This dress is made using pattern no. 5 from the Japanese sewing book drape drape. I've made two other dresses from this book (No. 4 and No. 6). This was the most difficult, mostly due to some big mistakes on my part. I've probably been working on this dress for about a year. I'm so glad that it is FINALLY finished.
I decided to make a few adjustments to the pattern. First, I raised the v-back to make it less revealing. I cut all the pieces and decided that the front bodice was not big enough. I paper pieced, redrafted and recut.
Construction of the bodice was going fine until I got to the skirt. I spent a few hours trying to figure out how to attach the skirt to the bodice and finally figured out that I had cut 1 skirt piece but needed 2. And I did not have enough extra fabric to cut another. I went back to Michael Levine thinking maybe I could buy more. And I did find a knit magenta fabric. I bought 3 yards, brought it home, washed it. And it was slightly thicker than the original.
So, I was stuck. Months went by. One day, I went to the Michael Levine bulk store and found magenta knit fabric. It looked the same and felt the same, so of course I bought it. And miracle of miracles it was the same as my original fabric! I cut the second piece of the skirt and proceeded piecing the dress together.
I went so far as to insert the zipper. All I had left to do was hem it. I tried on the dress and the bodice was now too big. I let more months go by in despair. Finally, I picked it up again, figured out what adjustments were needed and redrafted the bodice again. I eliminated the overlap at the center front in favor of a center front seam. I had just enough fabric to cut a new bodice and lining. This time, I added interfacing to the seams on the lining. I removed the old one and put in the bodice. The last step was the hem and I was finally done. Throughout the process, I stitched the seams with a piece of tissue paper underneath to help feed the fabric under the presser foot. I used scrap tissue from other patterns and gently tore it away after stitching.
Overall, I'm pleased with the end result but mostly glad to finally be done.
