Another day, another Party Peplum Dress

I know I know, it's ANOTHER Party Peplum dress. But to be fair out of ALL the iterations I've made this is only one of two that is wearable...because it fits (sort of). Interestingly though, even though I've made about ten Party Peplum's thus far the first version made out of daisy print quilting cotton is my favourite and fits best. Odd.

I've made SO many changes to this pattern that I can't even remember what I've done anymore.

For my last version I thought I'd size down all over (from an XXL to an XL), but alas the dress, she was too small! This time I've kept the smaller size under the arms (probably a smidge smaller than an XL) and brought the bodice out to an XXL by the time it hits the waist. I've cut a smaller size for the armhole...not to make it smaller, but it make it BIGGER. I figure more armhole = fits bigger arms. I probably lowered the armhole a bit too...who can remember?  I also attempted to change the bust darts....apparently the tip of the dart isn't suppose to sit ON your nipple, but it should kinda sit under your bust (is that right?). Now the darts kinda sit to the side of my bust...like they are pointing to two googly eyes.  Anyway, moving on...

I'm not sure this dress is 100% comfortable as I'm truly not a fan of woven garments...so restrictive unlike my beloved knits. BUT I donned it the very first day it was finished to wear to a concert that was being held at the historic Old Parramatta Gaol near our house (Tex Perkins singing Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Album FYI).  I figured if I didn't wear it ASAP it might never get worn. It was hotter than the surface of the sun that night so I was pretty hot in this dress as there is A LOT of fabric...and it's probably not cotton...it's a mystery fabric from My Hung in Parramatta bought AGES ago!

I wore the dress with my brand new Funkis clogs (that I LOVE even they pain me after an hour of wear and whose purchase I totally blame on Dolly Clacket who is the Clog Queen of the Internets) and my new(ish) Marimekko clutch that I LOVE so much (I blame this purchase on Marimekko fangirl Alex). I agonized about both these purchases...but I've already used both of them SO much so for cost per wear they are practically freebies.

I think I have one more Party Peplum in me.  I want to make a version with a gathered skirt and POCKETS!

When best laid plans go belly up!

A few Saturdays ago a handful of the Sydney Spoolettes got together for a sewing day at a community hall in Erskinville (thanks to Bohdana for arranging this)!

For the day I decided to whip up my dress for our upcoming Frocktails shindig that is happening in mid-September. Sadly my dress-making skills, or patience, haven't progressed much beyond the April Rhodes Party Peplum Dress I was sewing this time last year. I reckon I could insert a lap-zipped if push came to shove, but whenever I read about how to install a lining my brain just shuts down.

Never fear, the Party Peplum Dress is here!

I'd bought two fabrics from Spotlight...both on sale, and both nice enough I think to elevate a basic dress into something a tiny bit more special. Of course the night before the sewing day I was cutting out my fabrics only to realize I didn't have enough fabric to make either of the dresses. GAH! Both of the fabrics were quite narrow (is ALL fabric at Spotlight narrow - is that there thing I wonder?) and I just hadn't bought enough length to compensate for the lack of width.

Hmmm...Houston we have a (sewing day) problem!

Spoiler alert: luckily when I RACED into Spotlight the following morning they had *just* enough fabric left on both bolts for me to make my dresses so I could finish cutting out my dresses - I just couldn't use it for the sewing day as they'd not be pre-wahsed or dried.

I can now totally see the value of having a "fabric stash", albeit a small one. As I dug around in my fabric cupboard I found some cotton bought from My Hung in Parramatta for about $6.60/meter. There was AMPLE for a Party Peplum...and it hindsight it was best to make this dress up again as a toile as I was finally make it in a size smaller than my usual XXL that always turns out too big.

Despite turning up to the sewing day about 2 hours late, and basically talking and eating biscuits for the WHOLE day, I manged to pretty much finish the dress...I just had to do the hem one I go home.

I'm glad I made up a toile as, whilst the dress fits in the smaller size, I need some more room under the arms, and the bust darts need to be lowered. AND the best part? As this fabric was so inexpensive I popped up the road to buy more of it to make up the dress again as I think this is going to make a really cute summer dress.

