New Dress Attempt

I wanted to use fabric I had purchased from Patterns for Pirates to make the Gather Round dress from the pattern company. This will be a new dress pattern for me. It looked like it would be a cute summer dress. Well what do they say about the best laid plans?

Since it was my first try with a new pattern I decided I wanted to use the "good" fabric on my second attempt. In my collection I found a sweet purple polka dotted DBP for pattern fitting. I had 2 yards and it was just enough to make the bodice and the straight skirt with no extra tiers along with sleeves of course.

The pattern has a new to me gathered neckline that I wanted to try. The pattern comes with a video for the tricky parts. The advice was to iron and then iron again to make it lay the way it should.

The video was very helpful - my gathered neckline was looking very nice. I do not have an abnormally large head but when I went to test fit I could do not get my head through the hole - too small. I was eventually able with some adjusting to get my head through the hole. Sometimes when sewing as in life you have to stop and think for a minute. Having a too tight neckline did not seem like a great idea. Out came the seam ripper and the gathered collar was gone. The lining piece was sewn and the neckline just became a simple crewneck.

I am not sure why some DBP seems to like to stick to itself. Other times it behaves itself quite well. This fabric which I purchased over a year ago at least from Olga's Fabrics was the sticky kind. I think the poor neckline has also lost some of its crispness. I learned from the sew and that is always a silver lining. I wore it to church and received loads of compliments on it. You are always hardest on yourself as a maker - others do not see the imperfections.