Welcome to the Jungle

Okay, here's the finished muslin of Simplicity 3744, the Threads shift dress.

I'm sharing this mainly because someone might get a good laugh out of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty pleased with the dress. (I probably should have ironed it before taking the picture.) But if you were wondering if that's safari print fabric, you'd be right. This is a piece of fabric I've had in my stash for several years. I think I bought it for one of my sons back when they were in their animal loving stage, and then I never made it up. I figured, why not use it for a muslin and stop it from taking up space? It's a pretty bold print, so I decided to use it wrong side out. I figured that way I could concentrate on the fit and the design lines without the crazy print distracting me. It's freaking my kids out, though. They keep asking me why I made the dress inside out!

Well, enough about the crazy fabric, lets talk about the pattern. I'm pretty pleased with the dress. This is one of the Threads patterns with B, C, D cup options, which in my opinion, is a wonderful feature. I wish there were more patterns like this. Actually, I wish all patterns were like this. I cut a 16 through the bodice using the D cup pieces. I gradually tapered out to an 18 at the waist and then to a 20 at the hip. All this was based on my measurements compared to the pattern envelope. When I got the dress sewn, it was okay, but I though it was just a little too big. The silhouette just didn't look like the picture on the front of the envelope. So I went back to the sewing machine and took all the seams in so that it was a 16 through the waist and then tapered out to an 18 at the hip. The look was much better, although I still think it's a little more A-line than the pattern picture. I went ahead and added the neck band just to check to see if it affected the fit at all, and because it can't hurt to make a practice run before the real thing. I sewed the hem bands, too, to check the length. I was afraid it might be a smidge short but I think it's just right.

I've already cut out the real dress and started sewing. I still need to cut the lining. My fabric is kind of thin and princess seams can be kind of messy where the bust curves are sewn, so I figure a lining will neaten up the inside and make it more comfortable. Hopefully, I will finish up this weekend, and by next week I will have a new dress to wear to work.