The Anniversary Dress

Last year on May 18th I wore this:

Yes, I made it.  Yes, I loved it.  Yes, I lost my mind with all that hand beading.  There's a bit more on it here.

Well, for our anniversary I figured it was only fitting to make a dress . . . ya know, since it is Me Made May and I did make my own wedding gown.  So, without further ado, I took to making Vogue V8727.  Version B, to be precise.  The fabric was 15.99 a yard, making this dress pretty pricey.  I went into JoAnn's to get thread and elastic, and lost my mind enough to buy this stuff.  Well,  it is a nice dress, with a sweet fit now that I altered it.  

I got Mr. Fairytale to take a picture from the stoop, and I promptly posted it.  I'm on the fence a bit with the dress. . . why, so many asked from otherwise rave reviews.  Well, I think it is that I'm not used to wearing such a full skirt and that I am a little over the dress. 

I made a test bodice, it fit.  Then, when I made the dress a month or so later, it was too big.  As in enough that I looked like a monkey with pose-able thumbs had made my clothes until I fixed it.  

Check out that sag and gape.  

With the pins in there to take it in.  In the foreground those are our brand new, new to us AC units!  Well, they are secondhand, as the landlord's brother remodels buildings and he had them, and the super lovely landlord asked if we wanted some.  Yes, yes, we did! So, no more dying, and melting, and baking in the two weeks of July that is unbearable in this city.  So much so that anyone with half a brain, doesn't have summer classes, and has money flees the concrete jungle as your flip flops will melt on the sidewalks from Madison Ave in Manhattan to Astoria Blvd in Queens.  Okay, so maybe it isn't that bad . . . but it is close!

Like my do-rag (Me Made) and my running pants (not Me Made, but if someone knows of a good pattern and or fabric . . . LET ME KNOW!)?

Mr. Fairytale does not enjoy the taking of my photos . . . so we have some shady ones.  On the shopping list: one tripod for my sweet SLR.  I really do take bitchin' photos, on occasion I sell them.  

See that shitty fit? That is why there was taking in of the seams.  Yes, that's Mr. Fairytale in the cut out.  

So overall, I took in the sides--an inch on each--and I switched the zipper to an invisible  and I didn't want stitch lines down my back.  For the hem--which took me two hours, nearly as long as I took to sew the ENTIRE dress--I did an 1/4 inch end all be all hem.  Why? I didn't want to sew in nearly five yards of horsehair braid to get a little flounce  and the weight of this hem did the trick.  it gives it just enough that the hem doesn't cling to my legs and hang there like a dying fish.  You do need to hang the dress for 24 hours to get the bias out before hemming, I hung mine for 48 hours (on the back of a kitchen chair).  

 

I wanted a shot with the flower petals . . . Instead, it looks like I'm dropping a trot.  Oh, well.  You can laugh at me and see how full that skirt is.

My missing hand is in the pocket . . . 

And the two of us, post dinner and pre me having to be up in less than five hours for graduation duties.  We ran into a neighbor in the park and she snapped us.  Didn't we look snappy?

Next up, my Kelly Skirt in grey linen and some Thurlow shorts.  Well, and all the other work I have too.