New Day, New Project

Wednesday was the first day of school for the youngest three of my five kids.

Bryan started second grade, Savannah started first, and Brendan started eighth. They were happy to go back. I think they were bored after two and a half months at home.

And speaking of new starts, I started a new project for myself today. I'm making New Look 6348, an empire waisted dress with a surplice top, cap sleeves, and an ever so A-line skirt. I'm using a quilting cotton, but it's thin and has pretty good drape. It helps also that the skirt is cut on the bias.

I cut a 14 bodice tapering out to a 16 at the waist and then on to an 18 at the hip. I had to do a bigger than usual FBA, 1.5 inches, rather than 1 inch, since I cut the smaller size, but I think the fit is better now through the shoulders.

Here you can see both my FBAs. I originally did one inch and had to go back and add another half inch. I ended up adding a dart to the side seam, because this bodice is lined, and I thought all those gathers under the bust might be too much for the doubled fabric. This is the fabric I'm using for the dress, too. It's a rusty red with cream, grey, and metallic gold highlights. I think it has a vaguely Asian flavor to it.

I made a muslin of the bodice to test fit, and I discovered that the back neck was really wide and it wanted to gape a little bit. So after testing on the muslin, I pinched out approximately 3/8 of an inch on the back bodice piece to help snug it up to my back. You can see the little tuck here:

Cutting went really slow because it had to be done single thickness due to the large skirt pieces being cut on the bias. I'll have to wait to start sewing tomorrow because I'm wiped out for today. It shouldn't take too long to put together. There are only five pattern pieces and the construction is easy. The muslin went together quickly. It's just a matter of making the time to do it and not letting myself be interrupted. Easier said than done....