Coffee date dress...finally!

I've been intending to make the Coffee Date dress by Pattern Runway for years.  Then, I finally broke down and bought the pattern, and it has taken me months to figure out what fabric to make it from.  Once I determined I'd use some less-expensive fabric to give the pattern a go, it took me ages to start.  And then once I started sewing, all the numerous fitting issues stalled me for a while.  So in short, this dress is way too long in the making!

So let's talk about this pattern.  I love the idea of this dress (fitted waist!  pockets!  kick pleat!), but I struggled with the fit a little and the end product isn't really flattering on me.   For the fit, I tried to reduce the volume of the pleats on top by essentially not grading out at the bottom of the bodice like I normally would, and instead using some of the pleat volume to "stretch" the bodice to fit the waistband (does that make sense to anyone but me? :) I think it could use even more reduction of pleating for my shape (both at the top and shirt parts).  I shortened the bodice while adjusting the paper pattern, again while sewing, and finally took in the shoulder seams by 1/2" to get the waistline to fall at the right spot and avoid a really wacky blousing effect.

I didn't care for the longish short sleeves, so they were shortened as well as removing some of the gathers at the cap.

I wore the dress to work yesterday and it's a solid, professional-type garment (I wore a cream colored cardigan with a defined waist most of the day), but I felt like it was unflattering.  The pleats below the waist are a little voluminous and don't hit quite right.  The photo above looks pretty good only because my hands in the pockets are pulling them down a little! I don't know...maybe my belly fluff is the really culprit :)

The back is fitted nicely, at least!    The back kick pleat is very cool and functional!  And I do love the pockets (especially since putting your hands in them pulls the pleating down in a slightly more flattering way :)

The fabric was a new one for me: peach skin.  I bought heaps of this pretty cheap fabric thinking it was stretchy and it most definitely is not (my fault completely!).  Benefits: wrinkle resistant, fairly easy to work with, and cheap.  I also totally love the print (and there are loads of others!).  I can imagine it being hot in the summer, it is polyester after all, but it also feels light and airy, so we'll see when it gets steamy.

I may try this pattern again, but with a ponte knit.  I have some lovely Boden dresses with a pretty similar style, but in a weighty knit. I'd love to recreate those and wear them constantly.  Anyhow, I'll wear this one again, so I guess that counts as a success!

Fun fact: I bought my awesome orange necklace from a jewelry vendor at the farmer's market in Homer, Alaska.  $6!

2015 Resewlution, April garment #1 (I need to do more sewing!)