My photographer/husband is currently away in Europe (tough life for some) so I'm afraid this is the only photo I have of the dress on my body.

One of these I'm going to have the PERFECT Party Peplum Dress...I will!

Until next time...

Thank you for a frightening, confusing, strange and dangerous time. What more could a girl ask for?

This is my second dress for the #sewDollyClackett challenge. I've gone ahead and used my lovely palm tree fabric I bought in Tokyo as I figure an Irish lass like Miss Clackett, who's living in grey old England, must long for a bit of sunshine and palm trees every now and then.

You know what? I feel like I am making the same dress over and over and over again. A little tweaking on each version should, by all rights, be making it perfect. But instead it's making me totally CRAZY!

Yes folks this is my 823rd Party Peplum Dress by April Rhodes. And yes, like the last one...and the one before it...and the one before that, it still bunches up a bit on my butt. I'm finally going to bite the bullet and go full-on with my FBA (Full Butt Adjustment) and shorten the bodice to the smallest size available, XS. So in the space of 4 dresses I've gone from XXL to XS. Makes sense. Or not?

Whilst I'm not a small person I have a very bad habit of thinking that I am bigger than I actually am...bloggers in the rear-view mirror may appear larger than the actually are. I always end up buying clothes that are just too big and not all that well fitted (and I feel like a frump in them)...and now I'm making them too big as well. Le sigh. I think I'm afraid to make this dress in a size smaller than what I think I should wear...in case it doesn't fit and all that effort (and fabric) is for nothing.

Even after all this self-psychological analysis aside it's pretty obvious that this dress is WAY too big. Especially as I've lost 6kgs and 2" off my waist since I first started sewing last year. Clearly...I can downsize.

If you ever see me out and about in the dress do not flip up my hem for a look at the seams as I did some REALLY dodgy "taking in at the seams" after I'd fully completed the dress. The dress is smaller now, and fits better, but it's also a total dogs breakfast on the inside. Unlike people though, it's not really what's on the inside that counts with dresses (well, that's what I'm telling myself anyway). It looks "ok" from the outside, and still gives good twirl.

I think I'm going to make ONE more version of this dress, in the next size down and I'm feeling well and truly ready to move onto something else...perhaps something with a zipper. I have the Colette Truffle Dress pattern at home so I might have a go at that...not sure if my brain can work out the lining component of that or not, but we'll cross the bridge when we come to it.

The universe may not always play fair, but at least it's got a hell of a sense of humor (or #sewingDollyClackett)

I wasn't initially going to join the #sewingDollyClackett shenanigans, which has been started to celebrate the impending nuptials of sewist and blogger extraordinaire, Roisin (aka Dolly Clackett). As much as I love her style (those dresses, those fabrics!) the "fit and flare" shape just does not suit my body.  As a long-time food blogger I need a little (ok a lot) of room in my clothes to accommodate what we food bloggers call "our food babies".

But then I thought if Dolly Clackett was...fatter (or a food blogger) she'd totally go for the April Rhodes Party Peplum Dress. It's a style that emulates the "fit and flare" dress, but with a bit more room. Plus, there's no way I'm at the stage yet of going anywhere near zippers, lining or pockets. As Dolly would say, "fuck that"!

So here we have my Dolly Clackett-ish dress....this is actually my fourth attempt at the Party Peplum Dress, but only the second one that is a keeper. Like the first "keeper" it still gives Good Twirl!

From the denim dress disaster I shortened the bodice from an XXL to a S in what I am terming an FBA (full butt adjustment). This means that the bodice is no longer bunching up on my caboose and sits much better (though I still think the back bodice could be a little shorter). I actually did a toil of this before I cut into this lovely fabric...a first for impatient me. After wearing this dress for a day it's a little big...I might try and go down a size, or sew large side seams next time around. In the meantime I've run this in a little at the sides so it's not quite so...sack like.

The fabric is a cotton that I nabbed from the fabric swap at our first Sydney Spoolettes meet up. It was a dream to sew with - really sturdy and no slipping or sliding around.  I wore the dress out to a lunch a few weekends ago and on the way home popped into The Fabric Store. They recognized the fabric and said it was a DKNY Cotton. SCORE!

