A Long-Gestating Sewing Project

Once upon a time, several years ago, in a department store far, far away... I spied a black shirt dress. I loved the style, the color, the fabric... everything except the fact that it was about 12 inches too short.  And, because I am not one to just put up with that, I snapped a picture, hung it back up on the rack, and made a mental note to make one someday just like it that fit me properly.

And a couple months ago, that project, which I hinted about all last semester, finally came to fruition!

(Photo credits go to my fantastic sister, Danielle)

I highly recommend the pattern that I used, Simplicity 8014! It was a moderately difficult build; not too confusing, just rather time consuming. I made it one size smaller than the envelope suggested, and it fit perfectly without any other modifications or alterations. I'm considering making a second dress from the pattern, perhaps with the mandarin collar and shorter sleeves, out of a more summer-y fabric? We'll see. :)

As for the fabric I used, the black "peach skin" polyester I got from Joann is probably the most comfortable and beautiful fabric I've ever worn.  It literally feels like peach skin, and flows like a nice quality silk.  Literally amazing... buuuut kinda a pain to work with, as with pretty much any silky-style fabric. :P

Oh, and with this project, I mastered buttonholes! Good thing, too, since I had to make something like twenty for this dress... ;D  My oldie sewing machine doesn't have the cool buttonhole setting like some of the newer models, but I figured out how to do them manually easily enough.  It was actually kind of fun, now that I think of it... ;)

So, that's the project I worked on all Spring semester long, finally completed! I hope you all are enjoying your summer (I am!) -- and happy almost August! ^_^