One Week, One Pattern

Only wear one pattern’s worth of clothes for a whole week?  Well yes, it is possible!  And it even looks like it might be fun, if only the weather will cooperate. 

I’m going to wear only things I’ve made from Sew Over It’s Betty Dress pattern.

 

So, yesterday I went to the Ingrave and Herongate Village Show (https://www.facebook.com/IngraveHerongateFlowerShow) proudly wearing my ‘noisy dress’! 

This was my second go at Betty, made using a wonderful jungle noises fabric from Geoff’s Remnant Shop in Brentwood (http://www.geoffsremnantshop.co.uk/).  I always feel good in that one, feminine but fun and not too ‘pretty pretty’ (which just ain’t me!). And it's great when you're doing something a bit dull to look down at your own chest and see 'yelp' or 'hiss' in the middle of your ledge (as my mum used to call it!!), really cheers the most dreary of encounters!

 

And today is the day for my first ever Betty.  Really pretty cotton summery flowers, which Beatrice enjoys sitting on cos they offset her colouring so well (apparently!).

 

 

Being my first go at the pattern, and being one of my first home sewn attempts for a good many years, this one is a bit big on me – I always feel I’m fatter than I really am, and because I’m so anxious not to make something that’s unbecomingly tight, I end up with things being loose, at times even gappy, instead of neatly snug!  Of course, I could easily take this in a bit, but I’m just too flippin’ lazy!

When I made the noisy dress, I knew better – cut the same size but just was generous with my seam allowances.  I probably could’ve done a smaller size successfully, but because I had (again) been lazy originally, and cut the bought pattern pieces instead of patiently tracing them off, that was never going to be simple – it’s the armhole and necklines that challenge my brain beyond endurance then.  I have learnt from my mistakes, though: now I trace patterns onto dot and star paper in my chosen size and cut that instead of the precious (pricey) original.

Why do so many patterns cost so much, especially when they often prove not to have been proof read or tested properly by ordinary sewers, instead of by experienced seamstresses who automatically correct errors or instinctively interpret poorly explained steps?  The awkward bit of Betty is in the facings: explanations and diagrams are thoroughly confusing here, and for the second version sewing buddy Claire had worked out a much simpler and neater way of doing them which meant I didn’t get the urge to top stitch to neaten them up!

Two days down, two dresses worn....
next up???