You Can't Win Them All

I have wanted to make an Inari Tee Dress for ages.  My IG feed was well and truly clogged with gorgeous versions for quite some time and initially I resisted the temptation to make one but a lovely enabler (thank you Lara) managed to push this one over the line.

The fabric I chose for my first version, yes I was convinced there would be a sequel, is a lovely crinkle linen which I bought from one of Cotura Fashions end of season sale.  Cotura have sadly moved on from their location down the road from where I work and no longer sell to the public, so this source of fabric has dried up.  My choice of fabric I think is where my issues with this dress comes in.  It is very light weight.  So much so it necessitates wearing a slip.  Also being a crinkle fabric, it was extremely hard to cut.  Was I supposed to cut it crinkled or ironed out?   In the end I decided that the crinkles would iron out on my body so this is how I cut it.

After reading reviews I decided I really needed to alter the sleeves so that I could raise my arms.  Know one  in the office needs to see my slip or great expanses of thighs when I reach above my head.  This was a really simple fix and has been documented so many times, I won't go into it here but it did work and I really like the resulting sleeves.  I am not sure whether I like the width across the back. I think for any further versions I may need to redraft the back because it just seems a bit narrow where the sleeve joins.  It could well just be my fabric that is exaggerating the problem though.

My dress has been finished for a couple of months and I even wore it during Me Made May.  There was something holding me back about blogging it and today is only the second time I have worn it.  It really says something about the way I feel about it.  As you can tell also, having natural crinkles in the linen doesn't guarantee no wrinkles from wear either!  The other issue I have is the front kept trying to pull towards the back so the neckline cuts into my neck.  This is not an issue I have come across before.    So, I think that this dress is either destined for the refashion pile.  At the very least I may hack the bottom off and turn it into a top.