Still in jersey mode I decided to have another go at the Heather dress from Sew over It. Last time I used a winter weight jersey from Fabricland that was probably too stretchy. This time I am using a 32% Polyester / 60% Viscose / 8% Elastane Blend, Two tone Rose Jacquard Ponte Roma from the Textile Centre (£4.10/m) which I think is much more appropriate for this style.
The right side of the fabric appears as Navy with a jacquard design of roses in Wine. The reverse (wrong) side appears as solid Wine colour although I could detect an imprint of the Roses design. I originally planned to make the centre front and back panels of the dress in the solid Wine colour with the side panels and sleeves in the Navy but on close inspection decided I did not like the slight ‘cellulite’ effect of the jacquard design on the ‘wrong’ side. The entire dress was constructed in the Navy colourway using mostly the overlocker but with hems stitched with the jersey twin needle.
This fabric was a joy to sew and is much more suitable for the Heather dress. On first fitting I noticed that there was some excess fabric at the side seams under the arms down to the waist level. I re-stitched and have adjusted the pattern. To add a little more definition to the panel seams and pocket top edges on the front of the dress I have hand-picked some top stitching. I think this looks good and may well repeat on the back panel seams. For the first time, I tried the standard ‘band’ finishing at the neckline. It worked well and I then top stitched with the twin needle, having the right hand needle ‘in the ditch’ and the left hand needle approximately 3-4mm away from the seam line.
Having initially extended the sleeve lengths, I subsequently shortened them back to just above the wrist bone – not full length and not ¾ length either. Also having initially lengthened the dress by 2 inches, I have now cut that away to return to the original length. If I make the dress again I must remember to reduce the width of the shoulders as they extend beyond my natural shoulder by approximately 1 inch – something to be remedied when next I am ‘alteration mode’.
Final analysis – The jury is still out as at present I am not convinced this style particularly suits my figure. The dress can be quite complicated to stitch with the pockets set into the front panels so takes a bit longer than other dresses e.g. the ‘Moneta’ by Colette patterns.