As I mentioned last week we celebrated my in-laws 50th anniversary a few weekends ago. For the party I made Henry a dapper little bow-tie and shorts outfit and Violet got a pretty purple dress. And, for me, well I had big plans since vintage May to make myself a Ladies Caroline dress but never seemed to quite get around it. But, how could I not make it for such a fun celebration?
Well, I almost didn't! Between making the kid's clothes and getting together centerpieces, etc. it was the day before and I still didn't have it made. Somehow, by some time miracle though I found the time!
(Again, sorry, not super great pictures or lighting and this is after hours of pre-party sweating and dress getting wrinkled, oops!)
I did do a muslin and, at first, an FBA as well but when I tried that muslin on it was so off, there was way too much room in the bust area. So, not really having time to fiddle working on a whole new FBA I sewed up a muslin in just my size (no FBA). It seemed to fit well, although I wanted the waist to come down a little lower. I added a bit to the length of the waist and the muslin looked good.
So I began to sew. My Caroline sewed up with a bit more quickly since I had just finished Violet's the day before. Once I had my bodice made, before adding the zipper, I tried it on. Eek! It was really tight around my waist! (Hmmm, perhaps my pinner wasn't quite accurate?) There wasn't much to do other than hope it worked out. At this point time really was not on my side, I wanted to wear this dress the next day!
I sewed the zipper in, but not as closely as I should've because I was hoping to gain a bit of ease around the waist. It doesn't look nearly as good as Violet's invisible zipper, but it doesn't look bad. It's hard to see here, really, but you can see a bit of pucker.
It is tight around the waist, but not so tight that I can't wear it. (But tight enough that I can't wait to get back running again!)
Despite the tight waist in the end, I am crazy happy with it (even though I probably should have spent more time working to get the bodice just right, which I will try to do the next time)!
It was the perfect little dress for a party! And, in green, my favorite color! The green eyelet is from Joann. You've seen it here before.
I will say that I felt a tiny bit guilty spending so much time making myself a dress.
But then, I thought about it...I'm home with the family and not out shopping, I hate shopping for clothes (especially fancy clothes) for myself, and I hate spending a ton of money on something that's just "good enough" but not really what I wanted. So, after realizing all of that, I felt less guilty and so happy with my new dress!
Here are Violet and I in our two carolines...
And, a family of handmades! Well, except for my husband, but he is wearing the tie that he wore when we got married, so that's pretty special!
Have a great day!
