Petite adjustment for the Siren Sundress by Decades of Style

The other day I posted about a lovely sundress I had sewn.  Like everything I make, I had to adjust for my lack of height, but in this case, where to shorten the bodice wasn't illustrated on the pattern, or even very obvious.  So, for the 0.1% of the sewing population that could use a tutorial for how to do a petite adjustment for the Siren Sundress, here's what I did:

I don't always trace my patterns, but when I have to cut up and manipulate pieces, it's a must!  Above, I've simply traced the bodice piece in my size (34, though I should have gone with 32).  My muslin indicated that I needed to lop off about 1 1/4" to raise the waistline, so I measured that out (dotted line along the bottom of the bodice, below) and trimmed it off.  

Then, I placed the trimmed piece on top of the new bodice bottom, aligning the pieces at the side seam.  Since the Center Front and other markings have shifted, I remarked them according to their position on the original piece.

At this point, I've reduced the length of the waist measurement slightly. So, to readjust the waist length, I repositioned the trimmed piece on top of the bodice, aligning the bottom and side seam (the trimmed piece hangs over the rest of the bodice).  I taped on a new piece of tissue paper and traced the bump-out.

The diagonal edge of the bodice is cut on the straight grain, so I redrew the line to connect to the waistline to the shoulder, and then redrew the grainline to be parallel to my new cut line.

Last but not least, since I adjusted the height of the waistline, I had to move the bust dart.  For this, I simply shifted the whole thing up by 1/4".

Below is the finished bodice piece, with the original trimmed piece just below, to see the full transformation.  

This adjustment would work with any wrap-style bodice (like a true wrap dress).  Have fun and good luck!

Vintage-inspired linen sundress

If you're arriving here from Britex, welcome!

A couple of weeks ago, my family took a trip to Hawaii, which nicely coincided (with a slight extension of deadlines--thank you, Joie :) with my latest Britex project.  A lovely linen sundress was the obvious choice; after all, doesn't everyone sew new garments before going on vacation?!

The linen I chose for this project is fairly lightweight, though slightly more opaque than you'd expect, and therefore not requiring a lining in the skirt. Linens are always a bit shifty while cutting and sewing, so I had to take care not to distort the fabric.  Overall, I found the fabric very easy to sew and it was the perfect choice for this style.

For this dress, you really can't wear a bra, so for the bodice lining, I skipped my usual first choice for linings (Bemberg rayon) and went with a silk/ cotton lawn to keep it from feeling sticky in the humidity of summer.  

For the pattern, I selected the vintage-inspired Siren Sundress by Decades of Style.  The dress has a faux-wrap front bodice, with secured wrap skirt in the back.  However, the highlight of the design is the cross-wrapping straps that wrap around the waist to tie in the back.  Lots of wrapping going on in this dress!  While it takes a while to get it on (with the aid of a mirror or significant other to keep the straps flat), once "assembled", it is comfortable and secure.  

The wrap around the waist is really flattering!  And the back is so pretty and unusual!

Even though it seems as though you can wrap and adjust straps to make it fit, I would highly recommend making a muslin first.  The waist wrap is fixed, and the seam at the shoulders should sit on your shoulder line, so after making a muslin it was clear I had to make some significant petite adjustments to the pattern. First, I trimmed the hem by about 6". Second, I had to shorten the bodice so the waist seam would sit at my natural waistline.   Tomorrow I'll post a quick tutorial for shortening a wrap-style top (or head over to Britex).

Aside from my pattern adjustments, the sundress was a pretty quick sew.  I can envision it in a number of lightweight fabrics, such as a linen stripe or print, or a fairly opaque cotton lawn.  Very fun for a summer barbecue, or with the right fabric, an evening cocktail party in the depths of summer!

Mahalo to Britex for providing the fabulous linen fabric and our amazing hosts in Haleiwa** for allowing me to take photos in their yard!  

** By the way, if you are looking for the best rental in all of Oahu (in our humble opinion) you can do no better than this cottage on the North Shore.  Just my plug for a great place; I wasn't asked to saying something nice :)

Collar Confection blouse in dotted silk

For my last-of-the-year Britex blogger project, I chose the pattern first: the unusual and lovely design from Decades of Style, the Collar Confection blouse.  The blouse design is interesting and a bit more challenging than a basic top, but still very doable!  The blouse style dictates a fabric with drape, but it also must be fairly opaque because there are facings along the armholes.  This midweight dotted ivory silk fits the bill and, in my humble opinion, is the ideal fabric for this top!

As strongly suggested by the pattern designers, I made a muslin before cutting into my lovely silk.  It was not obvious how I would do a small bust adjustment for this top, so I opted instead to use the size the correlated with my bust, and instead of grading out to the larger waist and hip size that I needed, I reduced the dart intakes.  This reduced the bust-to-waist ratio, which more or less accomplishes the SBA that I needed.  The ease of the original design seemed unsuitable for wearing as an untucked blouse (though perfect for tucking into a high waisted pencil skirt!), so I increased the overall ease at the hips as well.

The main glorious feature of this blouse is the lovely, drapey collar.  It folds over from a faced back neckline into a graceful peter-pan style. The width of the neckline and spread of the collar make it perfect for wearing with a v-neck cardigan.  How sweet is that collar?  

The other distinctive feature of the blouse is the split cap sleeves.  They aren't exactly a tulip (the flaps don't overlap each other), but are created with a curved hem and facings.

I'm a bit self-conscious of my broad shoulders, so this sleeve style doesn't help that too much, but I love how unusual and pretty it is!

For the button placket, I went with these satin-covered tuxedo buttons (1/2" size), and they couldn't be any more perfect.  The semi-matte sheen of the fabric-covered buttons matches the silk and they suit the blouse style just right.

Finishing the inside of the blouse was (relatively) simple with the help of one of Laura Mae's favorite notions--rayon seam binding (her tutorial is here).  I finished the raw edges after sewing the blouse because of all the facings and curved sleeve hems.  I'm still working on perfecting that technique (read: my inside seam finishes don't look perfect!), but at least the easily fraying silk is contained!  This is the shoulder seam between the neckline and facing of the sleeve (below), but I also used rayon seam binding on the side seams.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this new blouse.  If you are tempted to make the Collar Confection blouse, I cannot recommend this fabric strongly enough, but a pretty rayon would also work well.

Thank you, as always, to Britex for providing the fabric, notions (including matching silk thread--the buttonholes look extra special!) and pattern.

Happy sewing to you all in the New Year!  

Resewlution 2014, December garment #3