So there you have it. Happy impending nuptials Roisin and Nick. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness...and pretty dresses (well, not so much for Nick, but you know what I mean).

Tie-dyed denim Peplum Party Dress #2

After what I considered a pretty successful effort with my first #partyPeplumDress I was as keen as mustard to get going with my second version of this dress.

During our recent trip to Melbourne I found this great Tie Dyed "denim" with floral from Lincraft of all places. I could immediately picture this as a #partyPeplumDress so I snapped it up. I had a $10 voucher so that eased the pain of the $20/meter price tag (WHY is Lincraft so expensive I ask you when most of their stores are a total schmozzle)?

The first thing I did to the pattern, with the help (again) of The Boy, was to make sure the skirt was the same length the whole way around (23 inches) rather than dipping "up" at the sides into the peplum (19 inches). Dave measured and I marked it out on the pattern (I find I need three hands with most sewing tasks so he comes in helpful).

I also then traced a second skirt pattern so I could cut the front and back at the same time (and I'm making the front and back skirt are the same length the whole way around as I'm not into the "high-low look"). And, for the record cutting on our tiled floor = NOT fun!

Things started off pretty smoothly with my sewing. I'm getting fairly good at French Seams, but I always really have to think about what goes together first...wrong sides or right sides? At this stage of the game I was feeling pretty darn confident in my ability to punch at this dress toot sweet! Pride becomes before a fall as they say...

And then I tried the dress on. Oh dear!

Despite finding the arms a bit tight in my Daisy #partyPeplumDress I did nothing to fix the problem for my second go around with this pattern. I think I kinda forgot about it to be honest. I wouldn't say the arm openings are "restrictive" but they seem to be wider than they need to be so they cut into the front of my arms.

So I did what any clueless beginner would do....I hacked into the dress with scissors until I thought it felt...OK. I also hacked into the dress until the arms were no longer even on both sides. Whoops! I actually think my shoulders are uneven...so whilst things looked OK whilst I was cutting it became clear when I put them on that the bodice was now wonky.

But look how nice my pink bias binding looks on the arm holes...so pretty!

Another problem I noticed with the Daisy Dress was that the bodice was a tad too long at the back for me. I have quite a large caboose and my big butt stopped the bodice from hanging nicely into the skirt. Ergo the fabric all bunched up and was quite "puffy" at the back.  This "big butt bunching" seemed to be more of a problem on this version of the dress...I've got NO idea what going on here (has my bum grown)?

Anyway...I knew I had to shorten the back piece of the bodice so it no longer hit me on the derrière.  Because I'm lazy I tried to do this whilst the skirt was still attached to the bodice...as you'll see by my THREE rows of stitching. In theory I know what needs to happen to fix this but I just cannot be bothered to unpick the whole dress to fix its bunchy back.

And that my friends is the end of this story about what was to be a lovely floral tie-dyed denim dress - the answer to all my summer dress woes.  Now it's just hanging on my bedroom door...accusing me of being a terrible seamstress and it's right. But I'm just a beginner so it's all a learning experience.

I'm not sure what to do with this dress now? Throw it out?

In case you're wondering I AM going to make this dress again. I raced up to Lincraft right after this fiasco to see if they had more of this fabric and they did. I bought 2.5 meters and once I make up a 'muslin' of this dress I'll be ready (I hope) to chop into this fabric. I LOVE this fabric and I was SO sad when I knew I botched the dress and now I feel like there's hope again.

On my next attempt I will be:

• Reducing the length of the front + back bodice from an XXL to a S - which may seem drastic but it's only 2cms and I think that's a good start. I'm not sure what to do with the vertical darts though - do I use the Size S now?
• Reducing the arm hole from an XXL to an XL - which makes it 1cm smaller on the side.
• Praying to the sewing Gods that everything goes according to plan.

Wish me luck!

Out + about with my Daisy Print "Party Peplum Dress"

So even though I am pretty happy with my Daisy Print "Party Peplum Dress I was a bit apprehensive about wearing it out of the house. I am so proud of this make (I finished something and it kinda fits!) but wearing it scares the bejesus out of me!

