So I read all your encouraging replies and tried to give it a shot again. I pressed and understitched the heck out of it (thanks Kate for the instructions) I realized I was looking at the pieces all wrong and that was why I got so confused. So I took my time and ended up taking 6 hours from opening up the pattern envelope to making the dress (It was marked as an "easy" one hour pattern) It came out PERFECT.
Perfect for someone 2 inches taller and 4 dress sizes bigger than I'm :) Nevertheless perfect. So I don't know what to do with this dress but I learnt a few lessons along the way. I'll probably leave it in the closet for a while. When I gain enough experience sewing, I'll take it apart and re-size it for myself.
What is a smart next step for me? Should I attempt easier kids patterns till I gain confidence? Or should I try this same pattern again with another cloth? I'm wary of doing the latter because not much time has passed since I attempted this dress and it ain't all that great. I'm leaning towards making few more dresses for kids.
And yes, I'm thinking of taking those private lessons in near future.
Try the dress again. You know what to do now. Put the dress on to figure out where the fit issues are. Then make the appropriate adjustments to the pattern. There should be a line on there that says "lengthen or shorten here." Make your length adjustments there. I have to do that too since I'm very short waisted. I'm short both from my waist to my hip and my shoulder to my underarm. It's not hard to fold out the length you don't need from the pattern. If you need help figuring that out, let us know and we will tell you what to do. :) Also, look on the pattern tissue. At the bust, waist and hip (since it's a dress) there should be finished garment measurements listed. It will say something like "finished hip measurment: size 8 = 48 inches." That usually gives a pretty good idea of what size it will actually be.
I say do it now while all the problems, and Solutions are fresh in your mind. Plus, that will keep it from being an albatross hanging in your closet. If you don't go back and whip that pattern into shape, so to speak, it will bother you way longer than it should. Just look at this first one as a lesson, take what you learned from it and make a dress you can wear. :)
Do you attribute this to a poorly designed *pattern* or to your having not taken accurate measurements of *your* body? If the former, toss the pattern. If the latter, take proper measurements and buy a new pattern of the correct size. Keep in mind that pattern sizing is NOT comparable to ready-to-wear sizing.
And make the garment again right away, because now you have the assembly sequence mastered, you'll do a better job the second round.
I would be inclined to donate this one to charity and start again from scratch, but that's just me, I loath ripping apart and alterations. Too much time involved for very little positive outcome. But if it's fabric you adore, and can't get another piece, then go ahead and rip it out.
Excellent. And the "one hour" rating is actually time under the presser foot, not total time to make.
I think maybe your next step should be learning to evaluate a pattern from the envelope... how to choose pattern size, what "ease" means (that's a dress with a lot of design ease, so yes, it'll feel huge to someone used to wearing things more closely fitting).
I think you could go in several directions... one is clothes for your kids (shorter fabric amounts, and they sound like they might be small enough to wear even the "not quite what I envisioned" without complaint). Another might be to make some housewear/nightwear for yourself, particularly if you wear pjs -- that can give you practice on sleeves, buttons, buttonholes, collars, interfacing plackets, pants construction, flat felled seams, etc. Another would be to redo that same pattern, making it fit as you like.
Where I think I'd steer you first, however, if you want to learn to sew for yourself, is to your own closet. Pick out your favorite blouses, dresses, pants.... measure them. Compare those measurements to your own... for instance, if your full bust measurement is 40", and your favorite blouses all measure 44" at the bust, you know you seem to like about 4" of ease at the bust. That means you'll be happier in a pattern designated as "fitted" rather than one that's designated "very loose fitting". How long is the measurement of the outseam (side seam) from the waistband of your favorite pants that are the perfect length to the hem? What's the depth of the lowest V or slit neckline you're comfortable with? Write all this down, and then compare to a couple of things:
1) The chart here:
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2) the size chart of the patterns you're using. Make sure you select a pattern that's a good match for your size and ease amounts -- you'll behappier! The second place I'd steer you is to your local library -- check out what they've got for books and videos. Find out what the library's interlibrary loan policies are. There are lots of good things out there, but you may need to poke around to find the ones that "click" for you now.
The third place, if you're so inclined, is to the local thrift store(s)... they often have patterns for $0.10-0.25, and bags of sewing supplies for cheap. Grab some patterns that look like they haven't been cut (nice if they're near a size you can use, but any will do right now... Pick a size, find all the pieces, and measure the patterns just like you did your clothes...remember that a pattern is just half, not whole, and you have to subtract seam allowances. Does the difference between the pattern you've measured and the supposed body measurement for that size match the ease chart from Butterick? Can you pin or tape the pattern pieces together and make them make sense for you?
Buy one of the cheapie bags of sewing supplies, preferably one that contains at least a couple of standard dress zippers, some commercial bias tape (both single and doublefold, if possible) and perhaps some hem tape. Sit down with your scrap fabric, a zipper, and a good set of instructions and put one in your scrap fabric. Put in three or four... bind a straight edge with doublefold bias. Bind a curved edge. Use bias on a curve as you would if you're using a binding instead of a facing.
And good for you on the sewing lessons. If you can identify stuff ahead of time that you want to work on, you may be able to maximize your class productivity ("Could you please check the layout of this pattern on my fabric and watch me cut out a couple of pieces? Would you check the clipping on this facing sample? What do I do when I get here, where the shoulder seams of the facing and the garment are going to be right on top of each other? Did I grade this correctly?) And just so you don't feel so alone... I've got a list I'm keeping of things that aren't quite as nice as I'd like them to be (like polo shirt placket bottoms, and bound shirt sleeve plackets). When I get a bit of time together, I'm going to bundle up my problem stuff and make an appointment with a teacher I really like in the next state, and we'll do a private "how can I do this better?" class. 8-)
Great suggestions Kay! I just wanted to add for the OP, in case she does not know, that an easy way of determining ease in a garment is to measure yourself first, try the garment on and then "pinch out" the ease and measure that while you have it on. Of course you have to double the measurement of the pinch. :) That is much easier and more accurate than measuring the garment on a table and trying to figure out the apex points.
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