My green "princess seam" dress is almost finished - need to do something with the sleeves, which will take another day I don't have right now. At this point it is NOT a princess seam dress at all... but a pattern all of my own that started back with a dress pattern that was missing two major pieces.. went through a muslin (base cheap fabric) where the holes were filled in, and then became a full almost-original pattern. I've kept with it because it really has been a brain flex.
It is wearable, fits reasonably well and doesn't pull anywhere when I turn, reach or sit down. I can get into it myself and if pressed, pull the zipper all the way up the back as well (but Mark doesn't mind helping *wink*) I kept from making it TOO tight around the waist for that very reason - didn't want the 'prom dress' feel where you can't actually move normally in the garment. I also didn't want a shapeless thing that wasn't made for 'me' at all... it's hard to come to a compromise there. The dress could act better though in certain circumstances - like a little 'flare' in the middle it does just before I sit down, that disappears when I actually sit down... I think I know how to fix that. And the back is somewhere in between a pleat and a 'what happened there?' just below the zipper... so need to add or take away fabric there. Mark said it was a decent attempt for a first draft. Even better it is not 'granny dress' at all... which I was worried about it becoming.
The main things I need to do to the pattern : Extend the front skirt panel triangle out on the bottom a little... to reduce that 'flare' happening higher up. Heighten the back neckline about an inch in the center - because my back is cold! Add or trim some fabric from the back center skirt at the zipper area and probably reduce the back center bodice a bit as well (because I needed to take in an inch on each side on the second zipper run). That is probably where that extra fabric in the skirt came from.
Nark says hanging up the dress on a hanger and seeing that it is perfectly symmetrical might help, too... because frankly, I'm not perfectly symmetrical myself - so a tiny bit of pull the dress has to one side might be better served if the dress was tweaked on one side or the other.
There might not be pics of it for a good while though... I have alien monster doll orders and a bit of sewing I promised to do for a lady at work. And Esme's birthday is coming up! I haven't even gotten a full coat of paint on the little playhouse but it is put up on a table in the studio and Esme has not seen it yet.
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