My New Sexy Love...Cobalt

Hello Cobalt, I was minding my own business when you walked into the room and gave me that look. Oh you know the one.  I tried to resist you saying, eyelets aren't for me.  But you sidled up along side me and whispered, "This time they are."  Then you might have winked in a rakish manner.  It was then that I realized I had to have you.

Sure our relationship hit that rough patch when I didn't do a proper muslin. I get very cross with you and needed some time alone, but let's face, it you're too beautiful to throw out of the house.

When I pulled you out of UFO box last month you gave me that saucy grin again and I remembered our torrid love affair.  This time we could get it right....this time we did. Fin*.

*Actual sewing details.
The pattern is Colette peony with some style changes.  Using the A line skirt as a base I drafted a pencil skirt with a back vent.  The front tucks were converted to darts and lengthened a bit. The boat neck was scooped a tad lower on both the front and the back.

I got the idea to line the cotton eyelet with some silk chiffon from a RTW top tried on at Anthropolgie.  This allows the wearer to have more opacity but still retains some of the lovely airiness of the eyelet.  It also feels divine as a lining.  The entire bodice and skirt were lined but the sleeves were left as a single layer of eyelet.  I removed all facings, understitching the lining to neckline instead. (Both fabrics purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics last year)

There was a bit of trouble fitting this dress for two reasons....

Fitting problem 1 - I did not read any PR reviews before starting and did not know the back was rather wide .  My standard 1/2" of additional back width was added as well, making the problem even worse.  On my muslin I did not install a zipper and did not notice the excess fabric in the back.  It was not until a zipper was put into the real dress that the fitting problem was noticed.   At this point I got frustrated and put the dress in the UFO box for about 4 months.

Fitting problem 2 - I lost 12lb in those 4 months so now the dress was too big all over.  Now some semi-large amounts of fabric needed to be removed to size the dress down.

Final fitting changes as follows.
1. Connected the back dart and neck dark to create a princess seam in back.  This allowed me to take out some of the extra back width, about 1/2" here.
2. Took in the side seams an 1" on each side.
3. Also reduced the diameter of the sleeve 1".
4. Took in the CB seam 1" in the bodice tapering down to 3/8" in the skirt.
5. Increased the back dart intake to 1 1/4".
6. Made a 3" sway back adjustment on the bodice.
7. Took about a 3/4" wedge out of the remaining shoulder seam.  The slope of my shoulders did not seem to match the pattern with the boat neck shape changed.

The back still isn't exactly right, but it works in a pinch.  If I was to make this dress again, I'd start over again with the correct size for my current measurements and go from there.

 But for now I'm gonna enjoy my sexy new love, Cobalt