Here We Are Complete Strangers and I'm Flashing You My Knickers

Okay, so maybe a full slip isn't the same as underpants. In fact, I've seen women in dresses that covered less than this slip, but it still feels like I'm showing off my underwear. I made this slip to go under the wrap dress that I talked about previously. The fabric that I used for that dress was very lightweight and loosely woven, and I always worry about wraps shifting so a slip was basically a necessity.

The fabric is a polyester knit. Normally I would avoid poly fabrics like the plague, but this one was the only one that was the right color, and it actually feels surprisingly good against my skin. Normally polyester makes me sweat, but this one is okay. 

The pattern is Butterick 6031. I love the Patterns by Gertie. On her blog, Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing, she does a sew along of this slip and it was very helpful. I skipped doing the lace around the top, under the bust, and along the hem, although I did still use lace for the straps. I did use picot elastic along the top so that there was still something to give it a little structure.

The pattern actually has instructions for doing adjustable straps, like on a bra. I made them that way the first time, but using the measurements as called for in the pattern left them inches too short. By the time I got around to redoing the straps so that the slip lay correctly I was feeling impatient so I just cut the lace to the right length for me and sewed it on. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by not having adjustable straps. 

The other thing to note with this pattern is that you really do need to follow their instructions for determining your cup size. In a normal bra I'm a DD, but with this pattern I used the pattern pieces for a C cup and it fits perfectly, so don't assume that you can skip that step and just use your normal cup size (and oh boy does it feel like oversharing to say that, but I think it's important to know).

Because the fabric is a knit (and I was being lazy) I didn't bother to hem the bottom. I've got enough lace left from the straps that I might add it, but then again, probably not. I don't really like lace on my slips because although it looks beautiful it can cause the fabric of whatever I'm wearing over the slip to catch and stick, thus defeating the purpose of most slips. 

Someday I would love to make another of these with all the lace because I do think it looks pretty. When I do that though I will probably being making it with intent to wear as pajamas. This slip is way super comfy and I could happily sleep in it. 

Oh, and if you know what I quoted for the title you get extra special geek points. :)

Linen Wrap Dress

Wow, it feels like it has been ages since I had time to write anything. I've been dealing with a crazy time-consuming project at work, which means I haven't been home during daylight hours for a while. I live in a basement so taking pictures is difficult at best and downright impossible if the sun has already gone down.

One of my recent projects was to make a white curtain in order to facilitate picture taking, but my boyfriend has not found the time to hang it for me yet, so I've been trying to make due.

Last Sunday I wore my wrap dress and had him take a few pictures of me while we hung around downtown waiting for my mom to get off the ferry.

I am so pleased with the way this dress turned out. The fabric was this linen/cotton mix from JoAnn's. With a coupon, it was a reasonable price. The fabric was kind of tricky to sew with because it was kind of "slippery" feeling. If you just touched the fabric you would never say slippery, if anything it has a kind of pleasantly rough textured, but when actually trying to sew with it the fabric just wanted to slip and slid all over the place. 

The fabric also wanted to fray pretty badly. Every seam is fully finished (flat fell on the top like I talked about in this post, french seams along the sides and waist, slip stitched neckline, rolled hem on the sleeves and a herringbone stitch hem). It was a great challenge to work with and I loved every second of it. I would totally work with this fabric again. 

(I'm giving some guys stink eye for trying to walk into my picture)

That being said, I don't think I will use this pattern again (Butterick 5030). Although it fits well enough, I am not completely happy with the neckline. I actually had to safety pin it shut because the line of the dress was such that I would have been flashing a lot of boob if I had let it fall where it wanted to. Maybe if I was smaller in the chest it would look better, but I'm not and it's only mediocre. I also would have liked a little more fullness in the skirt. My last issue was that I had to wear heels (and let me tell you, after a full day of walking around Seattle my feet were killing me, I was limping and whimpering a little bit trying to get back to my car) in order to get the line of the dress to fall correctly. I tried it on with ballet flats, but it just made my legs look short. If the dress was shorter so that it fell at or above my knees instead of below them I probably would have looked more balanced in flats.

All in all, I like the dress. I will totally wear it again. I like the forgiving nature of the wrap and I love the fabric. I just need to make a purse to go with it and I will call this a great outfit. Next couple of posts will be about the slip I made to go under the dress and the sweater. 

Oh, and I'm sure it goes without saying, but I am in no way associated with JoAnn's or with Butterick.