Modified Simplicity 8084

 COVID-19 has certainly slowed the pace at which I sew which is really for the greater good in the long term.  Despite New Zealand very much being open for business and being that way for some time, I do find that my opportunities for social situations has diminished.  Add to that the general air of job insecurity and there seems to be very little point in adding any more frou frou to my already bulging wardrobe.  That isn't to say that I won't be making clothes but they tend to fall into the practical category.  I want clothes that I can wear to work but also chuck on a pair of sneakers to go to the supermarket.  My latest dress just sneaks into that category I think!

This dress was conceived well before COVID-19 when I was gifted this lovely light weight crepe fabric by Minerva Crafts.  I originally envisaged a skirt with this fabric but when it arrived it was just too light for the skirt I had in my head.  After sitting on it for a while, I decided to make it up just before lock down.  I absolutely love my version of Simplicity 8084 and it has received complements from friends and strangers alike so I felt this was a good place to start.  This time thought, I wanted to add a ruffle to the bottom to make the style a little more current.

I had this dress partly constructed when lock down happened and my sewing machine was relegated to a extended staycation at the repairers.  Because I wasn't about to attempt to make button holes on my vintage Bernina in such delicate fabric, I opted to wait until restrictions lifted and I could collect my Juki machine, to finish the dress.

When I did return to work, I found that the dress code was much more casual, due to the lack of visitors to our office.  Funnily enough despite no community transmission in New Zealand, we still get far less people onsite each day.    Because now we are very much in the dark dismal days of winter, even layered over merino and tights I really find that I reach for pants more than dresses so this dress really hasn't been on my radar, as much as I love it!  It should be though, because those colours are just to die for and would certainly brighten even the dullest winter day.

It was very fortunate with this project that I ordered more fabric than this dress required because when I cut it out, I cut it way too short.  My initial reaction was to panic but with some careful pattern placement I was able to re-cut the pieces that I had mucked up.

You may have noticed that the sleeves on my dress are very different to those shown on the pattern.  Hacking patterns to put my own stamp on them are one of my favourite sewing pass times.  This time I decided to blend the sleeve head with a different shirt pattern with plackets and cuffs and then to hack it to pieces to create a bishop sleeve.  To do this I simply slashed and spread the sleeve pattern in 3cm increments and splayed it 3cm at the cuff end of the strips before taping the pattern back together again.

Before I cut into the fabric, I treated it to a bath in gelatin to give it some heft to work with.  This is my go to for slippery and shear fabrics and is washed out before the garment is worn.  Despite the now stable nature of the fabric, I still opted to create my drawstring channel from some cotton poplin which I cut on the bias.  My yoke was made of a piece of mystery lining that I found in my scrap bin.  I chose this because I needed a solid fabric to back the outer because it is slightly shear and I didn't want the design on the yoke facing to show through. I used regular shirt buttons on the dress, because these were hidden by the placket so simple was the best option.   I actually didn't need to buy any notions for this dress which makes a pleasant change.

I am thrilled with how this dress turned out.  It definitely matches the vision I had in my head for this dress and I am sure it will be in regular rotation when the sun decides to return again.

This last picture is just for fun.  My teenage son pushed the lawn mower into my shot just as the shutter was due to go off so I thought I would use it as a prop.  It is actually quite a good depiction of how most of my clothes get worn.

Pattern (used before) $0.00

Fabric (gifted) $0.00

Buttons (from stash) $0.00

Total $0.00