As in quick – not!
Sometime ago I bought this white and grey polka dotted linen/cotton mix in Spotlight and I thought that Simplicity 9221 might be a nice pattern for it.
I’m not sure how this pattern finished up in my stash – it either came from my Mother or one of my sister’s many forays into the op-shops. Either way, I was seduced by the word “Jiffy” and the 2 or 3 main pattern pieces spruiked on the envelope. I think there is a case for misleading advertising!
The pattern I have is a size 10 MP (bust 32 1/2). I held the pattern against me and it looked ok, so I merrily cut it out and began stitching.
First issue: I hadn’t thought that spots needed matching, but of course they are just like a stripe. I was across this (kind of) when I did the cutting out, BUT, there is a shaped seam right down the front and no matter what I did I could not make the dots look nice.
Second issue: the neckline is very sharp – it has facings and everything needs to line up perfectly to look any good. This is time consuming for a dodgy sewist such as myself.
Third issue: I decided to add pockets. Not a massive problem, except, I had to fiddle one of the side seams to align the dots so one of the pockets went all weird. Major unpicking ensued.
Fourth issue: the darts were designed for someone with a bustline up near their ears (not to be too indelicate here, but I don’t have this particular malformation). Major unpicking ensued. I dropped the bust darts by a good 2 inches and then refashioned the long side darts so they finished a lot lower.
I did a better job of the dots at the back, but only just!
Several hours later and I was done. I quite like the design. It is relatively fitted, I love the way those side darts disappear into the pockets, but I am not at all happy with the dots down the front of the dress.
The details:
Pattern is Simplicity 9221 – a vintage pattern from 1971
Fabric is white and grey polka dot linen/cotton mix from Spotlight
Shoes are Guglielmo Rotta from Soletta Shoes, Mt Hawthorn.
Just a quick note here: I’m in Sydney but am a bit behind in my blogs. I will be blogging what I get up to here, but be warned – Tessuti’s will be featuring!