Clémence meets Megan

At the big sewing meet up in London back in May I purchased some rather lovely yellow eyelet fabric which I fell in love with.  At £8 per metre it was the most expensive fabric I bought that day but still good value.  I bought 2 metres and in my excitement to sew it up before the end of MMM I rushed into making it into something it wasn't suited for.  Given my propensity for wearing separates I thought it would be best as a skirt, and would get the most use that way.  However I paid very little attention to the fabric itself, the weight and how it hangs, and just forged on ahead with my plan to sew two items from Tilly's book, Love at First Stitch.  The resultant skirt just didn't suit me, it was too puffy (especially as I lined it) and I knew as soon as I finished it that I would be remaking it.

In the interests of openness and honesty, a really unflattering picture!

So, I did.  Sticking to Tilly's book I chose the Megan dress pattern.  The simple line of this dress suit the weight and drape of this fabric much better.  Unfortunately I am very time poor when it comes to sewing (as are most of us with a hobby!) so I decided (having made a couple of Tilly's patterns before) to jump straight in without making a muslin.  This was possibly a mistake but I decided to risk it rather than wait and not have a new dress in time (for what I am not quite sure!).

Before cutting out the fabric I made some changes to the pattern pieces based on changes I make to almost every pattern I have ever sewed with.  I took out a wedge from the back and a wedge from the front neckline.  I should have checked the length of the bodice as that is another change I often have to make, having quite a low bust.

When it came to sewing up I constantly held the bodice up against myself to check on fit and realised it was going to be a bit short.  I sewed the shoulder and waist seams with minimal seam allowances to compensate but it is a wee bit on the snug side.  The only other change I made was to fully line the dress because of the holes in the fabric.

I cut the bodice and sleeves out of the old skirt pieces and squeezed the new skirt pieces out of the remaining fabric I had left over.  I managed to cut both the skirt and the sleeves on border edge so no hemming - win!  I also cut the lining skirt pieces from the old lining skirt pieces which were already hemmed so really no hemming - double win!

This should have been a very straightforward quick make, the pattern is so well drafted and written with lovely explanations that I could have made this in an evening.  I did make most of it in one evening, all I had left to do was put the lining in but I then decided to take the beautifully inserted but cream zip out and change it for a yellow zip which of course did not go in quite so easily!  The waist is a little out of sync but I am not going to change it now and realistically speaking only another sewer will notice (I hope!).

All in all I am really happy with this dress and I am so pleased I made it.  It would have been such a shame to waste such glorious fabric on a skirt that would never get worn!