dressmaking for the younger crowd

Some very nice sugestions in there Michelle.

Claire in Montréal, France.

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Reply to
Claire Owen
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Hi Kelly, I have the same proportions as you do, and something I think you don't realize is that when you bend over, especially with large hips, your BUTT takes up all that two inches and more. if you are wearing a dress, so does the length of your back. make your dresses and your skirts no more than two inches above your knees for work, that is stylish, shows off the best of your legs and still keeps your crotch covered when you bend. and believe me, ALL that fabric will be required, you will find if you ask someone you trust what is showing when you bend over to pick something up off the floor, that THAT will barely cover your crotch.

Business is different than social, and your clothes should be too. And at nineteen, you're not (or shouldn't be) a child any more, so use some sense, even in a social situation. The micro mini is best for one thing, quick and easy access.

Reply to
Kitty In Somerset, PA

thanks michelle for the suggestions! i took a quick look and they seemed very nice. i guess it has been so hard for me to find anything that fits me and looks cute that i have resorted to making my own. since i am in shcool full time and work 25-30 hours per week in addition, the last thing i want to do when i have a few free hours is to spend it with the sewing machine. i always thought that a short skirt drew attention to the legs, and away from my butt, at least that's what some friends say, but they don't have fat butts!

kitty, thanks for the advice. i have usually felt much more comfortable in these skirts than i do in jeans, just because of the big butt thing, having major butt cleavage every time i sit down. anyway i will pay a little more attention to my skirt to see how it rides, and drop the hem on the next ones if i need to.

Kitty > Hi Kelly,

Reply to
Tresa

oh and one more thing, i work in a women's only shoe store, so its not like i am around guys all the time at work, so i feel a bit more relaxed about the movement required.. in the mall i work at (serramonte mall near san francisco) it is very common to see girls wearing short skirts. lucky there is no escalator in this mall!!

Reply to
Tresa

That is still better than being 6 steps below a gal in a really short skirt on the aforementioned UP escalator with your two teens sons, everyone trying to pretend that they aren't looking straight up gal's 2" below the crotch length skirt... I only hope she had underwear on, it sure didn't look like it...

Reply to
small change

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (Sara Lorimer) wrote in news:1h53wut.z2lwqb1fzilsmN% snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com:

i dunno. fingertip length for me would be 5.5" or 6" below my crotch... which would be way longer than one dress my mom hemmed for me in high school (in 1971). i swear that dress barely covered my butt cheeks when i was standing. sitting was entirely unfathomable in it. not only was it too short, it was straight. no flare. no extra fabric anywhere. fortunately they dropped the 'no trousers for girls' rule about the same time. it was an acceptable tunic top. lee

Reply to
enigma

"Doug&Michelle" wrote in news:5zh8f.333728$tl2.264573@pd7tw3no:

oh, i don't think she has to go as long as knee-length, but she should be covering up a tad more than 2" below the crotch. i'm from the micro-miniskirt generation & *they* were longer than 2" below the crotch. Tresa, if you have wide hips, a slightly longer length is going to be more flattering on you anyway. it's *not* attractive when a skirt is wider than it is long. lee

Reply to
enigma

"Tresa" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

ooooh! you need to learn how to fit trousers to your figure. that would solve all kinds of issues... lee

Reply to
enigma

Michelle, I really like some of the skirts and have sent the link to the two older DGD, who will no doubt like them as they are the style both of them enjoy wearing; they are 17 and 19. the youngest is only 7, not old enough yet. Emily

Reply to
CypSew

Loved your story Penny. If I was in the shape your in I'd buy In VS as well. Always loved the frilly stuff, never let it be seen by the world. Of course I'm a bit older. &! on Sunday. That doesn't mean I'm dead though. Juno

Reply to
Juno

ACK!!! Shorts skirt show off your legs, true. But they usually just show that you have legs. You probably want something that shows them off to an ADVANTAGE!!! Try on skirts at the mall (in a 3 way mirror if possible) so you can tell what really suits you, not what suits your friends fashion sense. Looking good never goes out of style, and some trends just don't look good on some people (loose billowy shirts that are so in right now make me look preggers - been there done that -

After you decide what you really like, either buy it (on a students budget - yeah right) or Make it yourself. Since you live in the states I bet you have joanns and hancocks, one of those stores at least has 99cent simplicity pattern sales. Some one here know???

also look on

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for lots of ideas and tutorials. I highly highly totally really really recommend that. (Yes if its not obvious that means click that link NOW!!!!)

Do you remember skorts? skirts with shorts built in? That might be perfect!

Good luck, and no cone bra's allowed except on halloween!!! Don't sweat your boss, they come and go, style is forever.

Michelle Giordano

Reply to
Doug&Michelle

Having also got a long back and big hips I can really sympathise with your problems. I also have tiny waist - or rather HAD a tiny waist until this baby turned up!

The reason that the skirt and dress act differently - i.e. the dress 'looks' and ACTS shorter than your skirt, EVEN if the waist to hem measurements are the same is that the dress hands from your shoulders, and the skirt hangs from your waist.

Put your dress on, look in a long mirror - now shrug your shoulders - see how much that hem line moves! Now try bending over - the dress has to cover the extra length from the curve in your back and bum - the rear hem will go up a lot. Do the same in the skirt - it doesn't move when you shrug does it, and when you bend it only has to cover the bend in your bum. Now may also be a good time to check your rear view (using a hand mirror or friend holding a second mirror) while doing bending and shoe serving manouvers that you do at work - make sure you are not showing anything you don't want to show - or the boss doesn't want to see.

I hope that your work teaches you how to lift and carry properly - i.e. always bend the knees not the back - plus its a far more ladie like action ;)

To make your dress more wearable, you preferably need some extra length at the waist line. This may mean you will need to elasticate the waist, and let the excess fabric ' blouse' over the top. The extra length needs to be enough to accomodate the difference in length between your everyday standing up shoulder to waist length and your fully extended shoulder to wait length. You could also add length to the skirt portion by letting the hem out and finishing with a tiny hem or adding some binding - or even a contrasting piece of fabric.

Have fun with your sewing, and keep asking this group questions - there are people that sew professionaly like Kate & Penny, through all grades to total beginners.

Many of us started sewing younger than you did. I had started dressmaking in my mid-teens, though very few things I made were that wearable - so you're doing better than I was at the same age!

HTH, Sarah

Reply to
Sarah Dale

skorts... the ulgiest fricken bastardization crossbreed of lower body wear ever invented...

ps

Reply to
small change

frillies? I was in there for cotton briefs.

ps

Reply to
small change

Hi Tresa, I had an idea while I was out window-shopping, that might work for you if you like the sort of light, feminine styles that seem to be in fashion here (admittedly it's spring here in Sydney). Anyway, I thought if you want a dress, but want to avoid showing too much when leaning over, perhaps you could make a dress in about the length you like, and make a matching skirt about an inch longer, you'd get a sort of layered look. Here there are a lot of tunic-length tops around that look almost like mini-length dresses, and while they seem to be worn more over pants, they could equally well be worn over a skirt if you like the style. Just a thought, anyway, Liz

Reply to
Liz

What, no cotton frillies? I can't even get into their cotton briefs. Juno

Reply to
Juno

Happy Birthday Juno, although it is still a day and a half till Sunday. Oh, that's the day we get an extra hour's sleep, at least in most of the USA. Emily

Reply to
CypSew

Too damned right! I preferred the shorts with matching but separate wrap-round over-skirt I made when I was 13...

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Sloggi Maxi's Rule OK? ;)

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Reply to
Liz Cork

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