Changes

Over the weekend, I made up my revised version of Dixie DIY's Ballet Dress.  I'm almost there with the fit.

I took everything down a size from my first version and did a sway back adjustment.  I think I'm finally convinced that this adjustment is a good thing for me.  Take a look at the difference:

I think even with the busy pattern, you can see that there's a lot less excess in the back now.  I took a 1/2" wedge out, but next time I plan to increase that to 3/4" - I feel I need just a smidge more taken out.

Looks better from the front too, having gone to a smaller size.  I much prefer the way the shoulders sit on this one.

Here's a recap of the differences between my first and second versions:

Dress 1:
Bust:  size S
Waist:  size M
Length:  size M

Dress 2:
Bust:  size XS
Waist: size S
Length:  size M
1/2" swayback adjustment
neck binding increased to 19.5"

I had to change my neckline binding because this fabric (a mid-weight/10 oz. cotton spandex similar to this one) is a white background with the navy printed on top.  That means that when it's stretched a lot, the white shows through as stripes.   To determine how long to make my binding, I used a trick I learned from the Sewing Fashion Knits Craftsy class:  measure the entire neckline exclusive of seam allowances, and then multiply that number by 7/8 (.875).  My binding is short enough that it hugs my body, but not so stretched that the white background shows through.

Of course, I used my coverstitch machine to do the hems on the sleeves and skirt (and the serger for everything else).  I hemmed the sleeves before sewing the sleeve seam together - I'm finding  this the easiest way to hem small tubes with the coverstitch machine.  I used 3/8" fusible web applied to the edge of the sleeve, then turned it back the same amount and fused, and finally coverstitched on top of it.  The skirt hem was done the same way, but in the round.

Once I had the dress put together, I was a little disappointed in my polka-dot placement at the waist seam:

Not really much to be done about that, since the waistline of the skirt is curved and the pattern on this fabric is straight lines.  But it's nothing a cute little belt can't camouflage:

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.  As I said, the fit is almost there.  Aside from taking a little more out in my sway back adjustment, the only other thing I might change is to add some length to the bodice.  As it is, the waist seam sits about 2" above my natural waist.  It looks OK, but makes the placement of the belt a little awkward. 

And now, I'm popping off to lunch with Hubby in my comfy (stretchy) new dress!