The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I recently showed a post with a dress on the sewing machine with the hopes on having it finished for church that Sunday. Remember that? I now recount the story behind that dress.

In the not so distance past, I decided to attempt my first dress. That's right. My first sewing project on a grand scale. I bought my first pattern at Walmart when I should have been grocery shopping. I chose the New Look 6615 , style B.

I measured myself. Made the necessary adjustments. I was excited to have a tailored dress made specifically for my body type. My ambitions couldn't be dampened. I even learned that the standard cup size on any given commercial pattern is size B. Well, let's just say I am larger than a B. So I did some search on the Simplicity website and found directions to adjust the pattern to fit your bust size. I followed the directions to the T.


I bought this cute blue and white patterned fabric at Walmart for $2/yard. I wasn't really intending to find fabric there, but this design could easily be transformed from casual wear to work attire with a cream sweater.

All the pieces were cut out fine. Then the sewing began. I kept my copy of U-sew handy for any terms that would be confusing. And it came in handy! I got off to a great start. I buzzed right through steps 1 and 2. Then came step 3 and 4. It took me an hour to get through these steps which included 50 minutes of me reading the directions over and over again.

But I continued on. I clipped my curves to the stay-stitching. I layered my seams. I still don't get understitching, but I suppose I'll leave something to be learned later in life. :)


I was so proud of myself when I got the neck yolk put in and everything matched up. To see everything coming together was thrilling. I felt so proud of myself. When I got to this point I quickly threw it over my shoulders only to realize that the front bust panels were going to be terribly short on me. This is where it gets Bad. I have never been able to wear this style of clothing for this reason alone. The "waist" band lies across the middle of my bust line. How unflattering! So I ripped a few seams, matched up the pattern, and sewed some extra length to the front bust panels. And when you do this, you also have to lengthen the other parts too. This was certainly a learning experience.

After all that muxing, I continued onward with my new Pfaff sewing machine. I got to use some fun top stitching too!


And this is currently the status of the dress.

I added some darts and pin tucks in a few places. Had my husband help with the pinning. I got really excited. I made those alterations, threw the garment back on and this is where it gets UGLY. The front panels where still too short. Another 3/4'' and it would have been perfect. But now the waist band created this shelf over my belly and we certainly can't have that. I was almost in tears. And like a good husband I have, he tried to console me on my first dress sewing disaster. He even said, "You can't always have home runs on your first try." True that.

So it never made it to church with me. My jeans were a nice substitute. And it's still hanging over the closet door mocking me. But not all is lost I suppose. I learned A LOT! And I guess I can rip it all apart and cut new front panels with the left over fabric. Thankfully, I over estimated in case of cutting mistakes. But it's not an easy rip. Every seam, every hidden seam, all the pieces were built on the previous step.

But at the end of the day, I will make another. I will use this pattern because I still hold out hope that I can wear this style of top. And I am also thankful that it only cost me $6 in fabric to learn my lesson.

In conclusion, the moral of the story (did you know there was going to be a moral at the end?) is to Live, Sew, and Learn. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.