Ponti Casual Lady Dress (and no whinge)

It seems like the massive whinge-fest in my last post was quite cathartic as I whipped up this dress the very next day! Take that missing sewjo!  Everything went pretty well with the construction of this garment - yes, unbelievable I know! Ponti is (mostly) very easy to sew with and I particularly like sewing with this soft, cotton-like ponti as it's very stable.

I've made two Casual Lady Dresses before (here and here) in a thinnish polyester elastaine (neither were overly successful).  This ponti one has been directly inspired by Emma from the blog Ernest Flagg who has made more than one Casual Lady Dress from ponti fabric.  I like the shape the firmer fabric gave to the pattern and wanted to try one for myself.  The fabric was bought from fabric.com about a year ago when I thought I'd be pumping out 100s of pairs of Anita Ponti Pants, but alas that never happened as the pattern didn't fit me (until recently when I went to Tessuti for a pants pattern alternation class).

I forwent the recommended facings again in favour for a self-fabric neckband and sleeve band finish - just like Emma has done on hers.  To make both bands I cut a 4cm strip of fabric, ironed it in half (wrong sides together) and attached to the right side of the dress with the overlocker; and top stitched it down using a narrow zigzag stitch. I'd received some advice to attach the neckband "in the flat"... only join one shoulder seam, attach the band and THEN sew the other shoulder seam. Much easier than attaching things in the round. I followed the same process for the sleeves too.

I think the bands are (mostly) OK and they went on with no trouble at all (though I notice now that the neckband didn't quite catch properly in a few places).  Sadly, I didn't pull them tighter when attaching as I didn't want to make the neck and arms too small and the result is a neck and sleeve that is a bit big and gapping.  Next time I'll put them a little in order to reduce some of the gaping.  There is also a bit of excess fabric at the front neck that I could pinch out (if I knew how) but I'm hoping pulling the neckband when attaching might fix this.

Overall I think this dress fits really well. It does bunch up a bit above my toush, but nearly everything does so I'm mostly blind to that. Plus I can't see my butt so it's like I don't even have one.

This dress was a test run for perhaps making this dress for the Canberra and Melbourne Frocktails dinners. I think it's a winner...but now I just need to find two really nice pieces of ponti...which is actually harder than the sewing part!

I actually decided to wear this dress out to dinner at Mr Wong (oooh, fancy) on Easter Sunday...I finished about an hour before I was to leave the house and as I quite like it so I figured I may as well wear it. It was mostly quite comfortable though the excess around the neck was a bit annoying...something to fix next time. My friend thought it looked nice and not handmade at all (I think she left her glasses at home...lol).

Pattern: Casual Lady Dress by Go To Patterns
Size: XXL (I'm think that's equivalent to an Aussie Size 16 - 18).
Modifications: left off facing and finished neck/arms with self fabric bands. Reduced the sleeves and front neck from an XXL to an XL.
Fabric: Ponti from Fabric.com.

"Heart on my sleeve" Casual Lady Dress

Geez, coming up with post titles is HARD work. My fabric has hearts on it, the dress has a little sleeve...and the sleeves on this dress are literally causing me pain (why so tight little sleeves)...hence "heart on my sleeves". It's a leap but let's go there shall we?

After the success (sort of) of my first Casual Lady Dress I was keen to whip up another one ASAP. I rushed out to Spotlight that very day and found a GORGEOUS heart print Polyester Elastane.  Better still it was on sale and I bought almost all of what was left on the roll.

When I was cutting out my first Casual Lady Dress (aka the Giant Sperm Dress) the fabric moved somewhat so I ended up with one WAY too big sleeve and one kinda normal sleeve. Of course in hindsight this means that I didn't actually know what the sleeves were meant to be like on this dress. On top of that for some CRAZY reason this time around I sewed the seam allowance joining the front and back to together at 5/8" rather than the recommended 3/8'...ergo, the sleeves they are TOO small. I think I was trying to make sure that the clear elastic on the shoulders fell well within the seam allowance...because clearly my skin would melt if the elastic touched it...or something.

Apart from the Sleeves of Torture I REALLY like this dress. I think the fabric is tres cute and the style really suits me. The dress is "curve skimming" without being too tight; and is loose without being sack-like. It's really simple to sew.

I think the dress looks quite good from the back possibly helped by how drapey the fabric is. There is a bit of pooling in the small of my back where the fabric hits my derrière but I'm OK with that. I like a looser fit around my torso...it hides a multiple of "squishy bits".

On this make I decided to leave off the facing altogether and use a light pink fold-over elastic (FOE) to finish the neck and "arm hems"...cos I'm lazing and I also wasn't super keen on the facings last time.  Attaching the FOE was, for some annoying reason, much more difficult than my last go at this dress. On top of that when I released the sleeves were too tight (especially on my right arm) I tried to unpick the FOE in order to reapply it. That was NOT fun as I'd been sewing it on with quite a small stitch length. Gah. I'm also not loving the way the neckline is sitting - it looks mega homemade to me...and not in a good "I'm a sewing genius kinda way".

