Burdastyle 10-2012-118A... Wedding season

We have two of the younger members of out family getting married this year and in our winter time. When I started to think about what I would like to wear, my first thought was a dressy lace dress, or a fitted sheath in a glamorous fabric or even a pretty 50's style dress with a large skirt, but when I really thought about it I decided my real priorities were to make a dress that would be:

1. comfortable - weddings take time these days with there often being quite a break between the ceremony and the reception.
2. warm enough to wear on a cool day with maybe a cool breeze - that meant some shoulder/arm coverage
3. able to be used again... I really don't need another formal frock hanging in the wardrobe after being worn only once and
4. suitable for the occasion.

I think I am getting too practical perhaps in my dotage...

This Burdastyle dress (10-2012-118A) has been very popular and I have been wanting to make it since seeing all the great versions out there but sometimes you need the occasion and I decided this was it.  To go with point 1 - comfortable - I decided to make it in a beautiful, soft ponte that I purchased from Knitwit.  In actual fact, I already had the fabric with this pattern in mind.  I had ordered it after seeing the samples at a recent Craft Show.

I love the pic of this dress in front of the stone wall that reflects the colours.

I did leave it until the last minute to make it, so didn't have time to muslin the dress, but I checked the tissue fit and decided to do a broad back adjustment and increase the bicep width.  Then I cut the dress with 1" (2.5cm) seams to give me some adjustment room, but ended up not needing it.  I basted the seams initially and adjusted the back darts and got a really nice fit over my back.  I did try to get a photo to show you but I was not "properly" side on in any of the shots so this is the best I can show you so you will have to use your imagination!  At least you can see the gather detail on one side.

I did leave the zip out as I could easily pull this dress on when it was made of the ponte.  Which was a shame really as I had bought a beautifully matching zip, but I figured I was in enough of a hurry to keep it as simple as possible.

I was wondering if I widened the back a little too much?  I like the fit through the body, but the neckline seems a little too wide and perhaps at the back armhole seam?  I wonder if I should have cut the shoulders at a size down?  All the fit issues I am still trying to understand?

The only other adjustment was to reduce the sleeve and hem length by the hem allowance.

I did spend quite a bit of time to lay out the pattern so that I made best use of the interesting print in the fabric.

Oh and I tried a new tip out when tracing this pattern.  There is a brand of pens called "frixion" and the idea is that friction (rubbing with the other end of the pen) erases the line.  However it seems heat does the same thing so all you need is an iron on low heat (no steam) to get rid of the pen.  So I tried it with the frixion highlighter and it was great!  I could highlight each piece, trace it, iron it to remove the highlighter and then do the next piece, making it so much easier to trace.

.. and I made the bag too.  Back in 2012 - it was in this post here and I love it and was lucky enough to find shoes that match.

Ciao kittens... sorry about the intermittent posting, it's been a busy time... I am sure you all understand that.