Another Day, Another Dress

Another ESP Dress That Is

I have been making the Decades of Style ESP Dress for the past 4 years.  I have 5 versions currently in my closet and one when to the goodwill.  

I have altered the pattern to have a lower neck thanks to instructions from the lovely people at Decades of Style.  Here's the instructions, if you want to do the same. 

This summer - I decided at the very last minute to play along with the Sewcialists mini challenge.  The summer challenge was to work from the colors in the Sewcialists logo based on a spin telling you which color to use.  I spun coral - but honestly, my dress has most of the logo colors in it.  I cut and sewed the dress up in about 9 hours.  

 Almost all of my recent blog pictures have been taken by Carolyn and this dress is no exception.  She decided to come to Carriage Corner for a weekend at the end of August.  We took a trip to Winterthur to see the Costuming the Crown exhibit and she photographed several finished garments for me.

One of my biggest complaints about this dress is that the neckline is just too wide.  It literally falls off my shoulders, bra straps showing, the works - but they are comfortable and I love wearing them.  Well, while Carolyn was taking photographs she pointed out that both the bodice back & front were gaping a little bit and that I should alter my pattern to take 1/4" out of the center front at the very top.  Hmmm, interesting - that would also solve my wide neckline problem because it would bring the shoulders in.  Live and learn, girls, live and learn.

My to-sew list is feeling a bit out of control, but getting added to is really soon is another ESP dress with the center fronts altered.  I'm pretty sure I'll have to add the zipper back into the pattern, but that's easy.  I also feel like the bodice {now that I've taken it in just a smidge} is a bit too long, so that's another adjustment to make.

But the back waist seems to be just fine - probably because I've perfected my sway/short back adjustments for this pattern.  

One other trick that I really like to do on dresses with pockets?  Or anything with pockets for that matter - is to stitch the pockets in place on the front of the garment.  

So - look for another ESP dress soon-ish.  Which in my current world means within the year :D

Also, can I just say that I'm so happy I finally got my hair cut from the length in these pictures and got new glasses!  

ESP Sheet Dress

I made another ESP dress.  It would appear that I made a bunch of the Decades of Style ESP Dresses in 2015 and then, even though I love the pattern, didn't revisit it until this past March.  Interesting.

In March, before Spring Sew Camp, I moved all of my fabric from the fabric shelves to an interior closet.  There were a few pieces of fabric that didn't make the cut to stay in the collection and they landed in a give away pile at #CarriageCornerSewCamp.

Main fabric shelves - organized by type of fabric.
As you can see, there's still room for snacks!

Overflow shelf to the top left of the fabric. This is all quilting cottons, nicer cottons for Jay's shirts and fabric bought specifically to make something for Eleanor

In the pile of fabric that I didn't really want to get rid of, but there might not be room for it, was a beautiful blue floral fitted sheet.  Yep - I've finally joined the ranks of people who've made clothes from old sheets.  And you know what?  I know why they do it.  This fabric is so soft.

finished dress just hanging out

3 of the 4 previously made ESP dresses are in heavy rotation in my current life as an innkeeper.  2 of them have the lowered neckline and 1 of them isn't even in the ESP posts I linked back to.  Also, in my post with the black gingham ESP, I share with you how to lower the square neckline going into a raglan sleeve.

Carolyn cracks me up when she takes photos.
You can see the bust is just a little bit too snug.
And - when I lowered the neckline, it also made it really wide.

Anyway - during the Spring Sew Camp after making Vogue 8962, I grabbed my sheet and got busy prepping it.  Then I put my ESP pattern on it AND without tracing the bodice, I cut, narrowing it by 1" at the waist seam.  I also cut the back on the fold because in my other ESP dresses that are too big, I NEVER use the zipper and why match a zipper over a waist seam if you are never going to use it?!

I also fully lined the bodice and used the burrito method to hem the sleeves (fully lined, remember?)  There are no photos of me making this up because I didn't think that far ahead - but someone at sew camp saw me rolling the dress to make the burrito happen.

I may have been just a bit aggressive with my alterations.  This dress is just slightly too tight. 

really too tight in the back and I need a sway back adjustment

Changes for next time:

Move the shoulder seams in just a bit - they are really wide
Add a 1/2" at the waist
Cut the back 1/4" off the fold
Add a sway back adjustment

Will there be a next time?  Yes!  I've already bought the fabric and I want to try playing with some color blocking and putting the facings on the public side.

Channeling Mrs. Roper

 When Decades of Style posted a photo on their Instagram indicating they were working on a new Decades Everyday pattern - I commented that I'd love to test for them!  Seriously.  With the exception of the Given a Chance Dress, I have all of the Decades Everyday patterns.  I have 3 ESP dresses in my closet and I love them!  I have even made a couple of their other patterns.  

Decades of Style have been amazing to work with.  I had reached out after making my first ESP Dress and got an incredibly detailed response on lowering the neckline of that dress and given permission to share the info.  And they were fabulous this time as well.  I was given the pattern for free, but the thoughts and opinions on the pattern are my own! 

This pattern is called the TLC Caftan.  This dress has a cross over top which is sewn into the waist band, pockets and side panels.  You can chose to sew a short or long dress and I would guess that you could even interchange the side panels using either the narrow or wide side panels on either the short or maxi dress options.  I have made the dress with the narrow side panels. 

I finally found a use for this lovely, leaf printed rayon challis that has been in my stash for a long, long time.  I honestly think I bought it almost 20 years ago.  If my memory serves me, I bought it from Nancy Cornwell's sewing and fabric store in Seattle, which she closed in late 1999 or early 2000.  So . . .

But the fabric was perfect for this.  It's lightweight and cool and was very easy to use.  The pattern was fairly quick to make.  I will say that the instructions call for two different fabrics and I didn't have a complimentary contrast fabric that would work, so I only used one.  In the future, I might actually try using wide, stable elastic for the waist band and I would honestly use elastic to pull the sides in (it's inside) rather than the ties.  

Changes I made to the pattern in testing:  I made a small full bust adjustment - which I don't think I needed.  I also made a 1 1/4" sway back adjustment and added 3" in length to the skirt and side panel pieces.  I then put in a deeper hem, think I could have gone deeper still. 

I forgot to mention that I did the used the size 18 bust with a FBA and the size 26 skirt because I need more room for my hips.  

Couple of thoughts - while the instructions are clear and easy to follow.  You want to be very careful marking and sewing the arm openings on the side panels.  Also, I finished the edges of the arm panels, before stitching them to the side panels, it was easier to press and turn them when they weren't attached.  Next, I think I would use elastic on the inside rather than the twill tape or ribbon to pull the sides together.  I just think it would make it all around easier to get into.  

While I don't think this is the most flattering look on me - I will still probably wear it.  I think - for me and my current lifestyle - the most likely use will be post shower but when I still need to be presentable for guests.  I really want to try the full length version.