Sunday, March 6, 2011

Passport bliss

My passport dress is all finished! I L*O*V*E it, and I can't wait for warm weather to wear it, although I may try it out with some tights and a sweater soonish. This is Simplicity 2209, also known as the Sew Lisette Passport Dress.

Yesterday's post showed my bodice alterations, but it was too dark in the evening to get a picture of my muslin.

Not that it's any brighter today, but here is the muslin I'd made. One side has a dart pinned out for a SBA, the right side is unaltered. Unfortunately, the picture is not super in focus, so you may not see any difference.
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When I made the actual dress, I ended up varying from the pattern and making several changes. I was a little wary of all the changes at first, because the instructions for this dress were excellent, and who am I to know how to properly sew a dress. My back alteration, though, made for a curved back seam so I could no longer cut the back bodice on the fold as in the original. At that point I figured I'd just do things my own way.

That led to making my own all-in-one neck and armhole facing, which let me use my favorite through-the-shoulder-seams sewing method. I learned that trick from Marji's old pattern review post on sewing a sleeveless dress lining.

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Here's a view of the inside of the bodice front of the front angled darts and how they attach to the skirt:

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I used an invisible zipper in the back. Here are my three necessities for invisible zipper insertion.... fusible interfacing in the seam allowance, a 3/8th inch seam allowance, and hand tacking the zipper in place.

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I stitched the back facing down against the zipper to neaten the inside:

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The hem is double folded and hand sewn down so that I could ease in the fullness.

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So here is a headless shot of me in it. I unfortunately didn't quite manage the flower placement perfectly on the bodice. Ooops. And you can't really see the bodice darts with the busy print.

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Another change I made was to put in a pocket in the right side seam. I envisioned wearing this dress to work, and I always want a pocket to hold chapstick or a few dollars for lunch or whatever. Excuse the silly face here... I always feel funny smiling for the camera when there's no one behind it. ;)

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Here's the back, in need of a hook and eye above the zipper:

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It came together really nicely and was a dream to sew up. There will definitely be more versions of this dress this summer, since it's nicely fitting without being too tight or too baggy. Especially with the pocket addition. ;)

16 comments:

Carol said...

Love the print, love the colour. You look great!

KC said...

Beautiful dress and great fit!

Cindy said...

The dress turned out beautiful! I can't wait until my pattern arrives to try it out for myself.

snow said...

When I first saw this pattern I passed it by. I love the way the dress looks on you and I will definitely buy this pattern. Your review of this pattern really helped!

Liesl Gibson said...

I love it! Very glad it worked out. It looks wonderful on you.

Liesl Gibson said...

I love it! It looks great on you, and I'm very glad you were happy with the pattern

ACorgiHouse said...

Perfect fit, I'd do it your way all the time! BTW, I'm in Seattle, so I drank a coffee in your honor. :) K

Lisette M said...

You made one of my patterns!;-) It is super cute on you!

Uta said...

Very pretty! I love the shape and colors on you, and the print is so gorgeous!

Joy said...

Cute, cute dress! It's a fun style yet not so unique that you can't make up several in other fabrics.

Cathe said...

Adorable! I'm so inspired! Thank you for sharing!

Marie-Chrisitne said...

Adorable dress! Looks like it'll be cool too, which isn't necessarily a good thing right away :-). And don't worry about the flower placement, it's fine as long as it's not double misplacement..

Rachel said...

Thank you for sharing! I am looking forward to making this dress too.

SEWN said...

oooh, Liesl left a comment. How exciting! I love your dress. Your fabric choice is inspired. :)

Melanie said...

I love the idea of adding pockets. The cut of the dress is quite flattering. Nicely done!

lsaspacey said...

Wow, that is gorgeous! Great print and you did a great job with it! That is a very flattering shape and hem length for you. Way to go!