that just need a hem or a small step to adjust before finishing. Maybe I should take a day and finish like you did.
It is a lovely dress, well worth taking the time to finish.
I really like this. I also have some of this fabric in my stash from a few years ago, except for some reason I only bought 1m.
Great save on the dress - it looks lovely and would have been a perfect wedding outfit. I used some of that fabric for a skirt for my daughter.
Love the fit of this dress and the style looks great on you. You can have fun dressing it up as well.
I love how this now works on you. It's great.
Fantastic fit, this looks great on you - better late than never hey!
Absolutely gorgeous, and how wonderful that it was such a quick and easy fix!! You could have been wearing this all that time! I love the big full skirt, it looks so beautifully feminine and swishy.
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