Not wanting to jump straight into making the dress, I had a go at the top, partly to see if the sizing was right. I cut up an old doona (duvet) cover I'd found and brought home in with one of my $6 bags from my favourite op shop. It's a blue/grey kind of open weave cotton (no label attached) that has a linen feel.
At first I thought I'd used a size too small, but then I kind of wiggled into it (there's no zip or opening apart from the elasticised neck opening) and it fit well. I even went on to put the darts in the back just to give it a bit more shape. Anything too sack-like can look pretty dreadful on me, so this helped. A little more wiggling and all was well...
Of course I couldn't stop there and decided to turn an old dress that had lost it's shape into another one. It's a very very soft cotton, Indian I think, beautiful to wear, but I'm just not that thrilled with it - maybe just too drapey? But anyway...
On I went. It seemed a shame to leave the leftover Alexander Henry fabric from my dress languishing in the stash, and, as many avid 3835 makers note, the pattern uses quite a small amount of fabric. Just as I was making a few final adjustments I realised that the fabric was upside down - ie flowers hanging down - on the front. Ah well, that's life, I told myself. What's a few droopy flowers between friends ;-)
So, all in all I'm pretty happy with Simplicity 3835 and ready to join the cult! Have you tried it?
Well done Jo! Three more shirts to add to the rotation. As for the flowers, as I read on another blog recently it's a "design feature" not a mistake.
ReplyDeleteWould love to have a poke around your favourite op shop - can you share the location???
Love the tops!
ReplyDeleteGreat job!