2020 Review

Thus endeth another year. I did some sewing this year, mostly for practical reasons but given the shortness of the list I am including more construction details than in my usual reviews.

Creating
The black knit skirt I made in 2017 has been a staple of my wardrobe ever since and was starting to wear out. I knew it would need replacing at some point during the year, so in March I made a trip to Spotlight to pick up some fabric. The next weekend lockdown started, so I got there just in time. I got a plain black, to replace my current skirt, and dark purple. The pattern is McCalls 6608.

I made a new corset, from the Laughing Moon Dore pattern, using only stash materials (except for the eyelets). I've changed shape a bit and am working out how to fit it – this was about 80% there. The fabric is two different curtain samples.

Adjusting
In utility items (usually my mother's sewing arena) I made myself a pillow. I prefer a thin, firm pillow and have found no commercial ones complying with those requirements so I bought an $8 piece of foam and covered it in some leftover cotton. Then I sewed a new side and back seam for my existing pillowcase to go over it.

I significantly altered a bought dress to fit me. I ordered the dress online and when it arrived it was the right size but was definitely made with a differently shaped person in mind. The dress consists of a knit underlayer and a woven mesh overdress. The underdress measured 10 cm smaller than my hip measurement and, while it could stretch around me, it got stuck on my hips and didn’t hang neatly or comfortably. The underdress has a feature print and, with the dress held still at the hip, the print got bunched up in places and did not look good.

My initial plan was to add some gores to the side seams but after I unpicked them and tried on the dress, I found it wrinkled horribly in the back. I cut the back up the middle and, on trying it on again, found that the fabric sat more naturally with a large split in the back and only a narrow separation at the sides.

I cut a gore the size of the back split and inserted it into the dress. I cut the side gores as strips and freestyle-tapered them in to the seams. The dress has its side seam allowances facing outwards (being a lining) so I matched that with the side gores but did not use that method for the back gore, where it would be more visibly messy.

It's not the neatest sewing I've ever done but from the outside, it doesn’t look like anything happened to it and the dress sits nicely now. While I was taking the dress apart, I also shortened the shoulder straps by 2 inches. The neckline had been lower than I like and the armholes were positively gaping. For this adjustment I did make a particular effort to be neat. I was quite happy with the experience of customising the dress and may figure this into my clothing shopping options in the future.