Persistence

When I bought this fabric, I didn’t really like it.  Oh sure it was a great price, and I am sure I could figure out something to make out of it … but was it really me?  I bought 5 metres of it.

And so the first incarnation ….. a Tina Givens dress.  A loose fitting, Lagenlook style dress, with attractive drawstring channels on the front giving movement to the bottom of the dress.  This was supposedly from her Goddess range (sized particularly for plus sizes apparently).  I checked the measurements, and considering online reviews consistently said this pattern range runs huge, I was confident choosing the size that matched my full bust measurement.

This, is the half finished dress …… on my daughter (size 8 at a push).  The armholes are tiny, the neckline is incredibly shallow, and the whole thing is too small.  I was kicking myself because I wasted a buttload of fabric, on a dramatic drafting error.

  

So the dress and scraps went into the UFO box, until I could figure out what to do with it. TG did give me my money back, so I at least was happy with the follow up customer service. In the email, I was encouraged to try again. So I did, using one of her free slip patterns, this time with a scoop at the front to create a high/low hemline. I did have to shorten the slip to a tunic length as I didn’t have a big enough complete piece of fabric, but the main features were still in place.

Yet another failure. Massive armholes revealing far more side boob than I am comfortable with, yet a neckline that was way too high. Weird shoulder seams that sat up like wings, and a tulip shape guaranteed to make me look like a blimp. The lack of any bust shaping, means that I had twin mountain ranges running down the front of the tunic. At this point, I recycled the TG patterns I had printed out, into the bin. I don’t ever want to touch their designs ….. ever again. They are poorly drafted, and shoddily designed. But, how to salvage at least some of the fabric?

A recent splurge on StyleArc patterns, brought me the Amber Woven Top as a freebie. Now my only other excursion with woven SA patterns wasn’t a success, however I was willing to give it another go. This top is raglan sleeved (a favourite style of mine), loose fitting pullover blouse. I used it as a template, choosing to not apply the piped facing pieces this time. Instead I left the bodice pieces plain, using bias binding on the complete neckline. As you can expect, whittling down this fabric with every failed incarnation, meant that I had to augment to achieve this design. The sleeves, along with the front inset, are white batiste.

The top is a little big across the upper back, resulting in a bit of excess under the arms, but that is an alteration I almost always have to make, so it will be easy to alter for the next version. Overall, a success after so much failure, and an exercise in persistence. Just a shame I had to use almost 5 metres of fabric to get to this point.