SO. MANY. ANXIETIES: 

• Would it be comfortable? 
• Would it simply fall apart when I was out in public because of my novice sewing skills?  
• Should I pack a spare dress in my handbag in case of a wardrobe malfunction (yes, I really thought this)?
• Would people think I was wearing something tacked together by a 5 year old? 

I'm pleased to report I wore this on my second last day of Christmas holidays for a day of shopping and eating. Nothing bad happened and I even got a compliment from the lovely ladies at The Fabric Cave who loved my dress and thought it looked pretty well made! Win.

I've also worn it for a second time out to brunch...nothing bad happened!

Wearing it all day though did highlight some issues - namely I find it a bit tight around the arm holes/bust. I also think as the bodice is too long and as my butt is quite big it makes the back bodice "bunch up" a bit. My butt is stopping the bodice hanging to its full length. And the skirt is not an even length the whole way around - going "up" at the sides (which makes sense given that's the way the peplum-ness of it should happen).

So maybe this is a semi-win after all?

Daisy Print "Party Peplum Dress"

As soon as I saw the newly released Party Peplum Dress by April Rhodes I KNEW this was a pattern for me. I love the style of this dress! LOVE it! I wear a lot of sleeveless dresses and I like the "skater" type silhouette though this is a style I find difficult to buy in-store as the fit is never quite right for me.  Lucky for me the sizing on this pattern went up to my size *happy dance*!

I'm super proud of this make and I LOVE it! It's hanging on a hook in my room and I go in all the time to look at it and feel the fabric. Is that weird? After having so many sewing misses it really feels great to make something entirely on my own, that a) fits OK b) was fairly easy to sew and c) that I'd wear out of the house! I cannot recommend this pattern more highly for new sewists.

And, possibly the best thing about this dress is that it gives good twirl as it has a half circle skirt. See...

It wasn't all sunshine and lollipops though. Once I'd stitched the dress together enough to try on I popped it on and the underarms were WAY too big. It's becoming obvious that my bust is a size smaller than my waist/hips.  I'm really chuffed that my husband was able to pin the dress whilst it was on me and we took in the underarms by 2.5cm on each side. I tapered it down so that the dress was still the original size at the waist.

The dress fits much better under the arms now, but it's not perfect. I always seem to find armholes really tight (especially under my right arm as I have shoulder 'issues') even when the armhole isn't tight at all.

If I knew how I'd also put a couple of darts in the back of the bodice as it's a bit...bunchy, but sadly that is beyond my skill level.  The bodice is also quite "roomy" at the side, but if I took it in anymore I'd probably not be able to wriggle into it (it has no zipper or other opening, so you just slip it in over your head).  I've also made this dress out of quilting cotton and I can see what people people when the say this type of fabric is quite stiff. The skirt does stick out quite a lot, but I can live with it as I think it looks cute.

The neck and arm holes are finished with bias binding. I love this - it's so easy and looks so tidy. I have bought myself a bias binding maker and at some stage I'll make my own bias binding...though it does look really REALLY labour intensive!

As well as the bias binding the pattern called for a french seam for the shoulders. I'm pleased to say that I accomplished this will no drama at all *fist pump*!  I'm pretty pleased with how the inside of this dress looks. Everything is very neat and tidy, and although I don't yet have an overlocker I think the zigzag on the seams looks pretty tidy and it certainly does the job to stop the edges fraying.

Now onto the hem...talk about STRESSFUL! The pattern called for a hem that was folded over twice and then stitched. I tried this, but could not get the hem the same width the whole way round so I had to think of something else (I had the same trouble with my Laurel). My machine has a rolled-hem foot so I decided to give that a whirl. I thought it would be super quick and easy. FAIL! I don't even want to talk about how messy and awkward this was for me (and how much unpicking I had to do).

In the end I decided just to use bias binding to finish the hem and I have to say that, although it took 4 meters of binding, it was super easy and so tidy. I LOVE bias binding. I'm not sure why I'd ever not use this method for a hem?

Something I do need to fix next time around is the hem length. Because I didn't want the skirt to be "high-low" and reveal my pudgy knees too much I just sewed together two of the back pattern pieces. This is fine BUT the dress still scoops up at the sides made it look a bit wonky. The dress is 23" in the middle and then only 19" at the sides....something I didn't even think about as being an issue until I put it on. Derp.