Sunday 18 January 2015

Completed: Simplicity 2442

Finally, a finished garment made entirely in 2015! This is my take on Simplicity 2442.
Simplicity 2442 to match my shoes

We were invited by John's aunt to her 60th Birthday party in a fancy country club near Howwood, Renfrewshire. Whereas I have a few things I could have worn I reckoned that my skills were good enough now that I wanted to try and make something myself. Plus I wanted a dress to match my shoes :-)

I made this dress up in View B cutting out a size 12. Stupidly I didn't read the fabric requirements right and forgot about the lining. So instead of 2.2 m of fabric and .7 m of lining for the 45" width I only bought 3 m of 36" brocade from remnant kings. It was on sale so was about £5.20 a metre. it's similar to but not the same as this. There were a few panicked hours when I thought i may have to return to the shop to buy another half metre, but thankfully things worked out.

Making use of someone elses heating bill! We spent the afternoon in the hotel
Then there was the issue that the midriff section came in about 3 inches too narrow so extra fabric had to be added. I don't reckon that you can really notice though, and no one commented last night that there were strange seamlines on the back waist!

In terms of constrution, this dress took all week. I traced off all the pattern pieces Monday and Tuesday and eventually started sewing on Wednesday. I eventually finished up on Saturday afternoon around 2:30. We left shortly after 3!


I like the fact that simplicity patterns seem to have a narrower back than most other pattern companies so i didnt need any adjustments there. Had I had a little longer to make the dress I would have muslind first to check on any back length adjustment however as time was of the essence I didn't and I did. Fortunately when it was sitting where it should it added really nicely to the ruching on the midriff.

The instructions provided for this make were a little shoddy to say the least! So if you do make this dress beware leave extra 'comprehension' time! I'm not sure I followed all exactly as stated but the outside turned out ok! The instructions also leave it a little messy around the zip insertion so if I were to ever make this up again I would change that.
The Elliot Dress

Finally, after making up teh full dress it was apparent that it was VERY low cut! This is why I have a lace detailing in the front to give a little extra coverage. I quite like the lace and think it actually adds to the finished dress.

So hope everyone had a great weekend we got some sad news that one of John's school friends sadly passed away on Saturday night after a long battle with cancer. So in a small act of rememberance I named this dress in his memoryadn wil be donating a small sum to the people who helped in his final months.

Rest in Peace Calum Elliot 1988 - 2015

Jen x


11 comments:

  1. Ooh, this is very glamorous and the shoes are FAB! It's nice isn't it once your skills start growing and you feel brave enough to attempt something for a specific event . Looking forward to your next project!

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    1. Thanks. I know what you mean about the skills - I was worried that I might feel awkward in the handmade dress and that it wouldn't be up to scratch but I needn't have worried!

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  2. Hallo,
    tolles Kleid, tolle Schuhe, tolles Mädchen !
    Liebe Grüße
    Käthe

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    1. Thanks Kathe, for once it felt like a very put together outfit!

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  3. This is that va-va-voom kind of dress that was worth all of the construction headaches. You look fab!

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    1. Thanks! I'm not sure ill try this again but if I do the construction issues will be known and it will be made up completely differently!

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  4. oh… this dress is perfect with those shoes! Lovely! The lace looks good on it and the fabric is gorgeous! I bet you turned lots of heads :) Brava!!!

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  5. This is so beautiful! I absolutely love the lace!

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  6. Thanks! And to think the lace was an afterthought! X

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  7. This is gorgeous!! It has given me a bright idea of something I may want to create! Well done!!

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    1. Thank you! I'm glad I helped to inspire something!

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