Periwinkle

Apparently third time’s a charm when it comes to me and dressmaking.

So, to recap: I took some birthday cash and bought some pretty linen at Darrell Thomas with no project in mind. I quickly settled on this gorgeous thing from the June Burda World of Fashion only to realize that it was a petite dress.

I didn’t think I was in the mood to do all that resizing (foreshadowing!). So I chose this dress instead, which was also linen and not petite.

It was still a European’s idea of what a normal size is, however, so when I traced the pattern from the oh-so-crazy pattern sheet I tried my hand at a full bust adjustment and adding some width to the waist.

Natacha was brighter than me and predicted by the look of my muslin that it was too big but I ignored her and soldiered on. I ended up with a bust that I could raise hatchlings in and a twenty-six inch neck. Here’s a fun activity: string a tape measure around your neck and see what twenty-six inches would look like if it were a collar. Comical, no?

I decided the solution was to make a sort of half-assed V-neck but, the bodice still sagged off of me.

Of course I have no photographic evidence of either incarnation because both times I immediately ripped the dress off me and threw it into the corner.

It haunted me all long weekend. Yesterday evening it occurred to me that perhaps if I just folded the button band under one more time, it might fit. Low and behold, folding plus putting a little pleat at the back neck and voila.

Can you tell from my expression that it was a very long day?

A wearable dress!

I say “wearable” and not “perfect” because I’m not crazed about the bodice. I find it a touch matronly. But overall I’m happy with it.

Fun fact! I ironed this less that five minutes before taking photos. Linen sucks.

I swear my mom had this exact dress in the eighties, colour and all, except it was cotton and had pockets. Mom? Back me up here?