The fabric is quite thin and I agonized for DAYS over whether or not to line the dress (not that I know how to but I would've muddled through by making another dress from lining and just treating the lining/dress as one piece). Over the October long weekend I went to Canberra and met up with some of the Canberra Spoolettes...fabric sample in tow. I was told in no uncertain terms that the dress DOES NOT NEED LINING. Ok then...but I might pack a slip in my handbag as I feel the dress may be *just* a bit too see-through when the light hits it in the wrong way.

The hem is done using a zig-zag stich as my machine eats twin-needles for breakfast. I used a bit of that iron-on stay tape stuff to get the hem nice and even, although I cheated and over locked it on to the fabric first before turning it under to iron on which is less faffing all round really.

Update:  sooo, since drafting this post I wore the dress for an ENTIRE day! Gasp! First I lay around on the couch watching Project Runway and Grey's Anatomy whilst eating toast and oranges. Later in the day I drove the car over to Spotlight in Castle Hill where I found MORE of this fabric for a do-over. Note to self: when shopping for a particular fabric probably best NOT to wear a dress made of said fabric as you will attract much too much attention in the fabric store (though this did garner me a few nice comments on my dress...my first even unsolicited comments on a me-made garment).

Whilst the arms were tight, they weren't TOO bad...bearable if I had my mind on other things. The arms didn't prevent me from stuffing food into my face or driving the car. And as it was a really really hot day I couldn't have cared less if the fabric was see-through or not! So semi-win.

Pattern: Casual Lady Dress by Go To Patterns
Size: XXL (I'm think that's equivalent to an Aussie Size 16 - 18).
Modificaitons: left off facing and finished neck/arms with fold-over elastic. Hem has been lengthened but about 5cm.
Fabric: Polyester Elastane from Spotlight - purchased 2.1m and used most of it.
Notions: Fold-over elastic from Tessuti in Surry Hills - purchased 2m and used most of it.
Changes for next time: revert back to a neck-facing; increase size of arm-hole to less torturous proportions. 

The giant sperm Casual Lady Dress

As much as I am (mostly) enjoying  ewing up my multitude of Coco dresses I don't want to become a one trick pony. I think sewing the same pattern over and over and over again would be tres dull.  So, I'm always on the hunt for something else to sink my sewing needle in to that is my style, easy to sew and will fit. Not any easy task let me tell you.


Somehow during a massive Google-searching-session I stumbled across the pattern for The Casual Lady Dress. I am a "casual lady" am I not (though I am a lady on a full-time basis, I'm just casual about it...you know)? And I love me a shift dress. The hunt for a new pattern is (temporarily) over!

The pattern is fairly simple to put together.  It's just a front and + back pattern piece, plus a front + back neck facing. Simples. I did my usual trick of just making the largest size available and it fit...yay!

The pattern calls for a medium weight knit so I decided to hack into this fabric that I bought from...Tessuti! This is actually the very first piece of fabric that I EVER bought, which is kinda weird as it's a pretty slinky knit so not exactly beginner material. I obviously had delusions of sewing grandeur when I first started sewing.  This fabric is also quite sheer and I always questioned what I would make with it...so I'm kinda OK with cutting into it for a practice dress (until I fluffed up the dress that is and now I have a WORLD of regret)!  Also, what IS the print on this pattern? The more I look at it the more it looks like weird, giant sperm. My husband thinks it looks like some sort of curled up dragon. Hmmm...

Like I said the dress is VERY simple to sew, but I COULD not turn the "arm hems" under as instructed without the "arm hem" (is there a proper term for "arm hem") being all bubbly and wonky. Does anybody even know what I'm talking about when I say "arm hem"?

I thought I'd use my rolled hem foot to create a lazy, but easy finish but it was just too loose and messy. And then in the middle of the night I woke up and thought I could use fold-over elastic to finish the arms nice and neatly. It worked SO well however my sleeves were uneven due to the fabric shifting during cutting. Because I cannot leave well enough alone I kept trying to even up the armholes and I now I have a a dress that I can BARELY fit my arms in to. Stoopid stoopid Melanie.

I loved the use of the facings to finish the neckline, but I wonder why the facing stops half way down the armholes and doesn't continue down to the bottom of the arm hole? I'm wondering if I would've had more success turning the "arm hems" under if the facing ran the whole length of the arm? Should I extend the facings people, or get rid of them altogether and use fold over elastic on the neckline too?

So here is my giant sperm dress with the two tight arm holes - ta da!

The dress fits REALLY well (apart from the arm holes that are cutting off the circulation to my upper limbs). I will definitely be making it again and I think I will use the fold-over elastic technique to finish the arms.

Is it lazy that I'm always looking for the easiest way to get the neatest finish? What's the most questionable print on a fabric you've ever bought?