First I unpicked the darts, as the general consensus seemed to be that the darts were doing nothing good.
Then I tried the dress with a belt. It did not look good, the fabric pouffing around the belt was not flattering.
I considered just getting used to the loose fabric around the waist, but had the nasty feeling that the dress would languish in my cupboard instead of being a useful garment.
I added shirring to the front and back waist.
It was rather tricky, as the garment is bias, already sewn, and I had lost some enthusiasm for the dress, so it is rather wonky when viewed closely.
Despite my half hearted retrofitting, the work was partially successful, as the side view is much improved, and the dress looks O.K. from the front and back.
(it was windy today)
However, making the waist more fitted has made the slight bust tightness more apparent. I am not sure that it looks any worse, but the tightness feels more noticeable. I am hoping that the dress will stretch with wear, it is bias after all.
I do like the style. I am thinking of making the top version instead, surely tucking the into a fitted skirt will improve the shaping.
I will make sure the next dress has waist emphasis.
6 comments:
You could always chop this off into a top and wear it with a different skirt. But I think it's looking quite good now.
I could chop this one off, but there is 2 hours of hand sewing in the hem. I should learn to cut my losses!
Ooh, I really like it with the shirring. I've seen some people add this sort of thing to some of the looser shift dresses you see in the Japanese pattern books. Very nice.
Perfect! It looks great now and I liked it before! Really great idea.
I really like this dress - I would at least wear this ( unless it is uncomfortable around the bust now ) .I think your shirring fix works .
I missed the first post about the dress so have only seen this version, and it looks really rather nice and extremely wearable. The shirring not only adds shape but an appealing detail to help give the dress definition. It is a lovely colour too. And I can't see any tightness across the bust at all. Just in case a fresh eye's opinion (so to speak!) helps :-)
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