Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A Small Minority

Better on the dress form than on me
I knew it when I bought the pattern last summer.  I knew it even as I was cutting out the fabric....this isn't going to work for your body...said the little voice in my head.  I knew it as I quickly stitched up a sample version.  Ughhh, this is so not me.  Sometimes I hate it when I'm right.  


I'm part of the small minority of lovely seamstresses who look awful in the Vogue 1250 dress.  As a matter of fact, in all the pictures I've seen, I think I'm a minority of one!  I am a remarkably short waisted gal for my height and my high hip starts an inch or so below my waist.  My first (and only version) of this dress is very long waisted on me so that the cowl seems to be sitting on my front tummy fluff and the back seam rests on my high hip puffiness....never a flattering look.  Combined with my dramatically sloping shoulders, just not going to work.  (Wish I could transplant the straight shoulders on my dressform.)  Ah well, every so often we have to enjoy crazy flights of fancy.  I wanted to join the Vogue 1250 club but it's not worth the pattern alteration effort to make this turn into something mediocre at best.  On the other hand, there's always a sewing lesson somewhere.  It is giving me a good impetus to work on a deep cowl knit dress pattern. Burda spring 2012 preview cowl top (and dress)  This one would be a much better starting point for me.  And I do love a KS cowl top that could easily become a dress in the future.  
Onward to the next project, one that doesn't have me hearing that little nagging voice in my head.  Have you ever heard that voice telling you to beware even as you kept on sewing?

8 comments:

  1. You know, I haven't made this dress yet either. I get the same feeling that I just wouldn't like it on me. Sometimes you just don't know for sure unless you try though. Now you are better equipped for making a version that will suit you. Woo Hoo!

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  2. Oh I hear that little voice all the time! When I ignore it, it always gets the last word!

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  3. I have this pattern, and I rarely wear dresses. I have two little voices - One says "If you're going to have a dress, this is IT! Look how great it looks on everyone (else)!" The other little voice says "Where will you wear it? You'll never wear it. You don't like dresses, it won't work for you, why bother?"

    We'll see which voice I end up listening to, but a big, hearty "Thank You" for this post! If I never make it, or start & discover it's going nowhere, I'll remember you. :)

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  4. I knew what pattern this was before I read the post! I do have this pattern, I plan on making it for a special occasion dress, as I don't really wear dresses on a regular basis. But I think this one will be good on me.

    I love the fabric you were using on this. I hope you can make it into something else :O) It looked great in this dress!

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  5. Oops! I've just ordered this and am hoping the same won't happen to me. I love the fabric however!

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  6. I was tempted to (and did) sew this one up last summer. It seemed that everyone was in awe of this pattern. I just wasn't all that crazy about it, once it was done. Not every design suits every body, and when that's the case, no amount of tweaking will make things right. Unfortunately, at times, you have to actually make up the garment and put it on to realize this. I like to think of this as "experience gained" rather than a waste of time on something that won't get worn. I'm sure that you will soon come up with something that you are much happier with.

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    1. I have hesitated to make that same dress because as much as I wanted to believe I could make it work I just couldn't see it happening on me. so for once I resisted the temptation to jump on the bandwagon.... usually I'm much more impulsive person that and will forge ahead only to regret it later!

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  7. Glad I read this as I intended to buy this pattern! Sounds like we share a very similar body type and I definitely know about that nagging voice, when I ignore it, the garment always become a wadder! Thanks for saving me money, time and what's left of my sanity.

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