A couple of months ago, I got this amazing fabric from The Resource Exchange. It came from a designer, and I’m not sure whether it was hand-dyed or not, but when I washed it prior to making anything out of it (to pre-shrink the material if it was going to do that), the fabric gave up so much red that my wash basin looked like I had killed someone in it. I washed it several more times to make sure I had most of the red dye out that was going to come out; hopefully this will cut down on bleeding during future washes.
Because the fabric pattern was so cool (and somewhat busy), I knew that I would have to make something relatively simple out of it. Something that wouldn’t violate the large, geometric pattern too much and wouldn’t detract from how cool the fabric is. Since I’m a little short on more business-appropriate summer dresses, I decided that a shift or sheath dress would work well. The dress lines would be simple so the fabric pattern could stand out. I found a New Look pattern online for $7, which seemed quite reasonable, so I ordered it. I’ve never used New Look patterns before, but they’re made by Simplicity, which I have used before, so I figured it would probably work out well.
Sizing for patterns is different from sizing for clothes you buy in a store, and according to my measurements, I’m a size 14. When my grandmother used to make clothes for me, we occasionally would have the problem that when she made the clothing according to the size I should be based on my measurements, it would come out too big, and she’d end up having to take it in considerably. I never really understood what the problem was, but now I do. When I cut out the pattern, I noticed that it had listed on the piece for the front of the dress what the final measurements would be. A size 14 means my measurements are 36-28-38. According to the pattern, the finished garment size was going to be 40-34.5-42. Um, what? Basically, it meant that if I made it my size, it was going to look like I was wearing a sack.