Thursday, February 23, 2012

Portfolio dress in velveteen

Portfolio velveteen 1
I will confess: I've been a bad sew-along participant. I am having massive problems fitting my Pastille dress. I started it late because I was working on this dress, which maybe wasn't the best idea, but it feels good now to have a completed dress that worked out while I'm struggling with my third (!) muslin for the Pastille. (Just....ugh.)

Portfolio velveteen 4
So. This is the Lisette Portfolio dress, sewn up in a luscious Loulouthi velveteen that was gifted to me for Christmas by a friend. Though I bought some Innocent Crush velveteen in October, this was my first time actually sewing with it. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. I followed Anna Maria Horner's tips here, which I highly recommend. I finished all seams with an overcast stitch to minimize raveling over time; I'll let you know how that works out.

Portfolio velveteen back 2
The pattern came together easily. I opted not to use a contrasting fabric and instead fussy-cut the yoke and other details. I used a lightweight cotton lawn for the pocket lining and the facings, so as not to add bulk. I chopped 2" off the bottom, because I'm a shorty. I usually remove length at the waist, but because of how this one goes together, I didn't want to mess with redrawing those curves. My pockets are a little low, but I can live with that.

Portfolio velveteen 2
This is the first time I've really done any pattern matching to speak of, and I think it turned out really well. I knew that if I didn't take the time to match the flowers up all the way around, it would've bothered me every time I wore it. I've already worn this twice, and it's comfy and warm--the perfect winter dress.

2 comments:

eileensideways said...

that looks cute on you. i like the half sleeves and the fabric placement. very nice.

two hippos said...

Ooh, velveteen. The dress looks great, and the pockets look delightful.