Knit Dresses Are Secret Pajamas

Sewing has slowed to a stop while we impatiently wait to move. We knew we were moving mid January but our move in date is at the end of March. This has basically resulted in our house being covered in boxes for 2 and a half months while we slowly sell our Ikea furniture on Craigslist. This has made sewing almost impossible as it requires some clear table space at least to cut everything out. This makes for a very boring blog. 
I thought of a sneaky solution though. I'll use this opportunity to post things I made before I started blogging. It's nice to have a record of them and will keep me in the habit of posting regularly. I have been sewing since I was a kid, mostly Hallowe'en costumes and altering clothing to make it slutty when I was 20 until a few years ago when I bought myself a new machine. I decided I would really try and sew garments. I had a lot of "learning experiences" before having the most success using indie patterns and blog tutorials that hold your hand through every single step. Anything I still have and wear is from the past year. 

This dress requires a lower cut bra which I clearly needed to opt for in these photos.

I used the Tiramisu pattern from Sewing Cake. This is the only pattern I have tried from this company and I believe it was their first. There was a bit of errata which was corrected with a an extra page that you had to trace onto the pattern to correct. I was super impressed with the unique sizing system. It has you trace different sizes depending on your waist, upper bust and cup size. I followed this to a T and ended up with a dress that was way too big in the bodice the first time. This was my second dress and I cut a 32 C which is not my size at all but I find the fit much better. This might also be my preference for negative ease in jersey knit but it did dampen my excitement for the system. 

When I look at photos of this dress I notice a few successes and a few "lessons."

Lessons:

• I don't know how to hem this dress without it looking terrible so I haven't. I have just left a raw edge and wear it all the time. I don't think anyone notices, it doesn't fray and I've noticed that American Apparel does this too so I'm over it.
• There are some pull lines around my bust when I stand up straight for photos which I don't think ever occur when I'm in my usual slouch.
• The stitching on the skirt pulls like it does on my leggings. This seems to happen at points of stress in my garments and I don't know how to fix this using a zigzag stitch on a regular machine. I'm tabling this until I get a serger.

Successes:

• The twin stitching on the neck band looks BOSS.
• I added elastic to the seam under the bust to keep the bodice in place which works very well.
• I added the sleeve bands after I sewed the side seams (as in the instructions for the Renfrew) for a cleaner finish.
• I actually went to a fabric store and bought this specifically for this project. This means that I had enough not to make compromises and I like the colour and quality of this garment a lot more. 
• This garment shape is generally flattering and easy to wear.

Since I started blogging, I have been spending a lot more time looking at pictures of myself and really assessing how clothes look on me. I am pretty critical of my Christmas weight and my sever hair cut which I am hot and cold on. But I suppose hair can grow and cheese can be forgone for a bit.
Overall, I love this dress and wear it any time I have to look nice but want to feel like I'm in pajamas...secret pajamas.

My partner said I looked like I was looking for my cat and started saying nonsense to me while taking photos.

This of course resulted in me thinking about my ridiculous cat and going into hysterics.