The Better Than Expected Dress

 Well, I am impressed. Honestly, I never really liked Colette Patterns' Macaron. I liked some of the versions I saw on the interwebs but I didn't always like the way it looked/fit. When it voted as the next pattern for Sew Colette 2.0, I secretly thought "oh-nooooo!" BUT being all excited about my successful Hazel, I thought, "I can *own that Macaron! I'm going to sew it and it's going to be AMAZING." After that high, I crashed. I sulked about the fabric store, unable to find anything that inspired me. I had this idea that I wanted to make it out of a houndstooth but when I couldn't find anything suitable, I pouted like a baby. I ended up buying some fabric that I felt so-so about , threw it to the back of my sewing cabinet and forgot all about it.  I don't know what made me decide to make it, but last week I ordered the pattern and when it came this week, I was all fired up about making it again.

Of course I wanted a cheap muslin. I chose this blue floral-polka dotted cotton fabric from my stash. I got about 4 yards of it for less than $4 at a thrift store. I had just enough cotton batiste to cut the yoke and I didn't even have interfacing for the facings. I was in the mindset that this was going to be going in the trash when I was done with it and I was quite careless constructing it. Which only made it harder on myself. I'm not going to lie and say this was easy. It *should have been easy but I made everything hard on myself by not really paying attention. I was just kind of throwing it together until I basted the side up to try it on. Then I stood in front of the mirror in shock. It fit. And looked good. I LOVED it. Suddenly I had to go back and do everything the right way. I took my time for the rest of it and here it is.

 I cut a size 8, tapering out to a 10 at the waist and back down to an 8 at the hips. Otherwise, I did everything as instructed. I was going to use the pink lace at the hem as hem tape. After I sewed it on to the raw edge, I decided I liked the way it looked too much to turn it up and so I left it down. I still may turn it up someday, but for now, it stays.

Look at those vinegar pleats.

 This morning I read this tip about pressing with vinegar on a paper bag.  I decided to give it a go on these pleats and let me tell you, it works. I love vinegar. I use it for everything. Cleaning, cooking, etc..I probably always smell like pickles but there's worse things than that, I think. Like wrinkles and soft pleats. So I may smell funny but my dress is pressed beautifully. Another tip...I used rubbing alcohol to get some ink pen that I had accidentally gotten on the bodice. What would I do without rubbing alcohol? And vinegar. It smells like a pickle in a hospital in here.

Those sleeves! I love them.

 So that's it. This dress is so flattering. I like this so much that I joked that my next one can't be any better. But, I'm going to go ahead and give it a go because the fabric I bought will make it more cooler weather appropriate. Plus, hopefully this dress pushes me to be more creative on the next one.