I fall for Simplicity's "It's SO Easy" lie yet again.

In my last post I talked about how I was determined to make my own clothes this year...at least a few pieces. I was pretty excited about it and very much looking forward to getting started.

In fact...here's my first finished dress! Not bad, eh?

My bangs have a mind of their own...tonight they're saying "I'm going to look ridiculous!"

Now, before y'all get too impressed you should know this is a complete farce of a photo! It's amazing what a strategically placed belt, a giant hair clip(for hiding excess fabric) and my magic cowboy boots* can do! But at least in this photo it appears that I can make a dress!


Here's the reality of it...

What I made was a saggy, baggy, tent of a dress. The picture doesn't really do justice to how giant the skirt part is nor how ill fitting and wonky the top is. But it's bad, y'all. I actually put it on this morning thinking I'd wear it to the grocery. My husband said it looked like I was wearing a bell! So I grabbed my go-to for fixing wonky outfits, a denim jacket. It actually looked worse. Way worse. Especially from the side veiw.

I spent hours on it. HOURS. So much for Simplicity and that "It's SO Easy" bull printed on the pattern pack. I don't know how many times I have fallen for that one, but it's  never been "SO Easy"!  This time was no exception.

Although, as I was going along, I was feeling pretty confident! I got the skirt put together. I totally rocked the bodice. It's putting the two together where things went south.

And I know (now) what I did wrong.

I cut the bodice a size smaller than the skirt.  D'OH!  In my defense, I was using my measurements and following the pattern pack guidelines.  The bodice was supposed to be slightly gathered before sewing to the skirt. Since it was a size smaller, it didn't end up fitting the gargantuan sized skirt (which was cut to what I thought was my size). So I fiddled, un-gathered, and generally messed with the two pieces trying to get them to fit together until I got to that "I'm just going to sew the thing" point.

And then came the super fun job of trying to sew an elastic casing through all those layers and puckers and aforementioned mess.  Followed by even more fun...trying to thread the elastic through casing that way to small in more than one place. Super super fun.


If any of you notice a peculiar cloud floating by, pay no attention, it's probably just the remnants of the cussin' fit that accompanied the whole elastic casing/threading elastic business.

Despite my resulting tent dress, there were some good things that came out of this little adventure:

• It was a good learning experience. I know what size to cut the next time and I will cut the top and bottom the same size. I think that might solve some of the trouble I had with the casing issue as well as the fit problems.  
• It didn't end up in an angry heap forever banished to a ziplock bag in my closet. I finished it! I might even go back and work on it some more. Months from now.
• I  actually made a dress. It was my first try, and even though I can't wear it, it is clearly a dress. I'd call that a success! 

My next sewing adventure will consist only of things I know I can sew successfully, like aprons, bags and quilt blocks. But I'm not ready to give up on making clothes just yet. I'm just not ready to try it again anytime soon!


*my cowboy boots aren't really magic